1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Explained

Year:1995
Visitor:National League
Top1:0
Top2:0
Top3:0
Top4:0
Top5:0
Top6:1
Top7:1
Top8:1
Top9:0
Visitor R:3
Visitor H:3
Visitor E:0
Home:American League
Bot1:0
Bot2:0
Bot3:0
Bot4:2
Bot5:0
Bot6:0
Bot7:0
Bot8:0
Bot9:0
Home R:2
Home H:8
Home E:0
Date:July 11, 1995
Venue:The Ballpark in Arlington
City:Arlington, Texas
Visitormanager:Felipe Alou
Visitormanagerteam:MON
Homemanager:Buck Showalter
Homemanagerteam:NYY
Mvp:Jeff Conine
Mvpteam:FLA
Television:ABC
Tv Announcers:Al Michaels, Tim McCarver and Jim Palmer
Radio:CBS
Radio Announcers:John Rooney, Jerry Coleman and Jeff Torborg
Attendance:50,920
Firstpitch:Nolan Ryan

The 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 66th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 11, 1995, at The Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, Texas, the home of the Texas Rangers of the American League. It was the third All-Star Game held in the state of Texas (with the previous two hosted by Houston) and the first All-Star Game held in the area of Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. In this All-Star Game, American League pitchers held National League batters to just three base hits, but all three were home runs as the National League defeated the American League 3–2. This is also the most recent All-Star Game to be televised by the ABC television network.

Because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike and the lack of official champions, the leagues chose to designate the managers of the unofficial league champions (teams with the best record at the time of abandonment of the season) as managers for this All-Star Game. The All-Star break that season was actually only two days - because of the strike induced schedule in 1995, there were games scheduled for the next day. As a result, by the time this game ended, several players had already flown out of Texas to get to where their teams were playing the next day.

There were two color guards participating in the pregame ceremonies. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Color Guard from Ottawa, Ontario, carried the Canadian flag, while the 1995-96 Del Rio (TX) High School ROTC Color Guard carried the American flag. Country singer Michelle Wright later sang "O Canada", while fellow country singer (and native Texan) Lyle Lovett sang "The Star-Spangled Banner". Nolan Ryan threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

National League President Len Coleman presented Jeff Conine with the All-Star Game MVP Award in lieu of the Commissioner of Baseball, marking the second year in a row that Coleman presided over the MVP Award presentation.

Rosters

Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

National League

Elected starters
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CMike PiazzaDodgers3
1BFred McGriffBraves3
2BCraig BiggioAstros4
3BMatt Williams[1] Giants3
SSOzzie SmithCardinals14
OFBarry BondsGiants5
OFLenny DykstraPhillies3
OFTony GwynnPadres11
Pitchers
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
PTyler GreenPhillies1
PRandy MyersCubs3
PDenny NeaglePirates1
PHideo NomoDodgers1
PCarlos PérezExpos1
PGreg MadduxBraves4
PHeathcliff SlocumbPhillies1
PJohn SmileyReds2
PTom HenkeCardinals2
PTodd WorrellDodgers2
Reserves
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CDarren DaultonPhillies3
1BMark GraceCubs2
2BMickey MorandiniPhillies1
3BBobby BonillaMets6
3BVinny CastillaRockies1
SSBarry LarkinReds7
SSJosé OffermanDodgers1
OFJeff ConineMarlins2
OFRon GantReds2
OFRaúl MondesíDodgers1
OFSammy SosaCubs1
OFReggie SandersReds1
OFDante BichetteRockies2

American League

Elected starters
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CIván RodríguezRangers4
1BFrank ThomasWhite Sox3
2BCarlos BaergaIndians3
3BWade BoggsYankees11
SSCal Ripken Jr.Orioles13
OFAlbert BelleIndians3
OFKen Griffey Jr.Mariners6
OFKirby PuckettTwins10
DHEdgar MartínezMariners2
Pitchers
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
PErik HansonRed Sox1
PDennis MartínezIndians4
PJosé MesaIndians1
PChuck FinleyAngels3
PRandy JohnsonMariners4
PSteve OntiverosAthletics1
PKenny RogersRangers1
PKevin AppierRoyals1
PLee SmithAngels7
PDavid WellsTigers1
Reserves
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CMike StanleyYankees1
1BTino MartinezMariners1
1BMark McGwireAthletics7
1BMo VaughnRed Sox1
2BRoberto AlomarBlue Jays6
3BKevin SeitzerBrewers2
SSGary DiSarcinaAngels1
OFJim EdmondsAngels1
OFKenny LoftonIndians2
OFPaul O'NeillYankees3
OFManny RamirezIndians1

Game

Umpires

Home Plate Durwood Merrill (AL)
First Base Charlie Williams (NL)
Second Base Al Clark (AL) (crew chief)
Third Base Mike Winters (NL)
Left Field Ted Hendry (AL)
Right Field Ed Rapuano (NL)

Starting lineups

National LeagueAmerican League
OrderPlayerTeamPositionOrderPlayerTeamPosition
1Lenny DykstraPhilliesCF1Kenny LoftonIndiansCF
2Tony GwynnPadresRF2Carlos BaergaIndians2B
3Barry BondsGiantsLF3Edgar MartínezMarinersDH
4Mike PiazzaDodgersC4Frank ThomasWhite Sox1B
5Fred McGriffBraves1B5Albert BelleIndiansLF
6Ron GantRedsDH6Cal Ripken Jr.OriolesSS
7Barry LarkinRedsSS7Wade BoggsYankees3B
8Vinny CastillaRockies3B8Kirby PuckettTwinsRF
9Craig BiggioAstros2B9Iván RodríguezRangersC
Hideo NomoDodgersPRandy JohnsonMarinersP

Game summary

Broadcasting

The 1995 All-Star Game was the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game to be televised by ABC since the 1988 edition from Cincinnati. Just like in 1988, Al Michaels provided play-by-play duties for ABC alongside color commentators Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver. Also assisting in ABC's coverage were John Saunders (who interviewed players in the American League dugout), Lesley Visser (who interviewed players in the National League dugout as well as game MVP Jeff Conine), and Rick Dempsey (who interviewed players inside the bullpen at the Ballpark in Arlington).

The 1995 All-Star Game officially launched the second season for The Baseball Network, which was a consortium that ABC was in partnership with Major League Baseball as well as NBC. As previously alluded to, the inaugural season in 1994 was cut short due to a players' strike that began on August 12 and wound up causing the World Series (for which ABC was due to broadcast) to be cancelled. The strike proved to hurt the long term viability of The Baseball Network. The arraignment between Major League Baseball, ABC, and NBC was originally supposed to run at least through the 1999 season. But instead, both networks announced on June 22, 1995,[2] [3] [4] [5] that they would be dissolving The Baseball Network after that year's World Series.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Player declined or was unable to play.
  2. News: Fans not wild about baseball. Jack Craig. The Boston Globe. August 20, 1995. May 31, 2011. November 6, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121106223227/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/21340350.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+20,+1995&author=Jack+Craig,+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Fans+not+wild+about+baseball&pqatl=google. dead.
  3. News: Abc And Nbc Quit Baseball Network. The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 23, 1995. July 2, 2012.
  4. Scorecard. Jack McCallum. Christian Stone. Sports Illustrated. July 3, 1995.
  5. News: TV SPORTS; All Are to Blame for Baseball Network's Demise. Richard Sandomir. The New York Times. June 27, 1995.