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Philadelphia is known for a lot of things: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Boathouse Row.
The LOVE sculpture, the Rodin Museum and the Franklin Institute.
Cheesesteaks, roast pork and soft pretzels.
The Mummers, the Phanatic and Gritty.
For three decades, though, it hasnt been known for the MLB All-Star Game.
The Phillies hosted in the bicentennial year of 1976, and their late patriarch, David Montgomery, wanted his team to have the game again for Americas 250th birthday.
Advertisement So here we are again.
A lot has happened since Veterans Stadium played host in 1996.
John Smoltz has gone from NL starting pitcher to Foxs lead game analyst.
Kenny Lofton has gone from AL leadoff hitter to the commissioners ambassador program.
And a whole lot of fun has happened in those 28 All-Star Games in between.
Five teams besides the Phillies havent hosted at all in that time: the Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs (who have the game in 2027), Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays.
Four cities have hosted twice: Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver and Seattle.
Many moments have stuck in our brains forever.
In selecting the top 10, well leave off an obvious one: Ichiro Suzukis inside-the-park homer the only one in All-Star history from 2007.
We revisited that moment in depth last summer before Suzukis big day in Cooperstown, which frees us up to showcase 10 other indelible moments.
Is that bending the rules? Sure it is! But the All-Star Game is just for fun, so lets go with it.
Here are 10 non-Ichiro moments since Al Leiter got Dan Wilson to fly to Gary Sheffield and finish off the Philly festivities of 1996.
10.
Picture this, 2017, Miami The record shows that Robinson Cano was the MVP of the 2017 All-Star Game for his tiebreaking 10th-inning homer in a 2-1 AL victory.
But a different Seattle Mariner from the Dominican Republic made a more lasting impression.
With two outs in the sixth inning, Nelson Cruz came to the plate against Zack Greinke.
He called time, pulled a cellphone from his back pocket and handed it to catcher Yadier Molina.
Cruz wrapped his arm around the plate umpire, the inimitable Cowboy Joe West, and posed for a photo.
View this post on Instagram They told us that we cannot have the phones in the dugout, Cruz told Ken Rosenthal on Fox during the game.
But they dont say in the field, so I came up with that.
Im a big fan of Joe.
Hes been around for a while.
So Im like, I have to do this.
Advertisement Cruz explained that he enjoyed joking with West and respected his career, which began in 1976 four years before Cruz was born and lasted more than 5,000 games.
When asked about flying out to center with a phone in his pocket, Cruz replied, I had it on silent if anyone called me.
9.
Bye-Bye Birdie at DC slugfest, 2018, Washington A year after the Cruz/West photo, Manny Machado was hardly original in taking a selfie with Matt Kemp during the All-Star Game in Washington.
What made his night distinctive, though, was that it was his last as a Baltimore Oriole.
Machado did not hit one of the 10 home runs, a record for an All-Star Game.
Those were hit by (deep breath) Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Willson Contreras, Trevor Story, Jean Segura, Christian Yelich, Scooter Gennett, Alex Bregman, George Springer and Joey Votto.
But Machado was the name of the night as the Los Angeles Dodgers worked toward a five-for-one deal with the Orioles to acquire him.
The trade was officially announced the day after the All-Star Game, but word spread quickly in the clubhouses after the ALs 8-6 victory in 10 innings.
Youre talking about a superstar, man, one of the best players in the game right now, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen said.
It would be amazing.
It was, for a while.
Machado took over for an injured Corey Seager and helped lead the Dodgers back to the World Series.
But he struck out to end it on a wicked slider from the Boston Red Soxs Chris Sale the same pitcher he played behind to start this All-Star Game.
8.
Hunter is fit to be tied: 2002, Milwaukee The lasting image of the 2002 All-Star Game is Commissioner Bud Selig conferring with umpires from the front row, grimacing as he literally tosses his hands in the air.
With both teams out of pitchers after 11 innings, what else to do but declare a 7-7 tie? Advertisement Thats a shame, because this game like so much else in this era was largely about Barry Bonds.
