Bob Hope remembers the 1972 MLB All Star Game in Atlanta

Bill Shanks talks with former Braves executive Bob Hope about the first time Atlanta hosted the MLB All-Star Game

What was it like when Atlanta hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 1972? Bill Shanks talks with the man who headed up the process, former Braves executive Bob Hope.

The game was played on July 25, 1972. The National League beats the American League 4-3 in 10 innings.

The Braves had hosted the All-Star Game twice before – once in 1936 in Boston and then in 1955 in Milwaukee. This was the first time the game was played in Atlanta, in the seventh year for the team in the south.

The mid-summer classic was also played in Atlanta in 2000, and it is scheduled to be played again at Truist Park in 2021, but with Los Angeles possibly not being able to host the game this summer due to the expected changes to the season, you wonder if that could be changed, as well.

In the 1972 game, Hank Aaron was Atlanta’s lone representative. Aaron hit a home run, and that was the first time in 25 years a player on the host team had hit a home run in the All-Star Game.

Joe Morgan won the game for the National League in the 10 inning with a base hit scoring Nate Colbert. This was the fifth time an All-Star Game had gone into extra innings, and the National League had won all five times.

There was a lot of excitement over the game being in Atlanta, and Hope made it a night to remember for all the fans and the players involved in the game.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.