Guerrieri: A baseball strike couldn’t stop Cleveland’s Strat-o-Matic All-Star Game
From SABR member Vince Guerrieri at Deadspin on February 20, 2019:
When Cleveland was awarded the 1981 MLB All-Star Game, it was a city in dire need of a boost.
The previous decade, beginning with a fire on the Cuyahoga River in 1969, had battered the city that once billed itself as the “Best Location in the Nation.” In fact, on the day in 1979 the Plain Dealer announced Cleveland had been picked to host the All-Star Game, the story shared the front page with Mayor Dennis Kucinich testifying before the House Banking Committee about the city’s default; it was the first time an American city had defaulted on its loans since the Great Depression.
The All-Star Game wouldn’t fix any of that, but it would provide a showcase for a city that was trying to pick itself up off the canvas—and those showcases had been few and far between for a town that prided itself on its sports teams.
Read the full article here: https://deadspin.com/not-even-a-baseball-strike-could-stop-cleveland-from-ho-1832591917
- Related link: August 9, 1981: Gary Carter’s two homers power NL to All-Star victory (SABR Games Project)
Originally published: February 28, 2019. Last Updated: February 28, 2019.