On July 14th, 1970, Mets’ manager Gil Hodges played the role of skipper for the National League squad in the All-Star Game, and had the honor of seeing his franchise pitcher, Tom Seaver, start the game.
The Midsummer classic took place that year at the newly-minted Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Hodges led the National League team because his New York Mets had won the National League pennant and the World Series the prior season.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the National League went on an incredible run of winning the contest between the greatest players of the two leagues. Going into the 1970 match, the National League had won seven games in a row, and 12 of the last 13. Overall (through 2019), the American League has won 45 times, the National League has won 43 times, and there have been two ties.
On July 14, 1970, Hodges put this lineup on the field to face the American League team piloted by manager Earl Weaver of the Baltimore Orioles.
- Willie Mays CF
- Dick Allen 1B
- Henry Aaron RF
- Tony Perez 3B
- Rico Carty LF
- Johnny Bench C
- Don Kessinger SS
- Glenn Beckert 2B
- Tom Seaver P
Weaver countered with this lineup.
- Luis Aparicio SS
- Carl Yastrzemski CF
- Frank Robinson RF
- Boog Powell 1B
- Harmon Killebrew 3B
- Frank Howard LF
- Davey Johnson 2B
- Bill Freehan C
- Jim Palmer P
Seaver pitched the first three innings, and was his typically brilliant self, allowing one hit and striking out four. Palmer matched him with three scoreless innings of his own, and the game remained scoreless until the top of the sixth inning when Yastrzemski singled in Ray Fosse to put the American League ahead 1-0.
The American League extended its lead to 2-0 in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Fosse. The National League got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, when Mets’ shortstop Bud Harrelson led off with a single, and later scored on a double-play ball off the bat of Willie McCovey.
The National League came to bat in the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-1. However, the senior circuit rallied to tie the game, on a solo home run by Dick Dietz and RBIs by McCovey and Roberto Clemente. Hodges’ crew walked it off for the win in the bottom of the twelfth inning on a hit by former Met Jim Hickman that scored Pete Rose.
The first All-Star Game managed by a Mets’ manager was in the books as a win for the National League. Adding to the Flushing stamp on the game were contributions from Harrelson and Seaver. The good feelings from the 1969 world championship persisted into the following summer.
The Mets finished a relatively disappointing 83-79 in 1970, in third place behind the division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates. The next Mets’ manager to lead the National League would be Yogi Berra in 1974, following the Mets’ pennant-winning season of 1973.
The National League won that game as well.
