While there could very well be a Hall of Famer or two playing in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, they may already be represented in Cooperstown.
The All-Star Game is filled with the game’s best players, so it makes sense that future Hall of Famers end up on the rosters. The first All-Star Game, held at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1933, featured 25 future Hall of Fame players and coaches, including the New York Yankees’ Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Cubs great Gabby Hartnett. The 1971 game had 26 future Hall of Famers (coaches and umpires included) and the 1997 game featured 16 — as of today.
But regardless of which players in Tuesday’s game get inducted into the Hall of Fame years from now, some of the players have already left an imprint on Cooperstown.
Thirty of the 70 All-Stars in this year’s game are represented by artifacts in the Hall of Fame’s collection, which features more than 40,000 items. Aaron Judge may only be a rookie, but the bat he used to hit a home run in his major-league debut on Aug. 13, 2016, is in the museum’s collection. Bryce Harper’s bat he used to hit three home runs in a game on May 6, 2015, against the Miami Marlins is in the Hall’s collection, as is the catcher’s mask Yadier Molina wore during the 2006 season and World Series.
