Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that Citi Field will house the 2013 All-Star Game in its fifth season of existence. This will be the first time since 1964 the New York Mets will play host to the midsummer classic.

The 1964 game was played in the inaugural season of Shea Stadium, the Mets' previous home. In fact, the 1964 game, a 7-4 N.L. victory, was one of the most historic All-Star Game of all-time. Here are some of the events and facts that made the 35th MLB All-Star Game in Flushing Meadows so special:

Time Capsule: 1964 MLB All-Star Game Slideshow

 

Johnny Callison: Walk-Off Home Run

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the NL exploded for four runs on two hits to win. Willie Mays led off with walk against Dick Radatz, and the "Say Hey Kid" stole second moments later. Orlando Cepeda followed with a bloop single to right on which Mays scored and Cepeda advanced to second on Joe Pepitone's throwing error. A Ken Boyer pop-up and a Johnny Edwards intentional walk followed. But then Hank Aaron struck out, and the inning was up to Johnny Callison of the Phillies. Callison pulled a Radatz pitch over the right field fence, bringing home pinch runner Curt Flood, Edwards and himself for the 7-4 win. The right fielder became the third player (Ted Williams and Stan Musial) to hit a walk-off home run at the midsummer classic. Callison, in his third of fourth All-Star game appearances, was given the MVP award. No player has hit a walk-off home run at the All-Star Game since.

 

Joe Pepitone's Error

On Cepeda's bloop single to field in the ninth, Yankee first baseman Pepitone took the cutoff and had a chance to throw out Mays at the plate. But it was off line and Cepeda, credited with a single and no RBI, advanced to second. Just nine months earlier, Pepitone had committed a big error in the World Series. In Game 4, with New York on the verge of being swept by the Dodgers, the score was 1-1 in the seventh inning. Pepitone misread a throw from third baseman Clete Boyer on a routine ground ball hit by Jim Gilliam. The ball sailed past Pepitone, and Gilliam advanced all the way to third base. Gilliam scored the eventual winning run on a sacrifice fly later in the inning. Pepitone won three Gold Gloves later in his career, but for a short period of time, his fielding prowess was overshadowed by these two errors. Interesting twist: Ken Boyer, Clete's brother, was the next hitter after Pepitone's All-Star Game error.

 

Ron Hunt: Mets' Only Representative

The Mets finished the 1964 season with the worst record in the league at 53-109. The team was awarded the All-Star Game because of their new stadium, not their success and popularity. Second-year second baseman Ron Hunt was one of the Mets' few bright spots that season. He batted .303 during the year and was the Amazin’s only All-Star representative in the game. He also became the first Met to ever start in the All-Star game, as he was chosen to start the game at second base. Hunt went 1-for-3 batting in the eighth spot. It was his first of two All-Star Game appearances.

 

L.A. Mound

Both starting pitchers represented Los Angeles. For the AL, Dean Chance of the Angels tossed three shutout innings and struck out two in his first of two All-Star Game appearances. On the other end, Don Drysdale of the Dodgers gave up one run and struck out three in three innings. Neither was awarded a decision. Chance went on to win the 1964 Cy Young Award (separate awards for each league started in 1967), becoming the third of five straight Los Angeles-area winners: Drysdale (1962) and Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965 and 1966). Koufax was on the N.L. roster in the 1964 All-Star game, but did not enter the game.

 

Joe Torre In New York

N.L. starting catcher Joe Torre made his second appearance at the new Queens stadium at the All-Star Game. Torre's Milwaukee Braves had visited in May. He did not know it at the time, but he would experience quite a few future moments in the Big Apple. Torre played his final three years (1975-1977) as a Met. He followed his playing days with five losing seasons as manager of the team. In 1996, he retuned to New York to manage the Yankees for 12 seasons. Torre won four World Series in 12 playoff appearances in pinstripes. One of those World Series victories was a 4-1 series win over the Mets, ending with a Game 5 Yankee victory at Shea Stadium.

 

Killebrew's Three Hits

The N.L.'s ninth-inning rally arguably stole the game's MVP trophy out of Killebrew's hands. The A.L.'s clean-up hitter went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Killebrew slugged 49 home runs for the Twins in 1964 to lead the A.L. for the third straight year. But this would be Killebrew's last season as a regular outfielder (he started the All-Star Game in left), after knee surgery and a weak arm made him a liability. He played the majority of the rest of his career at first base/third base. In all, Killebrew made 13 All-Star Games.

 

Following The Bronx

The 2013 game at Citi Field will come five years after it was held at Yankee Stadium. Similarly, the Yankees hosted the second of two All-Star Games in 1960. That game is remembered for being Ted Williams' last-ever All-Star appearance. Once again, Queens will have a chance to use the Bronx as a template.

 

Big Crowd

Shea pulled in a crowd of 50,850, making the game the seventh-highest attended at the time. Only games played at Yankee Stadium, Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum and Detroit's Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) attracted more fans. Now, 48 years later, the game is listed as the 30th most attended game in All-Star Game history.

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