On the morning of July 19, 1977, my father told me that he and I were going to the MLB All-Star Game that night at Yankee Stadium, “for my birthday.” My birthday is July 20th, so my not quite yet seven-year-old self was confused as to why we’d be celebrating my birthday on a day that’s not my birthday. My father told me to trust him, and an All-Star Game with Dad at Yankee Stadium sure sounded pretty cool, so that worked for me.
The game would feature a long list of MVPs, Cy Young Award winners, batting titlists, home run champs, multiple time All-Stars, and show stoppers who were some of the biggest baseball names of the day: Dave Parker, Pete Rose, Thurman Munson, Ken Griffey, Steve Garvey, George Foster, Vida Blue, Fred Lynn, Reggie Smith, and Ken Singleton were on the rosters.