MLB All-Star Game Trivia
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49 free MLB All-Star Game trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Midsummer Classic started as a one-off at the 1933 World's Fair, dreamed up by a Chicago Tribune sports editor, and has since produced Carl Hubbell's five straight strikeouts of Hall of Famers, Ted Williams' walk-off, Pete Rose flattening Ray Fosse, a 7–7 tie that changed the World Series, and the first home run swing-off in 2025. This quiz covers the history, the rules (who picks the rosters, why every team gets one All-Star, what happens when the ninth inning ends tied), the venues, the MVP award and its three names, the Home Run Derby, and the records held by Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Stan Musial and Fred Lynn. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so it works as an All-Star break warm-up, a bar trivia round or a test of how much baseball history you actually remember.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01By what nickname is the MLB All-Star Game commonly known?
The Midsummer Classic
The Midsummer Classic was planned as a one-time event in 1933, but it drew so well that the leagues made it an annual fixture.
Q 02Which Chicago Tribune sports editor came up with the idea for the first All-Star Game?
Arch Ward
Arch Ward won over wary club owners by pledging the gate to a charity for needy former players, then plugged the game in his paper day after day.
Q 03Where was the first All-Star Game played on July 6, 1933?
Comiskey Park, Chicago
Comiskey Park, Chicago, got the game because it was dreamed up as a sporting attraction for the city's 1933 World's Fair, and more than 47,000 fans came.
Q 04Which Yankee hit a two-run homer to highlight the first All-Star Game in 1933?
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth was, as the opposing starter recalled, old by then and thick in the waist, yet he hit the first home run in All-Star Game history.
Q 05What did the Chicago Tribune call the first All-Star contest in 1933?
The Game of the Century
The Game of the Century was staged for a world's fair called the Century of Progress, and 55 newspapers printed ballots so that fans could pick the starters.
Q 06Which Giants pitcher struck out five future Hall of Famers in a row in the 1934 All-Star Game?
Carl Hubbell
Carl Hubbell had put the first two batters on base before his screwball took over: Ruth, Gehrig and Foxx struck out in the first inning, Simmons and Cronin in the second.
Q 07Which two-sport star led off the 1989 All-Star Game with a towering home run and was named MVP?
Bo Jackson
Bo Jackson, an NFL star as well, drove Rick Reuschel's pitch over the centre-field fence to open the home half of the first inning, then stole a base in the second.
Q 08Which pair became the first brothers to play in the same All-Star Game, in 1941?
Joe and Dom DiMaggio
Joe and Dom DiMaggio combined at once: Dom, of the rival Red Sox, singled home his Yankee brother in his first trip to the plate.
Q 09Why was no All-Star Game held in 1945?
Wartime travel restrictions
Wartime travel restrictions scrapped the official game, so clubs stayed close to home that week and played interleague exhibitions for war charities instead.
Q 10Why were there two All-Star Games each season from 1959 to 1962?
To fund player pensions
To fund player pensions: the second game was dropped after 1962, once owners agreed to give players a bigger share of the income from a single one.
Q 11Which fan base stuffed the 1957 ballot box and elected seven of its own players to start?
Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds fans were handed pre-marked ballots with their newspaper, and the only outsider voted into the National League lineup was the Cardinals' first baseman.
Q 12Which commissioner pulled two fan-elected starters from the 1957 All-Star lineup after ballot stuffing and ended the fan vote?
Ford Frick
Ford Frick put Willie Mays and Hank Aaron in for the two players he removed, and fans did not vote for the starters again until 1970.
Q 13Which Dodgers first baseman reached the 1974 All-Star Game as a write-in and then won its MVP award?
Steve Garvey
Q 21Who hit the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, in 2007?
Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro Suzuki's drive took a freak hop off the right-field wall in San Francisco and skipped away from Ken Griffey Jr.; it was the first inside-the-park homer of his professional career.
Q 22Who became the first pitcher to open an All-Star Game by striking out the side, in 1999?
