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50 free MLB All-Star Game trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 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 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01By what nickname is the MLB All-Star Game commonly known?
The Midsummer Classic
It is meant to mark the symbolic halfway point of the season, though the mathematical midpoint usually falls weeks earlier.
Q 02Which Chicago Tribune sports editor came up with the idea for the first All-Star Game?
Arch Ward
He also created the Golden Gloves boxing tournament and the College All-Star Football Classic.
Q 03Where was the first All-Star Game played on July 6, 1933?
Comiskey Park, Chicago
It was staged as part of the 1933 World's Fair and was meant to be a one-time event.
Q 04Which Yankee hit a two-run homer to highlight the first All-Star Game in 1933?
Babe Ruth
Twenty of the thirty-six All-Stars on the field that day later made the Hall of Fame.
Q 05What did the Chicago Tribune call the inaugural 1933 contest?
The Game of the Century
Fifty-five newspapers printed fan ballots, and the $45,000 net gate went to a charity for needy former players.
Q 06Which Giants pitcher struck out five future Hall of Famers in a row in the 1934 game?
Carl Hubbell
The victims were Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin, in that order.
Q 07Who hit a walk-off home run to win the 1941 All-Star Game for the American League?
Ted Williams
The NL led 5–4 with two outs in the ninth when he connected off the Cubs' Claude Passeau.
Q 08Which pair were the first brothers to appear together in an All-Star Game, in 1941?
Joe and Dom DiMaggio
Dom singled home Joe in his first plate appearance of the game.
Q 09Why was no All-Star Game held in 1945?
Wartime travel restrictions
The game scheduled for Boston's Fenway Park was simply deferred to the next season.
Q 10During which four-season stretch were two All-Star Games played every year?
1959 to 1962
The second game raised money for the players' pension fund, but the experiment was dropped as diluting the event.
Q 11Which fan base stuffed the 1957 ballot box and elected seven of its own players to start?
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Enquirer printed pre-marked ballots in the Sunday paper; Stan Musial was the only non-Red elected.
Q 12Which commissioner removed two of those 1957 starters and took the vote away from fans?
Ford Frick
He inserted Willie Mays and Hank Aaron for Gus Bell and Wally Post, and fans did not vote again until 1970.
Q 13Who was the first player ever voted onto an All-Star team as a fan write-in, in 1970?
Rico Carty
Steve Garvey became the second write-in starter in 1974 and went on to win that game's MVP.
Q 21In which year was a designated hitter used in an All-Star Game for the first time?
1989
Until 2010 the DH was used only in AL parks; the 2011 game was the first in an NL park with a DH.
Q 22Which Red Sox fan used a program to cast 39,000-plus votes for Nomar Garciaparra in 1999?
Chris Nandor
MLB rejected the votes once the scheme was discovered.
Q 23Who became the first pitcher to open an All-Star Game by striking out the side, in 1999?
Pedro Martínez
He fanned five of the six batters he faced and took MVP honours as a member of the host team.
Q 14Pete Rose scored the 1970 winning run by bowling over which American League catcher?
Ray Fosse
The collision came in the bottom of the twelfth at brand-new Riverfront Stadium.
Q 15Which 1970 ballpark hosted the first All-Star Game played entirely at night?
Riverfront Stadium
The stadium had been open barely two weeks; every All-Star Game since has been played under the lights.
Q 16How many of the 20 All-Star Games from 1963 to 1982 did the American League win?
One
A 1–19 record is the worst run for either league in the history of the exhibition.
Q 17In the windy 1971 game at Tiger Stadium, what was unusual about how all ten runs scored?
Every one came on a homer
Reggie Jackson's blast off the light tower on the right-center roof was the most famous of the six.
Q 18Whose 1983 grand slam is still the only one in All-Star Game history?
Fred Lynn
It came off the Giants' Atlee Hammaker in a seven-run third inning at Comiskey Park.
Q 19Why was the 1983 game played on a Wednesday rather than the usual Tuesday?
To mark 50 years to the day since the 1933 original
It was played at Comiskey Park, the same venue as the 1933 original.
Q 20Which year's game was moved to a Sunday in August because of a players' strike?
1981
It remains the only All-Star Game played on a weekend and the last one held outside July.
Q 24Who switched to third base in 2001 so Cal Ripken Jr. could play shortstop one last time?
Alex Rodriguez
Ripken then homered in the third inning and won his second All-Star MVP award.
Q 25What was the final score of the controversial 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee?
7–7 tie
Both teams ran out of pitchers after 11 innings and Commissioner Bud Selig called it, to a shower of boos and beer bottles.
Q 26From 2003 to 2016, what did the league that won the All-Star Game receive?
Home-field advantage in the World Series
Since 2017 it has gone to the pennant winner with the better regular-season record.
Q 27Which 2008 Marlins second baseman committed a record three errors in one All-Star Game?
Dan Uggla
None of the errors led to a run in a 15-inning, four-hour-50-minute game, the longest by time ever.
Q 28How many innings did the longest All-Star Games, in 1967 and 2008, last?
15
The 2008 game at the old Yankee Stadium ended at 1:38 a.m. with the AL winning 4–3.
Q 29Which Cardinals pitcher hinted he grooved pitches to Derek Jeter in the 2014 game?
Adam Wainwright
The remark fed calls to stop letting an exhibition decide World Series home field.
Q 30Fans of which team had 65 million fraudulent votes cancelled in 2015?
Kansas City Royals
Eight of their players had been leading at their positions, which would have left Mike Trout as the only other AL starter.