Power Hitters Abound on N.L. All-Star Team

July 3, 1965 - Repeaters Willie Mays and Joe Torre (right) top the National League All-Star team named today that includes such power hitters as Hank Aaron (left), Ernie Banks, Richie Allen, and Willie Stargell. 

Fleet-footed Maury Wills and Pete Rose round out the starting team, exclusive of the pitcher, that will face the American League’s best in the 36th All-Star game July 13 at Metropolitan Stadium.

An indication of the strength of the N.L. lineup is the fact that it had no room for Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Bill White, and Curt Flood, who did not even make the second team.

Mays won his position in a breeze. He captured 250 votes out of a possible 255. This is the 12th straight year he’s been named to the starting lineup. Cincinnati’s Vada Pinson, the runner-up to Mays, received 17 votes, all from the Giants, who could not vote for their own man.

Torre also was a huge vote-getter. The stocky Milwaukee catcher got 246 votes to only 46 for runner-up John Edwards of Cincinnati.

The only close race was for second base. Rose, Cincinnati’s aggressive leadoff hitter, edged veteran Frank Bolling of the Braves 110 votes to 100.

The National League has won six of the last seven games, including a 7-4 triumph at Shea Stadium last year. The 33-year-old competition is tied at 17 victories each. One game ended in a tie.

Traditionally, the managers of the pennant-winning teams of the previous year manage their respective leagues. However, with the firing of 1964 Yankee manager Yogi Berra, and the resignation of ’64 Cardinals manager Johnny Keane (who now manages the Yankees), the second-place managers (Al Lopez of the White Sox and Gene Mauch of the Phillies) will manage their respective teams. In the National League, there was a tie for second place last year, but Reds manager Fred Hutchinson died in November, making it unnecessary to break the tie.

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