Last night's 94th All-Star Game was a spectacle, with the Mets' lone representative, Pete Alonso who was making his fourth all star appearance, striking out in his one at bat. His presence reminded me of the incredible opportunity I had interviewing several former Mets players for Howie Karpin and my 2021 book, "You Never Forget Your First: A Collection of New York Mets Firsts" I thought it would be interesting to revisit the first All-Star experiences of some of these former Mets greats.
Edgardo Alfonzo: First All-Star Game (July 11, 2000, Turner Field, Atlanta)
Edgardo Alfonzo was chosen as a reserve for the National League All-Star team. Alfonzo entered the game in the top of the fifth and went 0-for-2. He reminisces about the experience:
“You always dream with that. Now you’re living it. As soon as I walked in, I saw the MLB people, ‘Hey, Fonzie, welcome,’ it’s like, Wow, this is happening. You walk in and you see The Big Unit [Randy Johnson], you see Greg Maddux, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Kent, Barry Bonds. All those big guys in the same locker [room]. I feel [like] one of them, you know. When you sign a professional contract in Venezuela, you have three dreams. Play in the big leagues and after you’re in the big leagues, try to go to the All-Star Game and try and play in the World Series. Heard my name in Atlanta in 2000, it was amazing. I tell my wife and I tell my parents, that was a great feeling. Gives you chills. It’s like when you hear your name in front of big guys that I just named, it’s something that you dream and now you’re dream came true, finally.”
Tom Glavine: First All-Star Game (July 9, 1991, SkyDome, Toronto)
Tom Glavine, who later became a Met, was the National League’s starting pitcher in his first All-Star Game. He reflects on his experience:
“You’re excited. There’s a little bit of disbelief and you’re largely in awe of all the guys that are in the locker room with you. Anytime you do something like that for the first time, it’s always hard, I think, to put yourself in the company of a lot of those guys. You’re an All-Star technically, but those guys are all stars! Those are guys that have been playing the game for a long time. You haven’t. It’s a little bit hard to elevate yourself in your mind for that stature, so there’s a little bit of being in awe. I remember being a nervous wreck going out there to start the game and then be as excited as heck because it went pretty well, so it was good.”
Shawn Green: First All-Star Game (July 13, 1999, Fenway Park, Boston)
Shawn Green was named an American League All-Star for the first time in 1999. He got into the game and singled off Astros pitcher Jose Lima. He shares his memories:
“Ninety-nine I got off to a great start, I was usually a slow starter. I think about two months in, I had 15 home runs. I was hitting in the .320, .330 range. Since having this great start, I think I was maybe second or so in the league in home runs behind [Ken] Griffey Jr. or [Jose] Canseco or something like that, then [Andy] Pettitte hit me with a fastball up and in and broke a little bone in the base of my hand. I was starting to think about, I’ve lost my shot at the All-Star Game, so I was kind of seeing everything ending at that point. As it turns out, it was something they didn’t have to cast. They said, it’ll be ready, probably around ten days or so, you might be able to play again, it’s just a matter of, can you swing the bat? So I convinced [Blue Jays manager] Jim Fregosi to not put me on the disabled list and I tried to play a week later and we’re facing some guy who was throwing an 85-mile-an-hour fastball and I just couldn’t get around. I should’ve gone to the DL at this point because basically playing one player short ’cause I game out of the game that they ended up coming back in. I think I missed about 12 or 13 games and I came back, I guess was probably mid-June. So, at this point, I had 15 home runs and everyone is starting to pass me on the leaderboard. Then, all of a sudden, I got hot again and it didn’t take me long to start feeling good. I ended up with 25 home runs at the All-Star break and made the All-Star team. For me, that was a big dream of mine was to play in the All-Star Game. As it turned out, I got to go with [Blue Jays shortstop] Tony Fernandez who was one of my mentors and he was hitting over .400 at the time. So we both went to the All-Star Game and it happened to be probably the greatest All-Star Game to go to as someone who grew up as a huge baseball fan ’cause it was the last All-Star Game of the century. They had the greatest players, greatest living players there, so it was pretty amazing. Actually, they started the ceremony and I was so excited to be talking to other players around the American League in the clubhouse that I missed the beginning of the ceremony. I didn’t even know what was going on yet. I was in conversations with different guys, so I went out there and saw the middle and back half of the ceremony. I had already met Ted Williams a little bit before the ceremony started, in the tunnel there at Fenway. Got to go out and circle Ted Williams and some of the other guys around the field. It was pretty amazing. Then, of course, Pedro [Martinez] came out and had this amazing run and it was the story of the All-Star Game. Just to be there and be at Fenway Park, such a historic place in baseball and see all the greatest living players around, was definitely a highlight of my career.”
