Editor’s note: This summer the Cleveland Indians are hosting their sixth major league all-star game, which is the most by any franchise. This series will take a look at the previous contests in 1935, 1954, 1963, 1981 and 1997.
The winning pitcher of the all-star game in 1954 wasn’t even supposed to be there.
Dean Stone of the Washington Senators was named to the American League squad to replace Ferris Fain of the Chicago White Sox.
Stone even defied the odds by not retiring the only batter he faced in Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
With the National League leading 9-8 with two out in the top of the eighth, Stone ended the frame by throwing out Red Schoendienst at the plate as he was trying to steal home.
It was a controversial moment with an argument by third base coach Leo Durocher, but home plate umpire Bill Stewart ruled there wasn’t a balk.
Perhaps a man of few words, Stone offered his thoughts in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle edition from July 14. “I didn’t balk,” Stone was quoted in an article by Dave Anderson.
Cleveland’s Larry Doby, who was batting for Stone, blasted a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the eight to tie the contest off Milwaukee’s Gene Conley. Later in the inning, Nellie Fox of the White Sox put the AL on top for good with a two-run single off Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine.
Virgil Trucks finished things up with a scoreless ninth to preserve the victory for Stone, who was making the only all-star appearance of his career.
The 1954 season was the best of Stone’s eight years in the big leagues as he would go 12-10 with an ERA of 3.22. He had 10 complete games with a pair of shutouts.
Before he joined the Senators in 1953, Stone was 17-10 with four teams in the minors in 1952. He tossed a pair of no-hitters that year.
Early in the 1957 season, Stone was traded to the Boston Red Sox. He would go on to pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Colt .45s, White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles where he finished his time in the majors in 1963.
Cleveland’s Stars
Doby along with teammates Al Rosen and Bobby Avila were the stars of the game.
While Doby made the most of his one swing, Rosen became the third player to hit two homers in the midsummer classic as he added a single drove in five runs .
In the third, Rosen hit a three-run blast of Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies. He hits two-run shot off Johnny Antonelli of the New York Giants in the fifth.
Rosen is now one of five to hit a pair of long balls in an all-star game. The others are Pittsburgh’s Arky Vaughan (1941), Boston’s Ted Williams (1946), San Francisco’s Willie McCovey (1969) and Montreal’s Gary Carter (1981).
Like Rosen, Avila had three hits to go with two RBI.
In addition to Doby, Rosen and Avila, the Indians had pitchers Bob Lemon and Mike Garcia on the AL roster. Lemon got two out in the fourth that ended a NL rally, while Garcia was replaced by Sandy Consuegra of the White Sox.
The 1954 season was one of the best in the history of the big leagues as the Indians won 111 games, which was the most ever in the AL until the 2001 Seattle Mariners surpassed that number with 116.
The success of the Indians is is sometimes forgotten because they lost in the World Series to the New York Giants after Willie Mays made his famous catch in the first game.
Other Stars
Cincinnati’s Ted Kluszewski and Gus Bell each hit homers for the NL, while Snider led the team with three hits.
Ray Boone of the Detroit Tigers also hit a home run for the AL.