Frozen memories from Oakland's 1987 All-Star Game
Scribbled notes on a Cocktail Napkin: The pitcher booed at an All-Star Game by his own fans, the poetry of #24, and the greatest +1 date ever
Scribbling from Albuquerque
The year was 1987. In a three-day stretch, the Oakland A’s hosted an Old Timer’s Game, the Home Run Derby and Skills Competition (which really should be brought back), and the All-Star Game. What a time to be alive, a 14-year-old obsessed with baseball, and lucky to have adults in my life who made it all possible.
Shoutout to Ann and Dan Pearson. They held A’s season tickets. Their seats were incredible: Section 123, Row 2, Seats 12-13 (the aisle), one section over from the A’s dugout.
They sold 20 tickets per year to my Dad and were always generous at my requests for which games we’d attend, starting with Baseball Card Team Set. Season ticket holders were given first access to their usual seats for all playoff games and the 1987 All-Star Game the A’s hosted.
That year, the Pearson’s were extremely generous.
I don’t know if they were out of town, didn’t care, or more likely, just sacrificed their own enjoyment because they knew what it meant to me. But we ended up with tickets for all three events. These are moments you don’t fully comprehend as a teenager, but make me eternally grateful as an adult.
I still have one of the souvenir cups from the game.
The All-Star Game player introductions are one of the highlights for me each year.
This year, I’ll cheer loudest for the three former Albuquerque Isotopes – Rockies 3B Ryan McMahon, Phillies RHP Jeff Hoffman and Angels LHP Tyler Anderson – and I’ll count how many players are All Stars I’ve never heard of.
Back in the day, I had multiple bubble gum cards for all of the all stars and frantically tried to get all their autographs all over the Oakland Coliseum. (I’ll never forget that Ozzie Smith signed autographs for every single person in the parking lot. It took him over an hour.)
I found this footage a few years ago, Royals pitcher Bret Saberhagen warming up in the bullpen during introductions. Over his right shoulder, at the very end, you can see a kid standing up to take a photo.
That’s me.
This is the photo I was taking.
"Scribbled notes on a cocktail napkin" is my weekly Sunday feature that's a tribute to the sports columnists I grew up reading who penned Herb Caen-inspired three dot columns. It's an excuse to shamelessly plug my other side projects, post my favorite Immaculate Grid from the week with a story about one of the players, link to stories I found interesting, and string together loose topics on my mind.
Jay Howell: the All Star booed by his own fans
Forgive Jay Howell if he does not have fond memories of the 1987 All-Star Game.
It should be one of the highlights of Howell’s 15-year career. He was the A’s closer and selected to the All-Star Game in his home ballpark. But he was in a slump. He blew the lead in the A’s final game before the break. It’s one thing for a Dodgers player to get booed at an All-Star Game in San Francisco.
But Jay Howell got booed by his own fans at his home stadium during introduction at the Oakland Coliseum. Memories are tricky, so I checked the footage and newspapers.com to confirm the accuracy.
I’ve cued up the exact moment right here. You hear the raucous ongoing applause for rookie sensation Mark McGwire, then the boos for Howell. At least he could chuckle about it.
Getting booed by fans wasn’t even the worst part of Howell’s day.
When leaving home, he backed his car out of the garage. He stopped when another car was coming and the automatic garage door came down on his car. Upset, he slammed his car door shut and his suit got caught in the car door.
Then he got booed by his own fans. Howell didn’t think he’d ever pitch in the game. But scoreless after 11 innings, Howell was brought into the game in the 12th inning.
I’m not proud of this story, but I remember what a lot of us were saying in the stands. There was a popular car commercial by a guy named Cal Worthington with a jingle that ended with, “from the dealer with a heart, go see Cal.”
We changed the words to, “if you want to blow a game, bring in Howell.”
Sure enough, Howell blew the game, giving up a two-run double to Tim Raines in the 13th inning for the only runs in the National League’s 2-0 win.
