The 1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the 43rd such game, was played on July 25, 1972. The all-stars from the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

and the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

faced each other at

Atlanta Stadium Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, home of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

. The

came away with a 4–3 win in 10 innings. This was the third All-Star Game hosted by the Braves (

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

), but the first All-Star Game to be hosted by the team in Atlanta (the previous two being hosted in their previous homes of Boston and Milwaukee, respectively). This would be the only All-Star Game played in Atlanta Stadium, as the Braves had moved to Turner Field when the exhibition returned to Atlanta in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

.''All-Star Game history'', baseball-reference.com; accessed 25 September 2008
/ref> After seeing their 8 All-Star Game winning streak ended in 1971, the game would mark the start of an 11-game winning streak for the NL, the longest winning streak by either league in the exhibition's history. This was also the final All-Star Game for

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

before his death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve.

American League roster

The American League roster included 13 future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

players and coaches, denoted in ''italics''.''All-Star Game Results-1972'', mlb.com; accessed 25 September 2008
/ref>

Elected starters

Pitchers

Reserve position players

Coaching staff

National League roster

The National League roster included 16 future

players and coaches, denoted in ''italics''.

Elected starters

Pitchers

Reserve position players

Coaching staff

Starting lineups

While the starters were elected by the fans, the batting orders and starting pitchers were selected by the managers.

Umpires

Scoring summary

The American League opened the game's scoring in the top of the third, with Steve Blass in to relieve Bob Gibson. Bill Freehan walked, and advanced to second base on a

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

by Jim Palmer. Rod Carew singled, allowing Freehan to score.''1972 All-Star Game play by play'', baseball-almanac.com; accessed 25 September 2008
/ref> The National League would not answer until the bottom of the sixth inning, with Gaylord Perry pitching in relief. With two outs, César Cedeño singled. Hank Aaron then hit a two-run

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

to give the National League the lead. The AL would respond in the top of the eighth inning against Bill Stoneman in his second inning of relief. Carlton Fisk singled, and after a strikeout, Cookie Rojas (pinch hitting for Rod Carew) hit a two-run home run. Wilbur Wood was in his second inning of relief when, in the bottom of the ninth inning, the National League evened the score. Billy Williams and Manny Sanguillén hit back-to-back singles, with Sanguillen's sending Williams to third base. Lee May hit into a

fielder's choice In baseball, fielder's choice (abbreviated FC) refers to a variety of plays involving an offensive player reaching a base due to the defense's attempt to put out another baserunner, or the defensive team's indifference to his advance. Fielder's choi ...

, forcing Sanguillen out at second, but permitting Williams to score. After Ron Santo grounded into a double play, the score was tied at 3, forcing extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Dave McNally came on in relief for the AL. The first batter he faced, Nate Colbert (pinch hitting for Tug McGraw), walked. Colbert advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Speier. Joe Morgan singled, scoring Colbert and ending the game.

Line score

Game notes and records

Tug McGraw was credited with the win. Dave McNally was charged with the

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. This was the fifth All-Star Game to reach extra innings. After this one, the National League was 5–0 in those extra inning games. The home run hit by Hank Aaron was the last one in an All-Star Game by a player from the host team for 25 years. This did not happen again until

Sandy Alomar Jr. Santos "Sandy" Alomar Velázquez Jr. (, ; born June 18, 1966) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher between 1988 and 2007, most notably as a member of the Clev ...

of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

homered at

Jacobs Field {{Infobox stadium , name = Progressive Field , nickname = ''"The Jake"'' , logo_image = Progressive_Field_Logo.svg , logo_caption = , image = , caption = Progressive Fiel ...

in the 1997 All-Star Game. The homer by Cookie Rojas, a native of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

, was the first one ever hit in an All-Star Game for the American League by a player who was born outside the United States. Nate Colbert, who scored the winning run, brought the wrong uniform with him to Atlanta. The San Diego Padres' slugger donned his road jersey with ''SAN DIEGO'' on it instead of his home one with ''PADRES'' on it. Both of San Diego's jerseys in 1972 and 1973 were gold. Seven days after the All-Star Game, Colbert racked up 13 RBI in a doubleheader vs. the Braves in the same stadium, setting a Major League record for a twinbill which was tied in 1993 by

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for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. With Toby Harrah injured, the Texas Rangers did not have an active player on the AL squad in their first season in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region ...

. The Rangers were originally the second incarnation of the Washington Senators, leaving the nation's capital in November 1971 after 11 seasons. Players from the Red Sox and Giants debuted double-knit uniforms in this game. After the Pirates (1970), Cardinals and Orioles (each in 1971) were the first teams to switch, two-thirds of MLB (16 of 24) donned new double-knits to begin 1972. The three remaining teams wearing flannels full-time, the Expos, Royals and Yankees, switched to double-kits to start 1973.

Notes

References

External links

1972 All-Star Game summary @baseball-almanac.com

1972 All-Star Game box score @baseball-almanac.com

1972 All-Star Game play-by-play @baseball-almanac.com

1972 All-Star Game results @mlb.com

Baseball Reference 1972 All-Star Game review @ baseball-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major League Baseball All-Star Game, 1972

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

1970s in Atlanta

Major League Baseball All Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

July 1972 sports events in the United States