The 1945 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was cancelled on April 24 after the Major League Baseball (MLB) season began on April 17. The July 10 game was cancelled due to wartime travel restrictions in World War II. 1945 is the first of two years since 1933, when the first official All-Star Game was played, that an All-Star Game was cancelled and All-Stars were not officially selected.
This was to have been the 13th annual playing of the "Midsummer Classic" by MLB's American League (AL) and National League (NL) All-Star teams. The game was to be played at Fenway Park, home of the AL's Boston Red Sox. Fenway Park was chosen for the 1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (13th "Midsummer Classic") which was played on July 9 of that year.
On July 9 and 10, 1945, seven out of eight scheduled interleague night games were advertised and played as "All-Star" games in place of the official All-Star Game during the three-day All-Star break to help support the American Red Cross and the National War Fund.Baseball Did You Know? – VII, 1945 All Star Game Replacements Retrieved July 23, 2015Baseball Almanac Retrieved July 23, 2015Baseball Almanac Retrieved July 23, 2015 Four of the exhibition games were played on July 10 in Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Germany had surrendered in May 1945. Mike Todd, a Broadway producer, had passed on the idea of holding the 1945 All-Star Game in Nuremberg,This Day In Baseball History Retrieved July 24, 2015 at a stadium renamed "Soldier Field" where U.S. troops stationed in the European Theater played baseball. Although baseball's new commissioner, Happy Chandler was reportedly "intrigued" by the idea, it was ultimately dismissed as impractical by military advisors.Baseball Did You Know? – VII, 1945 All Star Game Replacements Retrieved July 23, 2015 The next time an All-Star game got cancelled was the 2020 game due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
MLB All-Stars (none) No MLB players were officially named to the All-Star teams in 1945, due to the cancellation of the All-Star Game. The All-Star rosters for the AL and NL All-Star teams were to have been selected by each All-Star squad's manager (from 1935 through 1946), which did not occur that season.The Sports Post, July 14, 2015 Retrieved February 17, 2017
The Sporting News All-Star Team The Sporting News (TSN) named an annual major league All-Star Team from 1925 to 1961 (from 1961 to present an American and National League team is named) from a Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWA) members ballot.Baseball Chronology, 1945 Retrieved July 29, 2015
The Sporting News All-Star Team made up of eleven members (one player in italics has since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame), is shown here: P – Hank Borowy, Yankees P – Dave Ferriss, Red Sox P – Hal Newhouser, Tigers C – Paul Richards, Tigers 1B – Phil Cavarretta, Cubs 2B – Snuffy Stirnweiss, Yankees 3B – Whitey Kurowski, Cardinals SS – Marty Marion, Cardinals OF – Thomas Holmes, Braves OF – Andy Pafko, Cubs OF – Goody Rosen, Dodgers
Associated Press and The Sporting News (Fred Lieb) All-Stars
A group of sportswriters of the Associated Press (AP) did name 40 AL and NL All-Stars in 1945, after taking nominations from 13 of the 16 MLB managers that season. The managers who did not participate were Joe McCarthy of the New York Yankees, Luke Sewell of the St. Louis Browns, and Billy Southworth of the St. Louis Cardinals. Sewell (AL) and Southworth (NL) were the 1944 pennant championship team's managers and were to have managed the 1945 All-Star Game teams.Baseball Chronology Retrieved July 23, 2015 Although Sewell could not officially select anyone for the AL All-Star roster, he listed his personal AL All-Stars as pitcher Dave Ferriss of the Red Sox and third baseman Tony Cuccinello of the White Sox.
Fred Lieb a sportswriter for the Sporting News (TSN) also wrote an article in the July 12, 1945, issue selecting 40 All-stars for the two All-Star teams, even naming starting position players and three possible starting pitchers. Some of Lieb's selections are different than the AP selections. The annual TSN All-Stars list is released after the season. Tigers catcher, Paul Richards is the only annual TSN All-Star not in the AP and Lieb selections for 1945.
The AP sportswriters and Lieb's (TSN) All-Star rosters (6 of the players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame) are shown here:
American League PitchersPositionPlayerTeamSelectionPHal NewhouserTigersAP, SN (starter)PDave FerrissRed SoxAP, SN (starter)PHank BorowyYankeesAP, SN (starter)PRuss ChristopherAthleticsAP, SNPSteve GromekIndiansAP, SNPDutch LeonardSenatorsAP, SNPAllie ReynoldsIndiansAPPThornton LeeWhite SoxAPPAl BentonTigersSNPRoger WolffSenatorsSNPJack KramerBrownsSN
Position PlayersPositionPlayerTeamSelectionCMike TreshWhite SoxAP, SN (starter)CRick FerrellSenatorsAP, SNCFrankie HayesIndiansAP, SN1BNick EttenYankeesAP, SN (starter)1BGeorge McQuinnBrownsAP1BDick SiebertAthleticsSN2BSnuffy StirnweissYankeesAP, SN (starter)2BEddie MayoTigersAP, SN3BTony CuccinelloWhite SoxAP, SN (starter)3BOscar GrimesYankeesAP3BMark ChristmanBrownsSNSSVern StephensBrownsAP, SN (starter)SSLou BoudreauIndiansAP, SNOFGeorge CaseSenatorsAP, SN (starter)OFDoc CramerTigersAP, SN (starter)OFBob JohnsonRed SoxAP, SN (starter)OFHank GreenbergTigersAPOFJeff HeathIndiansAPOFWally MosesWhite SoxAPOFRoy CullenbineTigersSNOFBobby EstalellaAthleticsSN
National League PitchersPositionPlayerTeamSelectionPHal GreggDodgersAP, SN (starter)PMort CooperBravesAP, SNPRed BarrettCardinalsAP, SNPClaude PasseauCubsAP, SNPPreacher RoePiratesAP, SNPVan MungoGiantsAPPRip SewellPiratesAPPHank WyseCubsAPPPaul DerringerCubsSN (starter)PBlix DonnellyCardinalsSN (starter)PBill VoiselleGiantsSN
Position PlayersPositionPlayerTeamSelectionCPhil MasiBravesAP, SN (starter)CErnie LombardiGiantsAP, SNCKen O'DeaCardinalsAP, SN1BPhil CavarrettaCubsAP, SN (starter)1BFrank McCormickRedsAP, SN2BDon JohnsonCubsAP, SN (starter)2BEmil VerbanCardinalsAP, SN3BWhitey KurowskiCardinalsAP, SN (starter)3BBob ElliottPiratesAP, SN3BStan HackCubsAPSSMarty MarionCardinalsAP, SN (starter)SSEddie BasinskiDodgersSNOFTommy HolmesBravesAP, SN (starter)OFMel OttGiantsAP, SN (starter)OFBill NicholsonCubsAP, SN (starter)OFGoody RosenDodgersAP, SNOFAndy PafkoCubsAPOFDixie WalkerDodgersAPOFBuster AdamsCardinalsSNOFVance DingesPhilliesSN
Note Those selected for the Associated Press and or the Sporting News (Fred Lieb) All-Star rosters who had not been an official MLB All-Star before and after the 1945 season are:
Associated Press: Oscar Grimes and Hank Wyse. The Sporting News (Fred Lieb): Buster Adams, Eddie Basinski, Mark Christman, Russ Christopher, Vance Dinges, Blix Donnelly, Bobby Estalela, and Roger Wolff. AP and TSN (Fred Lieb): Russ Christopher, Eddie Barrett, Nick Etten, Hal Gregg, Steve Gromek, Eddie Mayo, Ken O'Dea, Mike Tresh, and Goody Rosen,
External links Baseball Almanac
References