First Home Run Derby:
“Yeah, that was terrifying. I started hitting home runs, I kinda learned to start practicing. I worked on some things in my swing. Delgado and I used to do this home run derby every single day in batting practice where it was center field, the opposite field, ’cause you want to work on staying on the ball and driving the ball to all fields. So, I was really good at putting on a show in batting practice because that’s what we did. We were doing it for other people. We’re doing it for ourselves, so I wasn’t scared of that, but it was bizarre, being on the field, taking batting practice with no cage around you, under the lights was really weird. Then, having a full stadium with all the noise.
“I actually got to bring my best friend from high school, threw great batting practice, that used to throw to me in the offseason. They said you could bring anybody, so I brought him. When we were 12, 13 years old, we were field rats at Angel Stadium. We used to go there and bum tickets off of people and scalp them. For him to be in an All-Star Game locker room was pretty cool too. He actually went on to throw to a bunch of other guys over the years. They wouldn’t let us go to the cage before our turn, because the cage is inside the Green Monster. The Home Run Derby is basically, I took batting practice. I had to wait maybe three hours with no practice swings. You have to go up there and say, ‘OK, hit home runs.’ You’re totally cold, you’re trying to stay loose just swinging in the on-deck circle. It was a challenging situation. I was happy to not get skunked. I had two and I actually almost hit in the second round, ’cause we were all cold. Griffey had, I think, one and then he hit like two or so right at the end, so his three home runs got him to the next round and he ended up winning the whole thing. I kind of wished that there was a little better setup because I loved taking batting practice and trying to launch balls during BP so that was a disappointment, but it was also pretty terrifying. I like the format now much better where you get time.”
Howard Johnson: First All-Star Game (July 11, 1989, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim)
Howard Johnson made the team in 1989, and during the break, National League manager Tommy Lasorda announced that he would be the starter due to Mike Schmidt's retirement. Johnson reflects:
“Well, in ’89, I make the team and during the break there, [NL manager Tommy] Lasorda tells me I’m going to be the starter. He announces it with everybody because Mike Schmidt retires. So, there’s a void at starter, so I’m the starter out there. I watched Bo Jackson hit that home run. It’s pretty awesome. I got the hit in the first inning. Got a base hit, drove in a run, and stole a base, kind of playing our game. It was awesome, man. I just remember being the locker room before the game. The [league president] came down and he was like, ‘Man, we want you to be safe out there, but we want to win this game. We want to show them the National League, the best league in baseball.’ I remember how these guys were taking it serious, so it was pretty cool to be around him.”
Jerry Koosman: First All-Star Game (July 9, 1968, Astrodome, Houston)
Jerry Koosman earned the save for the National League as he struck out Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski to preserve a 1–0 win. He remembers:
“I was very humbled and privileged to walk in the locker room and see all these guys that are All-Stars. I mean, you look around and you see the Willie Mayses, the Henry Aarons, and Matty Alou and Bob Gibson. It’s quite an All-Star team. I was really happy and privileged to be with these men.”
Ed Kranepool: First All-Star Game (July 13, 1965, Metropolitan Stadium, Minnesota)
Ed Kranepool was named a National League All-Star in 1965 at the age of 20 but did not appear in the game. He shares his experience:
“These are guys that I followed idolizing. When all the National League teams came to New York, I watched the Giant games, Dodger games. They were all stars. Looked up to every one of them. On that whole team, probably was two or three guys that didn’t make the Hall of Fame, including myself and Johnny Callison, but they had the greatest players in the league. You were in awe of all these guys. Just being on the same field with them being introduced alongside of them. It was a tremendous feeling. It’s one of those things that you never forget. You don’t forget your first World Series, you don’t forget your first All-Star Game at 20. I thought I was going to have a long career. I did have a long career, but it wasn’t as good as expected because I think developing in the major leagues is a lot more difficult than minor leagues. I always did well in the minors. I always hit way over .300 and dominated the minor leagues. When you get to the majors, it’s a different class of players. The best of the best.”
Jon Matlack: First All-Star Game (July 23, 1974, Three Rivers
Stadium, Pittsburgh)
Jon Matlack was the winning pitcher in his first All-Star Game in 1974. He combined with Hall of Famer Ken Brett to hold the American League to one hit over the last six innings. Matlack reflects:
“When I made the first one, I was fairly confident that if I continued to perform, I would have an opportunity to go back. The thing that always sticks out in my mind was making the team and then having a pitch-off in the Astrodome with Don Sutton and Al Hrabosky and Steve Rogers, and the four of us, trying to see who could throw the ball closest to the center of a garbage can out by second base and watching Hrabosky beat us all because he had the touch and could hit the can.”
