July 10, 1984: Winning performances by two Expos lead NL to All-Star victory

A season after dropping its first All-Star Game since 1971, the National League returned to its winning ways by beating the American League, 3-1, in the 1984 midsummer classic at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, in a game featuring record-breaking strikeout pitching.

Eighty-one-year-old Carl Hubbell, ace of the Giants in their New York incarnation who fanned five future Hall of Famers consecutively in the second-ever All-Star Game in 1934, threw out one of the ceremonial first pitches. With the first of two games played in July 1961 taking place in San Francisco, this game represented the second All-Star Game at Candlestick.

The ’84 game continued a three-season trend of All-Star starting pitchers from Canadian-based clubs. In 1982 Steve Rogers of the Montreal Expos became the first starting pitcher to win an All-Star game at his home ballpark since 1938, and starter Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays picked up the win for the AL in 1983. Both squads had starting pitchers from north of the border in 1984. Stieb, with a 9-3 won-lost mark and a 2.42 ERA, got the nod for a second straight year for the AL, and Montreal’s Charlie Lea, sporting a 13-4 record with a 2.91 ERA, took the hill for the NL.

Lea gave up a leadoff double to Detroit’s Lou Whitaker but did not yield a run in the top of the first. Stieb proved less fortunate due to some subpar defense. With two outs and none on, Steve Garvey of the Padres singled to right. California’s Reggie Jackson, usually a DH who had last played the outfield on August 31, 1983, failed to glove the ball,1 and Garvey took second on the error. Reigning two-time National League MVP Dale Murphy of the Braves capitalized with a single to left. The rocket-armed Dave Winfield of the Yankees made a good throw that beat Garvey to the plate, which Detroit’s Lance Parrish blocked. Parrish could not, however, hold the ball, which gave the NL a 1-0 lead.

With one out in the second, Kansas City’s George Brett tied the game by depositing a Lea fastball over the fence in straightaway center. Detroit’s Chet Lemon hit a two-out single, and Stieb strode to the plate. Lea threw over to first, and Garvey, after fielding the ball, visited the mound. Perhaps the first baseman noticed something, because Lea threw over twice more, neatly nabbing Lemon on the third try, ending the inning.

The deadlock lasted all of two batters. Gary Carter, Lea’s Montreal batterymate and a perennial NL All-Star backstop, homered to left off a Stieb high slider with one out in the bottom of the second, giving the NL a 2-1 lead that the senior circuit would not relinquish.

In the top of the third, Cleveland’s Andre Thornton, batting for Stieb, singled off Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers. Whitaker followed with his second hit of the game, putting runners on the corners with none out. California’s Rod Carew hit a high one-hopper to first baseman Garvey, who stepped on the bag to get one out. The slow-footed Thornton broke late to the plate. Carter made a good catch of Garvey’s throw and blocked Thornton off the plate for a double play. Valenzuela ended the inning by getting Baltimore’s Cal Ripken to ground out.

After the game Garvey recalled, “I was not surprised that [Thornton] came in. In a game like this, players are aggressive, and I anticipated him going. I caught a glimpse and just relayed it home.”2

Detroit’s Jack Morris, whose 12 first-half wins included a no-hitter of the Chicago White Sox, came on for Stieb. With one out, Morris faced the Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg, less than a month removed from his nationally televised two-homer breakout game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Sandberg reached on a one-out Baltimore chop off home plate and stole second. After Garvey flied out, Murphy walked, but Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt hit a comebacker to strand two runners.

Valenzuela had a dominant fourth inning against three future Hall of Famers. He fanned Winfield and Jackson swinging on low screwballs, and then got Brett looking on a fastball on the outside corner.

Coming on in relief of Valenzuela in the top of the fifth, 19-year-old Dwight Gooden of the Mets matched Fernando and recalled Hubbell’s feat a half-century earlier, albeit against hitters less storied than those faced in the prior inning and game. The youngest player in All-Star history,3 Gooden retired the side on three swinging strikeouts: Parrish on a high fastball, Lemon on a center-cut heater, and Seattle’s Alvin Davis with inside cheese. After the game, Gooden revealed, “I was OK in the bullpen, but I got out there, and I was lucky I got the ball over the plate, I was so nervous. But I struck out the guy [Lance Parrish] and after that felt OK.”4

Against Richard Dotson in the bottom of the sixth with one out, Atlanta’s Claudell Washington doubled. Gary Carter concluded his productive day with a walk, but Dotson retired Ozzie Smith of St. Louis and hometown hero Bob Brenly of San Francisco to keep the NL lead at just 2-1.

