all-star flashbacks

Seventy years ago, in Boston’s Fenway Park, Waynesboro native Claude Passeau of the Chicago Cubs received the considerable honor of starting for the National League in the All-Star Game. Five years earlier, at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium, in his first All-Star outing, Passeau had yielded six hits and five runs over 2 2/3 innings, including the famous walk-off home run by Ted Williams. In the 1946 game, the last of Passeau’s four All-Star appearances, he pitched better, allowing just two hits over three innings. But one of those hits was a two-run homer by Charlie Keller, which propelled the Americans to a 12-0 victory. Passeau again took the loss. Thirty years ago, in the 1986 Midsummer Classic at the Astrodome in Houston, Greenville’s Frank White hit a home run for the AL squad (off former Jackson Mets star Mike Scott of the Astros) in a 3-2 win over the Nationals. Grenada’s Dave Parker and Jackson native Chris Brown each went 1-for-2 for the NL. In the 1996 game, Vicksburg’s Ellis Burks had a hit in two trips as the NL took a 6-0 win at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. And 10 years ago, Weir’s Roy Oswalt made the second of his three All-Star Game appearances, working a 1-2-3 third inning in a game the NL would lose, 3-2, at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. … The last time the All-Star Game was played in San Diego, in 1992 at Jack Murphy Stadium, former Mississippi State star Will Clark hit a three-run homer off former Jackson Mets ace Rick Aguilera. But it wasn’t enough for the Nationals, who lost 13-6 to the Ken Griffey Jr.-led AL team. P.S. In Fayetteville, N.C., tonight, Ole Miss’ Brady Feigl will start in the Coastal Plain League All-Star Game. Feigl, who got some freshman All-America notice as a reliever this past season, is 2-1 with a 1.90 ERA as a starter for Asheboro in the college summer league. … Ex-UM star Alex Presley went 1-for-3 on Sunday in a Class A-level game in the Detroit system. Presley elected free agency after being designated for assignment last month by Milwaukee. On a minor league contract with Detroit, he’ll likely be in Triple-A Toledo soon.