One of my fondest memories of The MLB All Star Game was in 1981. My dad took me to go see the All Star Game at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

Back in those days life was simple; no cell phones, or social media , and no home run derby or futures game, the All Star Game itself was the ultimate and main attraction.

Back then there was no such thing as interleague play, so it was a definite treat to see the best star players that the National League had to offer. Seeing players like Dave Parker, George Foster, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose , and Cleveland’s own home grown Mike (The Hitman) Easler, and of course Fernando Valenzuela, who was a cultural phenomenon in his rookie season along, with the All Star Game MVP, Gary Carter.

Plus the American League had their best to offer with Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, George Brett, Rod Carew, and repping my hometown Cleveland Indians Pitcher, Len (Perfect Game) Barker and Bo Diaz.

The game was played on a Sunday evening in August, due to the players strike that recently ended on July 31. Plus the night before, the Cleveland Browns played the Pittsburgh Steelers in a preseason game, leaving concerns on whether the field would be playable for the All Star Game the night after.

Shout out to the stadiums grounds crew they made it happen. Nowadays multiple purpose stadiums are like dinosaurs…extinct, and plus the attendance was a All Star Game record 72,086, and I don’t think that record will ever be broken since they don’t build baseball stadiums with that type of seating capacity.

The game itself was very competitive the best part to me, was Cleveland Indians Pitcher Len Barker pitching 2 scoreless perfect innings 6 up and 6 down. See how the American League is dominating the All Star Game now back in the 70s and 80s the National League was in total control.

Plus back then with the Indians, we as fans in the 80s had very little to be excited about, except when our All Stars did well in the All Star Game.

Unfortunately that year, thanks to All Star Game MVP, Gary Carter’s, two home runs the National League won 5-4. All I want to say is thanks for the All Star Game experience live in person MLB.

-Keith Allen

@K_Allen569

*Photo courtesy of Wikipedia*