Coming off his 73-homer barrage the year before, Bonds blasted one homer in this game, off Roy Halladay, and had another stolen by Torii Hunter.
Hunter, who had just won the first of his nine Gold Gloves, raced from center field and leaped at the wall to snatch Bonds drive.
Hunter caught it at precisely the spot on the fence where an illustration of a fielder was doing the same.
Bonds had to smile.
And as Hunter bounded to the dugout, Bonds lifted him off the ground and flung him over his shoulder like a bag of mulch or a sack of potatoes.
That guy was strong.
7.
Bonds hits one to San Francisco, 1998, Colorado Remember the great home run chase of 1998? We learned in Game of Shadows that Barry Bonds took it personally: if Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa could bulk up and bash their way to the publics hearts, get a load of this.
But before Bonds embarked on his own chemical romance, there was this exquisite moment in the summer of Sammy & Mac: Thats right.
Not only did Bonds launch the most epic homer of a 13-8 slugfest (won by the AL), but the ball actually struck the San Francisco Giants SF banner draped from the third deck at Coors Field.
A 25-year-old Bartolo Colon could only gaze at the spot in wonder.
And when Bonds finished his trot, who was waiting for him with a double fist-bump at home plate? McGwire, of course.
Bonds, Bartolo, Big Mac.
Coors Field before the humidor and steroid testing.
Truly, this was peak 1998.
6.
Pure deGrominance, 2015, Cincinnati Thirty-one years after Dwight Gooden introduced himself to the world by striking out the side in his All-Star debut, another Mets righty, Jacob deGrom, did the same.
After winning the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2014, deGrom took the stage for the sixth inning in Cincinnati and was simply untouchable.
Advertisement Three fastballs blew away Stephen Vogt.
Three more (one for a ball) humbled Jason Kipnis.
Then, just for fun, a fastball and two sliders made Jose Iglesias look helpless.
Heater, heater, heater, heater, Kipnis told MLB.com after the game.
It was good morning, good afternoon, ball outside, good night.
It was 10 pitches and three minutes of fury, a signal to the game that on a Mets staff full of young aces, this was the guy with the best chance for Cooperstown.
In the Fox booth, Joe Buck recognized that immediately.
I have the chance with my stuff to just dominate baseball for years to come, Buck said on the air.
Forget Harvey and Matz and Wheeler and Syndergaard.
Remember deGrom hes filthy.
5.
This time it counts, 2003, Chicago (AL) After the debacle of a tied All-Star Game in 2002, MLB decided to link its summer exhibition to its autumn finale.
The league that wins the All-Star Game would get home-field advantage in the World Series.
This time it counts, went the official slogan, and the game lived up to the hype.
Garret Anderson, the Anaheim Angels star who won the Home Run Derby, also took MVP honors for the game by going 3-for-4 with a homer.
But the decisive blow came from the Texas Rangers Hank Blalock with a lead-flipping two-out, two-run homer off Eric Gagne.
Gagne was on his way to a Cy Young Award, and also in the middle of a record streak of 84 consecutive saves.
This blown save didnt count on his record, but it counted for the World Series, when the New York Yankees got to host the Florida Marlins in Game 1.
As it turned out, home-field advantage didnt help.
The Yankees lost that first game, and a week later, the Marlins clinched the title in the Bronx.
4.
Schwarber wins inaugural swing-off, 2025, Atlanta Fans might not realize this, but many players leave the park before the All-Star Game ends, off to enjoy whats left of their midsummer break.
That can make it tricky to find famous sluggers for a tiebreaking swing-off after nine innings.
Its hard to swing for the fences in Atlanta when youre 40,000 feet over Kansas.
Advertisement Fortunately for MLB, at least one A-lister came to the rescue last July, after the AL rallied from six runs down to force a 6-6 tie.
Jonathan Aranda, Randy Arozarena, Brent Rooker and Kyle Stowers agreed to take part (as did Pete Alonso, whose swings were not needed), but Kyle Schwarber played the hero.
First swing: 428 feet to the rockpile over center field.