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Martínez, pitching in his own ballpark, struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa in the first inning, then got Mark McGwire to open the second.
Q 23Who switched to third base in 2001 so Cal Ripken Jr. could play shortstop one last time?
Alex Rodriguez
Steve Garvey wasn't even listed on the ballot, yet fans wrote him into the lineup and he ended the season as the league's MVP too; Rico Carty had been the first write-in starter in 1970.
Q 14Pete Rose scored the winning run of the 1970 All-Star Game by bowling over which catcher?
Ray Fosse
Ray Fosse was waiting for the throw when Rose barrelled into him in the twelfth inning, and the catcher played on with a shoulder later found to be fractured and separated.
Q 15Which ballpark had been open for barely two weeks when it hosted the 1970 All-Star Game?
Riverfront Stadium
Riverfront Stadium had staged its first game only on June 30, and President Nixon was on hand to throw the first pitch at the All-Star Game a fortnight later.
Q 16How did all ten runs score in the 1971 All-Star Game?
Every one came on a homer
Every one came on a homer, six in all and each by a future Hall of Famer, and the barrage handed the American League its first All-Star win since 1962.
Q 17Whose 1983 grand slam was still the only one in All-Star Game history as of 2026?
Fred Lynn
Fred Lynn came up with the bases full only because the manager had ordered Robin Yount walked intentionally to get to him, and the slam capped a seven-run inning.
Q 18Why was the 1983 All-Star Game played on a Wednesday instead of the usual Tuesday?
It was a 50th anniversary
It was a 50th anniversary: July 6, 1983 fell fifty years to the day after the first All-Star Game, and the American League marked it with a 13-3 rout after eleven straight defeats.
Q 19Why was the 1981 All-Star Game moved from July to August?
A players' strike
A players' strike wiped out the middle of the season, so the game became the curtain-raiser for the restart and drew a record crowd of 72,086 in Cleveland.
Q 20What made its All-Star Game debut in 1989?
The designated hitter
The designated hitter had been an American League rule since 1973, yet All-Star pitchers went on batting for 16 more years, and until 2010 the DH appeared only when an AL park hosted.
Alex Rodriguez, voted in at shortstop, waved the reluctant Ripken over from third base before the first pitch, and Ripken later homered on the first pitch he saw.
Q 24Why was the 2002 All-Star Game stopped as a tie?
No pitchers left
No pitchers left: both teams ran out after 11 innings, and the crowd in Commissioner Bud Selig's home city booed the decision and threw debris onto the field.
Q 25What did the winning All-Star league receive from 2003 to 2016?
Home-field advantage in the World Series
Home-field advantage in the World Series was added to give players a reason to win after the 2002 game ended tied; since 2017 it has gone to the pennant winner with the better record.
Q 26Which 2008 Marlins second baseman committed a record three errors in one All-Star Game?
Dan Uggla
Dan Uggla made two of them on consecutive plays in the tenth inning, helping to load the bases with nobody out, and the National League still escaped without giving up a run.
Q 27Which ballpark hosted a 15-inning All-Star Game in 2008, its final season?
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was given the game as a send-off before it closed, and the farewell ran 4 hours 50 minutes, the longest All-Star Game ever by the clock.
Q 28Which Cardinals pitcher hinted he grooved pitches to Derek Jeter in the 2014 All-Star Game?
Adam Wainwright
Adam Wainwright said he had meant to give the retiring Yankee 'a couple of pipe shots', then insisted he had been joking after Jeter doubled on his second pitch.
Q 29Which team's players at one point led the 2015 All-Star vote at eight American League positions?
Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals players led at eight of nine positions at one point, in a year when MLB cancelled more than 60 million ballots on suspicion of fraud, and four of them were still voted in as starters.
Q 30What made the AL's turn as home team in the 2016 All-Star Game unusual?
It was played in an NL park
It was played in an NL park, San Diego's Petco Park: with National League cities hosting several years running, MLB let the American League bat last for balance.