On this day in 1933, Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game took place at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Originally billed as a one-time “Game of the Century,” it has now become a permanent part of baseball.

 

During the Great Depression, attendance at major league baseball dropped 40 percent, while the average player’s salary fell by 25 percent. Fans who could still afford tickets left the more expensive box seats and took to the bleachers. Team owners saved money by shrinking their rosters, firing their coaches and slashing wages. Many teams also experimented with discounts and other innovations designed to woo back fans, including free admission for women, grocery giveaways and the first night games in baseball history.

 

Arch Ward, the sports editor of the Chicago Tribue, proposed a one-time “Game of the Century” that would pit the finest players of the American and National Leagues against each other at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. As an added twist, fans would have the opportunity to vote on the lineup. Ward was so certain the game would be a hit that he told McCormick to take any losses out of his own paycheck. After much lobbying, the game was set for July 6, 1933.

 

As the date drew near, Ward wrote story after story in the Tribune, hyping the game and encouraging the public to participate. Ballots were printed in 55 newspapers across the country, and fans cast several hundred thousand votes for their favorite players, with Babe Ruth drawing 100,000. Along with the Bambino, fans elected the likes of Lefty Grove, Jimmy Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to the roster.

 

On July 6, 47,595 fans packed into Comiskey Park to watch another one of baseball’s historic moments. The game, which ended in a 4-2 victory by the American League, did not disappoint, thrilling the crowd with its roster of stars and new matchups. Indeed, for many of the players, this was their first chance to meet and compete with players from the other league.

 

Arch Ward’s All-Star Game proved so popular that its organizers held another “midsummer classic” the following year. Since then, it has become an annual fixture of the baseball season, bringing together the sport’s most talented and beloved players every year with the exception of 1945, when it was cancelled due to wartime travel restrictions.