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Ninety years ago today, the biggest names in baseball played against each other for the first time.
The annual tradition was created by the Tribune’s sports editor.
“This is an announcement of the greatest baseball game ever scheduled,” Arch Ward wrote in the May 19, 1933, edition of the Tribune. “Never has the maximum strength of one major league been pitted against the maximum strength of the other.”
Ward decided fans should select the starting nines on the 18-player teams with the managers picking the rest. The Tribune and 55 other newspapers around the country distributed ballots to millions of readers.
Chicago hosted the first All-Star Game on July 6, 1933, at Comiskey Park. The price of a grandstand ticket was $1.10, or about $25 in today’s dollars. A single ticket for Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Seattle starts at $375.
Ward died in his sleep in 1955 at age 58. Ironically, his funeral took place in Chicago the same day as the All-Star Game in Milwaukee. The game’s start time was delayed so Major League Baseball executives and owners could honor Ward then get to Wisconsin in time for first pitch.
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— Kori Rumore, visual reporter
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The birth of the All-Star Game was a fortuitous byproduct of the Great Depression. In 1933, Edward Kelly, Chicago’s newly installed mayor, was worried. The city was committed to hosting a World’s Fair. But with millions of Americans out of work, how could Chicago attract enough visitors to ensure the fair’s success?
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The Vintage Tribune newsletter is a deep dive into the Chicago Tribune’s archives featuring photos and stories about the people, places and events that shape the city’s past, present and future.
A decade earlier, Ward had cofounded the Golden Gloves with his counterpart at the New York Daily News, another Tribune paper. Their creation evolved into international boxing competition and added to the long list of Ward’s celebrity friends.
About 500,000 votes were cast and the team lineups were announced on June 25, 1933 in the Tribune.
Played at Comiskey Park in ideal weather, the game brought out a capacity crowd of 47,595 fans to see Lou Gehrig, Gabby Hartnett, Al Simmons, Jimmy Foxx and more. Babe Ruth — who hit a two-run home run to deep right field in the third inning off National League starter Bill Hallahan of the St. Louis Cardinals — was the star in a 4-2 American League victory.
Chicago has hosted the All-Star Game six times since then, including 20 years ago.
Two years later, Ward pitted a team of college all-stars against the Chicago Bears in the first Chicago College All-Star Game. The event continued until 1976.
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