The real all-stars

Am I wrong, or is the All-Star Game losing its luster on the field, as well as in the minds of fans?

In the pre-Super Bowl '60s, baseball applied a headlock to the American sports scene. It certainly seems as if the stars of the day glittered a lot more brightly than the current crop.

The 1963 All-Star Game in Cleveland included a stunning 19 future Hall of Famers: American Leaguers Luis Aparicio, Jim Bunning, Nellie Fox, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle, Brooks Robinson, and Carl Yastrzemski; plus National Leaguers Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Clemente, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Bill Mazeroski, Willie McCovey, Stan Musial, and Warren Spahn.

There was a reserve catcher from the Milwaukee Braves on the NL squad named Joe Torre, and he'll be in the Hall in his first year of eligibility once he retires from managing.

And that doesn't include such future Hall of Famers of the day who, for some reason, were not on the team that year. Ernie Banks and Bob Gibson had been on the NL team in 1962 and would be on it again, but they missed it in 1963.

Eddie Mathews made his last all-star team in 1962 but led the league in on-base percentage in '63.

Whitey Ford and Hoyt Wilhelm (who made the team at the age of 42 the next season), also missed it in 1963.

Even some of the stars who did not eventually make the Hall seemed to be of first-rate stature in that era of black-and-white television: Bobby Richardson, Maury Wills, Ken Boyer, Billy Williams and Bill White, for example.

Which brings up this question: Which players from last night's game appear to be certain Hall of Famers?

From this vantage point, it's Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Ichiro Suzuki for the AL, and maybe just Trevor Hoffman and Albert Pujols for the NL.

A host of guys have a great shot at eventually joining them. But using the standard of "if he retired right now," it's probably just those five.

Barring injuries and suspensions, it's likely that Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez would have made the All-Star Game this year, too. But that's still only seven.

Lee Harvey Oswald is still dead? Commissioner Bud Selig again proved he is the funniest man in show biz since Jerry Seinfeld when he held his annual, thigh-slapping, "state of the game" news conference.

The biggest guffaw of the day came when Selig loftily announced he was still examining Pete Rose's application for reinstatement to baseball.

The commissioner went on to reveal that John Dillinger had shot President Kennedy and Italy won World War II.

History lesson. My favorite all-star moment has always been Johnny Callison's walk-off home run in Shea Stadium in 1964, followed closely by Reggie Jackson's moon shot off the edge of the roof atop the right-field stands in Tiger Stadium in 1971.

But the greatest feat in all-star history, most historians agree, was New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell's striking out five future Hall of Famers in a row in the 1934 All-Star Game in his home park, the Polo Grounds.

Hubbell actually walked the first two hitters he faced. He followed by striking out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx on just 12 pitches. He then struck out Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to open the second.

"Nearly five generations later, it remains the most stunning sequence in All-Star Game history, if not baseball history," wrote the New York Times' Dave Anderson.

Contact staff writer Don McKee at 215-854-4611 or dmckee@phillynews.com.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.