On sharing the MVP award: “It was exciting, it was also a comedy of errors because our names are so close. I happened to be in the ballgame and pitched well while we took the lead, so I get credit for the win. Although I didn’t have a whole lot to do with it, Bill drove in the runs. As we’re going up the stairs in Milwaukee, it’s a long hike from County Stadium, all the way up to the visitor’s locker room and I keep hearing this voice from behind me. ‘Madlock,’ and Bill’s up ahead of me. ‘Bill, they’re calling for you on the field.’ He said, ‘No, no, no man. They’re calling you,’ and we both go to the clubhouse. People from the commissioner’s office had to come upstairs to get us to go back down. So, it was sort of funny and we teased each other that the only reason it was a co-MVP is because they got the names confused.”
Jesse Orosco: First All-Star Game (July 6, 1983, Comiskey Park, Chicago)
“I was stunned. I had probably the best season of my career [62 games, 1.47 ERA, 13 wins, 17 saves]. I didn’t know what to expect with an All-Star Game. I’ve seen a few of them before that. It was at Chicago and I was blown away. It was the greatest event I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Orosco struck out Milwaukee’s Ben Oglivie with two on to end the bottom of the seventh inning. “That was great. I think that’s probably the hardest I ever threw right there because I was so frenzied out. I threw a fastball, swung and miss. Threw a curveball, threw it about 10 feet before the plate. Came back, threw fastball and got a strike. Threw another curveball about ten feet short and then fastball, struck him out. It was pretty cool.”
Amos Otis: First All-Star Game (July 14, 1970, Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati)
Otis made his first All-Star team in 1970 and was involved in one of the most famous plays in All-Star Game history. With two out in the bottom of the 11th inning, the National League had the winning run at second in the form of Pete Rose. Jim Hickman singled to center field where Otis fielded it and threw home to help create one of the most famous home-plate collisions in baseball history. Otis’s throw arrived at the same time as Rose, who bowled over Fosse to score the winning run and give the National League a 5–4 win over the American League.
“Pete Rose was known a little bit by then, but I put him on the map with that throw. Everybody knew it. Line drive up the middle and I knew Rose was going to try to score from second base. I made a decent throw, but I think maybe it went up the line about a foot. Rose was in between diving head-first, I think he stumbled a little bit. They had that big collision at home plate. Ray Fosse got hit with a bad shoulder. I think I made a helluva throw but not good enough. I remember Morganna, the ‘kissing bandit’ jumped on the field that night. I think she was after Brooks Robinson.”
Frank Thomas: First All-Star Game (July 17, 1954, Cleveland Stadium)
“That’s a great feeling. I was just a young kid. I made sure that I went around and I got players there to sign a ball for me. I got two of them signed. I gave one to my dad. I tried to give him a baseball every year. Every year he saved them. To be able to talk to them [his All-Star teammates] you know, be with the great stars. Willie Mays, [Warren] Spahn, [Stan] Musial, [Ted] Williams and all the great hitters like that. I was in awe, like any young kid would be, but it was a great thrill. I was so happy that [NL manager] Leo Durocher thought that much of me.”
David Wright: First All-Star Game (July 11, 2006, PNC Park, Pittsburgh)
Wright was named a National League All-Star for the first time in 2006. In his first All-Star Game at-bat in the second inning, Wright hit a home run off American League All-Star Kenny Rogers.
“Just surreal. It’s one thing to make it to the big leagues and then you taste a little bit of success, but when you’re in an All-Star Game, you’re sitting down next to the guys that you grew up idolizing. You’re just speechless. I remember sitting there and looking around and it’s like, What am I doing here? You’ve got like the best of the best and you see your locker next to the game’s premier players. It’s like this ultimate pinch me moment to be able to go there. We obviously had a good team that year, so we sent six representatives from the Mets. To be able to share that with [Paul] LoDuca and [Jose] Reyes and maybe [Carlos] Delgado. I can’t remember who else was there but just a really cool experience to rub shoulders with your idols and the guys that you tried to copy on the baseball field.”
The All-Star Game continues to be a milestone moment for many players, both past and present. As we celebrate Pete Alonso's representation of the Mets in this year's game, it is wonderful to look back and appreciate the first All-Star experiences of these former Mets players who have left an indelible mark on the game.
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