39 years ago, on July 11, 1967 at Anaheim Stadium, 23 year old Chicago Cubs ace Ferguson Jenkins took the mound in the 38th All Star Game to pitch the 4th inning after NL starter Juan Marichal finished up 3 scoreless innings in which he allowed the AL stars but 1 hit, a two out single by shortstop Jim Fregosi in the 3rd as the NL led by a 1-0 score.  Dick Allen had solo homered in the NL first to provide the only run of the game to that point.

In the AL 4th, 2nd baseman Rod Carew led off by flying out.  Centerfielder  Tony Oliva then lined a single.  1st baseman Harmon Killebrew was called out on strikes and Oliva was caught attempting to steal second for a strikeout-double play to retire the side.

The NL clung to the 1-0 lead as the AL came to bat in the 5th.  Rightfielder Tony Conigliaro struck out leading off.   Leftfielder Carl Yastrzemski followed with a double as centerfielder Hank Aaron missed an attempted shoe-string catch.  One on, one out.  Catcher Bill Freehan popped out to 3rd and Mickey Mantle ended the inning on a called third strike.   The NL continued to cling to the 1-0 lead.

In the AL 6th inning, Fregosi led off striking out.  3rd baseman Brooks Robinson then clubbed a solo homer to tie the game at 1.  Carew and Oliva both struck out to end the inning.  Ferguson Jenkins had tied Carl Hubbell’s All Star strike outs record with 6 as the game went into the NL 7th inning tied 1-1.

The game continued with a slew of goose-eggs as it went into extra innings.  The 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th innings passed with the game still tied.  Catfish Hunter was on the mound for the AL in the 15th as  Tony Perez finally solo homered to win the game for the NL by a 2-1 score.

Fergie Jenkins went on to complete a 19 year career which started for the Phillies in 1965, in which he pitched for the Chicago Cubs from 1966 through 1973 winning 20 or more games in each year from 1967-72, slumping to 14-16 in 1973.  In 1974, he went to the Texas Rangers where he had his all-time career best record going 25-12.  In 1976, he went to the Boston Red Sox for 2 years.  In 1978, it was back to the the Rangers where he put together a stellar 18-8 season and pitching for the Rangers through 1981.  In 1982, he returned to the Chicago Cubs where he retired in 1983.  Fergie posted a career record of 284-226, career ERA 3.34 and recorded 3,192 strikeouts.  

Fergie Jenkins was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 at 8:35 pm and is filed under All Time Baseball Highlights, All Time Pitching Highlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.