THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME

A stellar matchup.

Journalist Sullivan, author of Graveyard of the Pacific: Shipwreck and Survival on America’s Deadliest Waterway (2023) reminds readers that President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt barely escaped assassination in February 1933 by a gunman who killed the man sitting next to him. Ironically, that victim (Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak) had joined FDR in Wrigley Field the previous October to throw out the ball for the 1932 World Series. Sullivan then steps back: With the first All-Star Game taking place in 1933 Chicago, he delivers a lively portrait of the city and nation, with an emphasis of crime, politics, and, of course, baseball. His Chicago is a hive of corruption and gangsters. Nationally, “a decade of debauch”—the Roaring Twenties—was followed by the Great Depression, and Babe Ruth dominated baseball. Most readers are likely unaware that the “live-ball era” began in 1911, when the baseball was re-engineered. Ruth began hitting home runs after 1920, and fans loved it, making him the sport’s most popular player. The Depression brought misery to the game as well as the nation. Attendance plummeted, and team owners cut salaries and work force. At its depth, Chicago leaders planned a World’s Fair in 1933, hoping to repeat the success of its 1893 fair. During planning, a local sports editor proposed a “Game of the Century” between stars of both leagues, elected by popular vote. The idea was mildly controversial when first suggested but quickly caught on. Beyond relating details of the 1933 matchup, Sullivan takes a detour into the Negro League’s largely forgotten East-West All-Star Game. Some players in the book are familiar (Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove), but there are plenty of unknowns, revived here for new and old fans alike.

A fine account of baseball’s “Game of the Century.”