Warren Spahn
With the Cincinnati Reds hosting the Major League All-Star Game this summer on July 14, it will be the fifth time the history of the organization the best players will converge near the Ohio River.
The mid-summer classic was in Cincinnati for the first time in 1938. Crosley Field was also the site for the second contest in 1953.
In 1970, the annual affair was played in Riverfront Stadium a few weeks after it opened.
The last time the Reds entertained the best of the game was in 1988. This year, will be the first time at Great American Ballpark.
Here is a look at the All-Star Game from July 14, 1953:
The National League won its fourth game in a row with a 5-1 victory at Crosley Field.
A scoreless contest until the bottom of the fifth, the NL took a 2-0 lead off New York Yankees hurler and eventual loser Allie Reynolds on RBI singles by Philadelphia outfielder Richie Ashburn and Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese.
Reese put the NL in front by three runs in the seventh with a double off Cleveland’s Mike Garcia that scored St. Louis outfielder Enos Slaughter.
In the eighth against Cleveland‘s Satchel Paige, Slaughter and Pittsburgh pitcher Murry Dickson added run-scoring singles to make it 5-0.
Dickson gave up three hits in the ninth to the American League with Minnie Minoso knocking a run with a single.
Up to that point, the NL pitchers had surrendered only two hits. Starter Robin Roberts of Philadelphia gave up one hit in three innings with five strikeouts.
Milwaukee’s Warren Spahn worked the next two frames without giving up a hit to earn the win. Curt Simmons of Philadelphia tossed the sixth and seventh and gave up one hit.
Chicago’s Billy Pierce, the AL starter, held the NL scoreless on one hit in the first three innings.
There were only two players for the hometown Reds and both started. Ted Kluszewski was at first base with Gus Bell in centerfield.