Retroactive All-Star Game Project: NL stars win 1916 series

Editor’s note: This game summary is from the Retroactive All-Star Game Project. Voting was conducted to select retroactive MLB All-Star teams from the 1916 season and the games were simulated using Out of the Park 14. 

By Mike Lynch

In an epic battle of 1916 All-Stars at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, the National League’s best copped games two and three of a three-game set to overcome an early deficit and capture the first official All-Star series between the two leagues. The opening tilt was a cakewalk for the AL, thanks to the pitching of Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth and Guy Morton, who combined for a four-hit shutout in the 4-0 win. 



Game 2 was tight until the seventh when Johnson stumbled and allowed the NL to blow open a 1-1 game with five runs to seal a 6-3 win.  The rubber match was equally tight as each team plated two runs through seven before the senior circuit scored two in the eighth to capture the game and series.

Highlights and outstanding players include:

  • George Sisler and Shoeless Joe Jackson combining for four of the AL’s seven hits in Game 1, and the aforementioned pitching performance by the junior circuit’s Big Three.
  • Dave Robertson and Rogers Hornsby combining for five hits, four RBIs and eight total bases for the NL in Game 2, and Babe Ruth’s three hitless innings to start the contest.
  • Robertson and Hornsby starring again in Game 3, highlighted by Hornsby’s eighth inning triple off Ruth to decide the game.
  • Robertson going 7 for 12 (.583) and scoring four runs in the series.
  • Hornsby slugging .727 and driving in four runs in the series.
  • Grover Cleveland Alexander pitching to a 2.00 ERA in three appearances.
  • Shoeless Joe Jackson hitting .364 with three ribbies in the series.

You can find full accounts of all three games, box scores, game logs and stats here. 

Learn more about the Retroactive All-Star Game Project by clicking here.



Originally published: October 2, 2013. Last Updated: October 2, 2013.