NL wins in 1944 with many 'All-Stars' in service

Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.

With most of baseball's stars absent due to World War II service, the 1944 All-Star Game featured players too old for military duty or ineligible for active duty.

The National League scored four times in the bottom of the fifth en route to a 7-1 win before 29,589 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

The American League took a 1-0 lead in the second when starting pitcher Hank Borowy of the Yankees singled home Ken Keltner after the Indians third baseman opened the inning with a single off NL starter Bucky Walters of the Reds. Keltner advanced to third on two groundouts.

Borowy allowed three hits and a walk over three scoreless innings.

But after Tex Hughson of the Red Sox extended the shutout with a perfect fourth, he gave up four runs on five hits in the fifth. Boston Braves second baseman Connie Ryan opened the inning with a single and scored on a double by pinch-hitter Bill Nicholson of the Cubs. Left fielder Augie Galan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cardinals catcher Walker Cooper and Dodgers outfielder Dixie Walker followed with run-scoring singles.

St. Louis third baseman Whitey Kurowski hit a two-run double off the Tigers' Hal Newhouser in the seventh and Cardinals outfielder Stan Musial added the final run on a sacrifice fly off Newhouser in the eighth.

Ryan, Cooper, Walker and first baseman Phil Cavarretta of the Cubs all had two hits and scored a run for the NL. Washington Senators right fielder Stan Spence was the lone AL player with two hits.

The highlight of the game was the appearance of Pirates reliever Rip Sewell, who allowed a walk with two strikeouts in three hitless innings.

Sewell, who was headed to his second straight 21-win season, included the "eephus" pitch in his repertoire. The eephus, which he used several times during the eighth inning, was a high-arc lob that accurately fell across the plate at an acute angle.