The fact that the American League beat the National League 4-2 in Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game was secondary to the very existence of the game itself and what it helped do for a country on the precipice of getting back to normal less than a decade before they would be thrust into another world war. That’s the focus of Randall Sullivan’s superb book, THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME.

In 1933, America was still reeling from the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. The country needed a change, and the people made their voices clear at the ballot box when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to the first of his record four terms as President. As soon as he took office, FDR repealed the Volstead Act, which officially ended Prohibition. Then, through his mandated banking holidays and fireside chats, he turned his attention to getting Americans back to work.

"THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME is not just sports history, but American history, and Randall Sullivan is more than up to the challenge of carrying that banner forward for readers to relish."

The All-Star Game might never have taken place if an Italian immigrant named Giuseppe Zangara had not attempted to assassinate the newly elected President. He was caught and eventually put to death, but the general public and politicians rallied around FDR, which eventually led to a national celebration scheduled for July 6th. Chicago's Comiskey Park would be the site of the inaugural All-Star Game. It also was a sort of recovery for that stadium, which was most famous for the Black Sox Scandal when the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series under illicit funds from gangster Arnold Rothstein. 

What better way for both Chicago and the country to heal than to witness a match-up of oodles of future Hall of Famers and the biggest names in baseball?

The initial idea for the All-Star Game sprang from the mind of the Chicago Tribune’s sports editor, Arch Ward, who called it the Game of the Century. It allowed fans to see Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Pie Traynor, Bill Terry, Carl Hubbell, and dozens of other players. The legendary Babe Ruth took center stage and appropriately hit the first home run in All-Star Game history.

Sullivan has a knack for placing us right there, directly in the middle of all that was occurring in the nation at that time. He covers the historical and political landscape with great aplomb and brings to life many of the game’s participants to those of us who were not around to witness such a momentous occasion. 

For me, the most touching part of the book is what Sullivan refers to as the Second All-Star Game, the one that took place with the best of the Negro League players, including Rube Foster, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Oscar Charleston. Many of these athletes never got the opportunity to play in the major leagues due to segregation. 

THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME is not just sports history, but American history, and Randall Sullivan is more than up to the challenge of carrying that banner forward for readers to relish.