Jul 14, 2024 By John Sacco 6 min read

It was more than a Major League Baseball All-Star game.

This was a celebration of baseball in Pittsburgh. Just 21 months after winning what is the last division championship — 1992 — and nine years after the nasty Pittsburgh Drug Trials and potential loss of the franchise, baseball was alive.

The atmosphere was joyous and electric. Pittsburgh had a chance to shine, and it did.

What followed was a historical conglomeration of generational players who produced one of the greatest and compelling All-Star games of all time.

“Pittsburgh and the Pirates did a good job all around,” said longtime Pirates and MLB beat writer John Perrotto. “At that time, the Pirates were still a first-class organization. To top it off, the game itself was great.”

The National League erased a two-run deficit to tie the American League and then won, 8-7, in extra innings on July 12, 1994, at Three Rivers Stadium, thus setting off a wild celebration.

Fred McGriff hit a game-tying home run, and in the 10th inning, the late Tony Gwynn bounced a single up the middle before Montreal’s Moises Alou belted a walk-off double that drove in Gwynn, who beat the throw and tag of an upset Ivan Rodriguez at the plate.

Gwynn was waved home by third base coach Jim Leyland, the Pirates’ manager.

“There was real emotion in the National League clubhouse,” Perrotto said. “Everything fell into place for Pittsburgh. Maybe I’m biased, but of all the All-Star games I’ve had the privilege to cover, it was the best and most emotional. Perhaps it’s because it’s my hometown. It was a really cool experience.”

Historical perspective

The historical perspective included the national anthem being sung by the late Meatloaf.

The two rosters featured 18 future Hall of Fame players and Leyland, who will enter the Hall of Fame this week to make it 19.

The Hall of Fame players who were on the American League roster were Roberto Alomar, Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey, Jr., Randy Johnson, Paul Molitor, Mike Mussina, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ivan Rodriguez, Lee Smith and Frank Thomas.

The Hall of Fame players who were on the National League roster were Craig Biggio, Gwynn, Barry Larkin, Greg Maddux, McGriff, Mike Piazza and Ozzie Smith.

Three other players with certain HOF credentials are American Leaguers Albert Belle and Kenny Lofton and National Leaguer Barry Bonds.

Other HOF candidates involved in the game are Clarence “Cito” Gaston, the AL manager, and NL coach Dusty Baker.

Gaston, and Jim Fregosi, NL manager, both played for the Pirates.

While the game spellbound the fans, the atmosphere and experience were joyous.

Leyland, then the face of Pirates’ baseball, received a wild and loud ovation that lasted at least five minutes during the pre-game announcement of both teams.

“That’s Pittsburgh,” Leyland said. “I was the local manager and I had pretty good rapport with the fans. It was in our park. I was so grateful. Honestly, it’s one of my biggest thrills.”

The fans and crowd were a huge reason for the atmosphere and excitement.

“The entire weekend was simply amazing,” said Tricia Fabian Alderson, the current softball coach at Chartiers-Houston High School. “I went to everything – Fanfest, Mascot Cruise, Home Run Derby, and of course, the game.

“I was a graduate student at the time but I saved my money and made sure I could go to every event possible. I was lucky because I had a partial season-ticket plan at Three Rivers Stadium.

“I was able to purchase All-Star game tickets because of that before those things went out to the general public. I remember being completely in awe at the Home Run Derby watching Ken Griffey, Jr. and Frank Thomas hitting bombs in the upper deck at Three Rivers.”

Adam Marco, voice of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple-A International League vividly remembers the experience

“I was 15-years-old at the time and was thrilled to be able to go to the game,” said Marco, a Leechburg native. “Our seats were in right field on the top deck — second or third row right near the foul pole. It was such an electric atmosphere, at the time, like nothing I had ever seen at a sporting event. I distinctly recall sneaking down to the lower bowl to be near the first-base dugout for extra innings. Somehow, we found our way in and saw the walk-off hit there.”

Said Dyann Bury, a resident of Rostraver: “Forty years ago the ticket price was $45 and I paid $300 back then through Prime Time Tickets.”

Bury, who at the time was a college student and Monessen resident, said she took (her future husband) John to the game for his birthday.

“We took the “T” in from South Hills Village and almost had to call a ride to come and get us because the game went into extra innings and the “T” quit running at midnight,” she said. “We weren’t leaving. It was an awesome game, very exciting. There was so much energy. It was a different aura.”

A magical moment

Tim DiBacco was the Pirates public address announcer for more than 2,700 games – starting in 1988 and running through the 2022 season.

He did the All-Star introductions live over NBC in 1994.

“It was a thrill,” he said. “It was a magical time. From the unveiling of the Roberto Clemente statue to the end of the game, it was magical in Pittsburgh.

“When I announced Jim Leyland, the crowd and Three Rivers Stadium erupted. For a PA announcer, it just doesn’t get much bigger than that.”

Alderson’s memories of the entire weekend remain special.

“The game is one of the best ever,” she said. “It is crazy to think I was at that game with that many MLB stars. I felt like I was in heaven. I like to go early to watch warm-ups and BP (batting practice). To just even see them all warming up in the outfield was so fun.”

Marco waited out the players as they were leaving the park and getting on the bus to the hotel.

“I was a kid after all and I had two baseballs,” he explained. “One American League and one National League. No one was signing autographs. Every player seemed to avoid the crowd and got straight on the bus.

“And then Cal Ripken Jr. came out and stopped to sign. Cal was seemingly there for 15-20 minutes (maybe longer), and it was incredible. I wasn’t an Orioles fan, but this was a legend. I maneuvered my way to the front of his pack and stuck my hand up through the crowd with the AL ball and a pen. And he signed it. To this day, it’s one of my most prized possessions.”