Howell became a punching bag for A’s fans afterward. He gave up the lead in all four of his initial games after the break. He was trying to pitch through an elbow injury and finally had surgery in late August. During this time, A’s manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan thought maybe a former starting pitcher might be better as a late-inning closer.
And that’s how Dennis Eckersley became the A’s closer and launched the second half of a career that landed in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Willie Mays: 24 All-Star Games in 23 seasons
The headline lends into the mystical greatness of Willie Mays’ career. He was so wonderful, he played 24 All-Star Games, despite playing 23 seasons in the majors.
How? Major League Baseball held two All-Star Games between 1959-62. Mays racked up eight All-Star appearances over those four seasons.
As my former colleague Henry Schulman wrote for the Baseball Hall of Fame website:
Money was behind the second All-Star Game, although the motivation was altruistic. The players, led by Phillies pitcher and future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, devised the plan to raise more money for their pension fund, which was created in 1947 and distributed only a modest payment to retirees.
The dual All-Star Games were controversial from the get-go. Some hailed a set-up that brought stars from both leagues into more cities each summer at a time when interleague baseball did not exist, aside from the World Series, and few games were televised. On the other hand, more than a few critics in the press – who were not well-versed on the paucity of pension dollars available to players – decried the second All-Star Game as a “greedy grab” that would dilute what had become an extremely popular annual tradition.
Even some players who stood to benefit with larger pensions were skeptical.
“It’s the phoniest front baseball has put up in 20 years,” Chicago White Sox pitcher Early Wynn, a future Hall of Famer, was quoted as saying in contemporary newspaper reports. “They’ll get a pot full of money out of it this year, but wait until the novelty wears off. The game’s value is in its uniqueness. Two games a year will cheapen it in the long run.”
By 1962, players, owners and the press came to the same conclusion.
“The public at large is finding a second all-star attraction something of an anticlimax,” New York Times columnist John Drebinger wrote, “like playing a second World Series in Brazil.”
Baseball returned to a single All-Star Game in 1963 after team owners, tiring of the logistical issues that plagued the dual games and impacted pennant races, and finding it more difficult to shoehorn two All-Star Games into the 162-game schedule, agreed to funnel 95 percent of All-Star gate and broadcast revenues from a single game to the pension fund.
Baseball is all about numbers and there’s something so poetic that #24 played in 24 All-Star Games because two games were played in four years.
This week’s not-so-random Immaculate Grid names: Damaso Garcia and Alfredo Griffin
This is a story to remind you to pick your friends wisely and always say yes to being a +1 date.
In 1984, Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Damaso Garcia was selected as one of the American League’s reserve players for the All-Star Game. Players are allowed to bring their wife or girlfriend as a +1 to the Midsummer Classic.
Garcia was from the Dominican Republic and his wife couldn’t make it on short notice for a brief trip. Instead, he invited teammate Alfredo Griffin as his +1 for the game. Griffin flew out to San Francisco, figured he’d be a tourist for a few days and enjoy the game as a fan inside Candlestick Park.
Then Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell injured his shoulder the final game before the break. Brewers shortstop Robin Yount was also injured. The American League needed another shortstop on very short notice … and … I’m sure you can tell where this story is going.
Griffin, despite batting .241 with only three walks and 10 extra-base hits, was named to the team because he was already in San Francisco. Griffin used his teammate’s extra clothes and equipment in the workout the day before the game. His uniform was rushed to San Francisco in time to be worn in the game. Griffin even received a $25,000 bonus.
Cal Ripken, Jr. started the game at shortstop. In the sixth inning, Garcia replaced Lou Whitaker at second base and his +1 Griffin replaced Ripken at shortstop. The friends and countrymen played three innings together defensively. Don Mattingly pinch hit for Griffin in the ninth inning.
Remember that the next time someone asks you to be their +1 for an event.
A Cal Worthington mention!
I too was in the Coli that day; I believe I may have a pennant in storage!?!