He Was an All-Star? IV

With the 2025 All-Star Game taking place in Atlanta this season, a few cards bring to mind the unlikely All-Stars from our youth.

Baseball sabermetrician and historian Bill James once described Don Mossi as “the complete five-tool ugly player.”

“He could run ugly, hit ugly, throw ugly, field ugly and ugly for power,” James once wrote.

A crafty southpaw, Don Mossi graced cardboard for years giving hope to all ugly people that they too can be special.

With a Cleveland staff mired by injury early in 1957, highlighted by Herb Score’s unfortunate injury of being struck in the eye by a line drive off the bat of New York’s Gil McDougald, Mossi was pressed into duty as a starter for the Tribe in late May.  Sporting a pair of ears that resulted in the nickname of “The Sphinx” Mossi reeled off five wins, including a shutout of the Tigers on July 3^rd that brought his record to 6-2, 2.87 on the season at that point.

Taking his place alongside Yogi Berra, Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle, Mossi found himself an unlikely All-Star for the American League squad. With a 6-2 lead in the ninth inning, White Sox southpaw Billy Pierce ran into trouble trying to close out the game. After two runs scored, manager Casey Stengel summoned Mossi from the pen to face the lefty swinging Ed Mathews with runners on first and second and no outs. The southpaw struck out Mathews looking before giving up a single to Chicago’s Ernie Banks, which plated a run, but also saw Gus Bell thrown out at third base for the second out.  Stengel then called on his Yankee closer Bob Grim to face the righty swinging Gil Hodges who lined out to left field for the final out of the AL’s 6-5 victory.

Mossi would falter some in the second half of ’57 losing his next five decisions, settling in with an 11-10, 4.13 mark for the sixth place Indians. Mossi would be a well-traveled arm during his 12-year MLB career, going 101-80, 3.43 to go with 50 saves. And for one shining season the lefty with large ears could boast about being an All-Star.

The Houston Astros finished the 1966 season with a 72-90-1 record and an eighth place finish in the National League, while hosting a roster of many future All-Stars.  Former All-Stars Robin Roberts, Jim Gentile and Felix Mantilla supported the roster that also featured future All-Stars.  Jimmy Wynn, Rusty Staub, Larry Dierker, Bob Watson Dave Giusti, Don Wilson and Nate Colbert who would all suit up for the Astros in ’66 before finding All-Star accolades in the future.

The Astros sent two players to the Mid-Summer Classic in St. Louis on July 12, 1966. For second sacker Joe Morgan it would be the first of ten career All-Star selections, while being the lone All-Star honor for pitcher Claude Raymond.

I never associated Claude Raymond with being an All-Star in 1966, instead recalling his cardboard from that year which showed the hurler with his fly open. HELLO! However, the righty entered the Break with a 5-2, 1.44 record to go with 10 saves for Houston to earn his All-Star nod, the first for a native of Quebec.

The National League would walk-off the field winners of the 2-1 contest as Dodger shortstop singled to drive in hometown Cardinal catcher Tim McCarver for the winning margin. Neither Morgan nor Raymond saw the field that night as second base duties was split between the Dodger’s Jim Lefebvre and Mets’ Ron Hunt. Raymond would sit in favor of a quartet of future Hall of Famers in Sandy Koufax, Jim Bunning, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry who silenced the American League bats.

Raymond would log a lifetime record of 46-53, 3.66 and 82 saves wrapping up his playing days with the Montreal Expos in 1971,  In retirement, the hurler became  a staple of the Expos radio and television broadcast teams for over a quarter century. Yet, for the one season, the product of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec stood amongst the best in baseball.

The Padres are sending five players to Atlanta for the 2025 Mid-Summer Classic. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Jason Adam, Robert Suarez and Adrian Morejon will represent San Diego, but who was the first Padres All-Star?

Perusing the Inaugural Padres roster of 1969 I would have guessed Nate Colbert as the first baseman would hit .255 with 24 long balls and a team-best 66 RBI. Or maybe righty Joe Niekro and his nifty 3.70 ERA, en route losing 17 games in 1969. Instead the Padres lone All-Star in ’69 was catcher Chris Cannizzaro.

Winning the position competition in spring training, Cannizzarro stumbled out of the gate hitting just .197 for the month of April. However, the bat came alive in May as the hind snatcher batted .333 in 25 games. Known for his strong arm and the ability to control an opponent’s running game, the journeyman catcher was sporting a .245 average at the All-Star Break. Joining fellow National League All-Star catchers Johnny Bench of Cincinnati and Chicago’s Randy Hundley, the lone representative  for the Padres did not play in the game that was won by the National League 9-3 in Washington’s RFK Stadium.

The catcher would slump to bat just .170 in second half of 1969, as manager Preston Gomez used the whip riding Cannizzaro to the finish line. His 134 games in 1969 for the Padres was the career high water mark for Cannizzaro, who primarily served a backup role for the Mets, Pirates, Cubs, Dodgers during his thirteen years in the Bigs. He would retire after the 1974 season with a career .235 batting average, tossing out an impressive 40.5% of would-be base stealers.

Yes, Chris Cannizzaro was once an All-Star… the first ever for the San Diego Padres.