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, 1970:
Riverfront Stadium was in its infancy when one of the most famous moments in all-star history occurred.
The collision between Cincinnati Reds outfielder Pete Rose and Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse is certainly the indelible image from the 1970 MLB All-Star Game.
Rose scoring the winning run the bottom of the 12th inning gave the National League a 5-4 victory and its eighth straight triumph in the midsummer classic.
With the score tied in the decisive frame, California Angels lefthander Clyde Wright had retried the first two batters he faced, but three hitters later, he would become part of a historic event.
The wheels of one of the cogs in the Big Red Machine started churning as Rose singled. Billy Grabarkewitz of the Los Angeles Dodgers followed with another single to move Rose to second.
No one knew it yet, but the stage was set for a unforgettable moment in baseball history. Jim Hickman of the Chicago Cubs singled to center and the throw from Kansas City’s Amos Otis arrived at home plate nearly at the same time as Rose and the Cincinnati legend was the winner in the clash.
Ironically, the first person to greet Rose after he bounced up was San Francisco catcher Dick Dietz. It was Dietz who started a rally in the bottom of the ninth off Oakland’s Catfish Hunter that forced the contest into extra innings.
The AL led 4-1, when Dietz hit a homer to begin the ninth and his Giants teammate Willie McCovey singled off New York’s Fritz Peterson to make it 4-3. Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente tied the contest with a sacrifice fly off another Yankees pitcher, Mel Stottlemyre.
A former Reds pitcher, Claude Osteen, who was representing the Dodgers, earned the win for the NL.
Rose is the most decorated of the principles in the 1970 All-Star Game. He finished his 24-year career as the all-time hits leader with 4,256. He was a 17-time all-star, who was the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 1963 and Most Valuable Player in 1973. He was also a member of world championship teams with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 along with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980.
Fosse played 12 seasons in the major leagues and followed up his 1970 all-star appearance with another in 1971. His career began in 1966 with the Indians and he was traded to Oakland in 1973. In his three years with the A’s, he was on the World Series winners in 1973 and 1974.
In 1970, Hickman and Wright made the only all-star appearances of their careers. They were both named the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year in their respective leagues.
A 13-year big leaguer, Hickman had career bests with 32 homers and 115 RBI in 1970. He was a member of the original New York Mets in 1962 and was the first player in that franchise’s history to hit for the cycle and hit three homers in game.
Wright was 22-12 for the Angels in 1970, after going 1-8 in the previous season. Just a few days before the all-star game, Wright tossed a no-hitter against the Oakland A’s on July 3. He is the father of Jeret Wright, who pitched for 11 years in the majors primarily with the Indians.
Dietz played eight seasons in the majors with most of them with the Giants. He his 22 home runs and had 107 RBI in 1970 as he made the only all-star team of his career.
In addition to Rose, the NL champion Reds had four others at the all-star game in 1970. NL MVP Johnny Bench was a starter at catcher, while Tony Perez began the contest at third. Rose entered the game in the fifth for Hank Aaron.
Jim Merritt, who was 20-12 in 1970, threw two scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth during his only career all-star game. Wayne Simpson did not pitch in the contest.