I come neither to bury the White Sox nor praise them, but rather to point out an interesting fact. Last night they were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays in a makeshift doubleheader.

Forty years ago to the date, Blue Jays starter, Dave Stieb earned the victory after 3 innings in a 13-3 victory at the Old Comiskey Park. Amazingly, the White Sox didn’t lose the game because it was tne 54th edition of the MLB All-Star-Game. More importantly, it was the 50th anniversary of the first game held at Comiskey in 1933.

It’s hard to believe that was forty years ago and yet it makes all the sense in the world. At the time it was a huge deal, and I don’t recall anyone bowing out of the game for any reason other than major injury. Instead of faux, contrived add-ons the only addition to the game was an old-timer’s game to end all such exhibitions.

I know several people that attended both games including Bob Sr. He had an especially wonderful time despite the NL’s getting drubbed. The ASG program is only 10 feet away as I type this. He had such a great time that he made sure we attended the festivities at Wrigley in 1990.

Fans will never forget Dravecky and Hammaker getting shellacked and Fred Lynn hitting the first grand slam in ASG history. Only 17 future HOF’ers suited up that night. MLB can shove the HR derby and fake celebrity softball games down are throats, but the greatest memories came from that Old-Timers game.