Cincinnati’s Mario Soto retired all six batters he faced in two innings in relief of Gooden. Between the two Soto frames, Oakland’s Bill Caudill struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh, getting Tim Raines of the Expos, Sandberg, and Keith Hernandez of the Mets all on swinging third strikes.

In the bottom of the eighth, Murphy gave the NL an insurance run and a 3-1 lead with a leadoff homer on a hanging breaking ball from Detroit’s Willie Hernández, who went on to receive the AL MVP and Cy Young Awards in 1984. “It was like three different games,” Murphy said of Candlestick Park’s notorious weather. “The first three innings, it was cold, but sunny. The next three, you had the shadows and that made it almost impossible to hit. The last three, it got darker and you could see a little.”5

San Diego’s Goose Gossage came on to close out the game in the ninth. He had signed with the Padres in January 1984 as a high-profile free agent after six seasons with the Yankees; San Diego had the NL’s best record at the All-Star break. “When Goose came into the game, his eyes were blazing,” said Keith Hernandez. “He wanted a piece of the American League.”6

Eddie Murray of the Orioles took three big swings on three Gossage fastballs and missed them all. Don Mattingly of the Yanks flied out to Raines in left. The last hope for the AL, Winfield, also hit the ball to left. Raines raced far to his right and made a full-length dive. He gloved the ball, but it popped out of his mitt when Raines hit the ground, depriving the fans of seeing a spectacular play to end the game. Winfield received credit for a double.7

Representing the tying run, Oakland’s Rickey Henderson faced Gossage. The TV broadcast of the game posted a graphic that showed Henderson had struck out in all eight at-bats against Goose.8 On an outside pitch, which, like the first one in their confrontation, may have veered outside the strike zone, Henderson took a called strike three to end the game and set a new All-Star Game record with a combined 21 strikeouts for the two teams.

Having hit two home runs to win the All-Star Game MVP award in 1981, Carter took home the trophy for a second time in 1984. “I wasn’t the only guy,” said Carter. “… One of the pitchers could have won it. But I guess they gave it to me because of the homer and the play at the plate. It’s as sweet this time as the first. It’s an honor just to be here.”9

Lea got the All-Star Game win. With a career record of 53-34, he seemed well on his way to stardom, but due to injuries he made only 37 more appearances in the big leagues. Carter was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tragically, neither Carter nor Lea lived long lives. Lea died at the age of 54 in 2011, and Carter at 57 in 2012. Both outlived the Montreal Expos, who played their last game on October 3, 2004, a little more than two decades after the batterymates had helped to lead the NL to victory in the 1984 All-Star Game. The Expos moved to Washington for 2005 and became the Nationals.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Larry DeFillipo and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Gary Carter and Charlie Lea, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play. He also reviewed a YouTube recording of the ABC-TV broadcast of the game.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/allstar/1984-allstar-game.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1984/B07100NLS1984.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mJt5MwLItI

Notes

1 Jackson said he lost the ball when it went through the painted NL logo in right field. He played three games in the outfield for the Angels in 1984 after the All-Star break and handled seven chances without making an error.

2 Larry Whiteside, “NL Strikes Back, Silences AL, 3-1,” Boston Globe, July 11, 1984: 29.

3 “Red Sox Deal for Lefty Reliever Fizzles,” Boston Globe, July 11, 1984: 29.

4 Peter Gammons, “Before this Show Comes Show Time,” Boston Globe, July 11, 1984: 28.

5 John Feinstein, “National League Strikes First, Wins, 3-1,” Washington Post, July 11, 1984: F1.

6 Dick Kaegel, “After the Party Was Over, The N.L. Had Won Again,” The Sporting News, July 23, 1984: 11.

7 Feeling good about his game, Winfield would have agreed with the understandable ruling by the official scorer. “[W]hen told he was the leading vote-getter among outfielders for the A.L. All-Star team, Winfield said, ‘That’s the way it should be.’” Moss Klein, “Bystrom Reluctantly Leaves a Contender,” The Sporting News, July 16, 1984: 25.

8 In 11 career plate appearances against Gossage, Henderson struck out nine times and walked twice.

9 Art Spander, “No Ignorance in His Tools,” The Sporting News, July 23, 1984: 10.