Second swing: 461 feet toward the big hotel beyond the bleachers.
Third swing: 382 feet near the Chop House restaurant above right field.
With those 1,271 feet of Schwarbombs, the NL earned the win, a fun tie-game tradition was born and Schwarber showed how a guy could go 0-for-2, not play in the field, and still take home the MVP.
3.
The Bronx marathon, 2008, New York (AL) In the final summer of the original Yankee Stadium, the leagues couldnt bear to let it go.
They battled for 15 innings, matching 1967 for the most ever in an All-Star Game, with the score stuck at 3-3 from the ninth through the 14th.
Finally, in the 15th, two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out for Michael Young, whose sacrifice fly scored Justin Morneau to give the AL the victory.
Philadelphias Brad Lidge took the loss, but he was mostly just glad the night was over.
He was exhausted after warming up, off and on, for hours.
By the time I actually got out there, I told the guys in the bullpen, I literally have nothing left.
Its going to be all smoke and mirrors.
If they win, sorry, but Ive got nothing, Lidge said.
I had no idea, of course, that it would actually end up being fortuitous and we would play Game 5 in Philly because the National League lost that All-Star Game.
Indeed, because the NL lost in July, the NL pennant winner was at home for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series.
The Phillies won them all to take the title over the Tampa Bay Rays, with Lidge on the mound at the end.
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Cal connects and Tommy takes a tumble, 2001, Seattle Cal Ripken Jr.
played in a record 2,632 consecutive games, so it was only fitting that he also had a long-running All-Star streak.
Ripken got his first All-Star nod in 1983, then made it every year until his retirement.
That came in 2001, when Ripken was elected to start at third base.
The ALs shortstop, Alex Rodriguez, shifted to third so Ripken could play his old position, and Ripken shifted into legacy mode in his first at-bat.
Facing Chan Ho Park, Ripken swung at the first pitch and hammered it over the left-field fence into the glove of John Burkett, who was warming up for the NL.
That swing earned Ripken the MVP in a 4-1 AL victory.
It would take something really crazy for the Ripken homer to not be the most memorable highlight.
Something, oh, like a roly-poly, 73-year-old manager tumbling ass over teakettle, as the old-timers say, when a bat thrown by Vladimir Guerrero clipped his left hip.
I was watching the ball; I never saw the bat, Lasorda said later.
Im not as agile as I used to be.
1.
Salute to the Splendid Splinter, 1999, Boston The All-Star Game is the kind of event where you can back away from one legend and literally stumble over another.
Funny story, said Ron Coomer, an All-Star for the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park in 1999.
Im walking back from Ted Williams and I stepped on someones foot behind me as I turned around.
I was like, Oh Im sorry and it was Stan Musial.
So the whole thing was just surreal.
It kind of gets to be a blur, somewhat, because theres so many cool things going on all at once, youre just kind of trying to capture it all.
Coomer, now a radio voice of the Chicago Cubs, picked a good year for his only All-Star selection.
MLB honored members of the All-Century Team, capped by Williams, the 80-year-old icon who took a golf cart around the warning track and to the mound.
Advertisement The greatest players of the day gathered around, like children to Santa Claus, drawn in by the magic.
We were all just in awe, Coomer said.
It was one of those moments that you had to stop, look around and kind of take your own personal snapshot of what youre actually seeing.
Because for most of us on that field that day, you knew we were never going to see Ted Williams again.
Williams would die less than three years later.
His final salute really did play like a scene from cinema, aptly described by Jimmy Fallons character in Fever Pitch a few years later: Old men, crying.
Tears.
Tough old guys.
I even started to lose it.
The game itself was an undercard after that, though hometown ace Pedro Martinez matched the moment by fanning five of six hitters in two shutout innings.
MLB would try to recreate a Williams-style tribute in future All-Star Games, with Willie Mays in San Francisco (2007), Musial in St.
Louis (2009) and even Muhammad Ali in Houston (2004).
But nothing topped the original, organic finale of the 1990s.
That All-Star game, Coomer said, there was an energy about it that was probably as good as any that weve had.