The Major League Baseball All-Star game has been a summer tradition for the past 80 years. The first Midsummer Classic was held on July 6, 1933, at the old Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was a special event on the baseball calendar. In the days before Interleague Play, the All-Star game was the season’s only contest—excluding the World Series, of course—featuring both American League and National League stars. That fact wasn’t lost on the players.

At the time, legendary slugger Babe Ruth was nearing the end of his historic career.

“We wanted to see the Babe,” St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bill Hallahan, who was the National League’s starter in the inaugural All-Star game, said at the time. “Sure, he was old and had a big waistline, but that didn’t make any difference. We were on the same field as Babe Ruth.”

The American League won the game, 4-2, and Ruth didn’t disappoint. The Babe went 2 for 4 and hit a home run—off Hallahan.

This year’s All-Star game will be held on July 10 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

The four players featured on the new Major League Baseball All-Stars stamps were all perennial All-Stars. The set of four stamps will be issued in July 20 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, with additional dedication ceremonies on July 21 in each city where the baseball legends played—Boston, MA; Cleveland, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; and New York, NY. You can pre-order your stamps and other philatelic products today!

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