Denver in July 1998 was a literal furnace. If you weren't there, it’s hard to describe the buzz surrounding the 1998 MLB All Star Game. Baseball felt massive. It felt invincible. We were right in the thick of the McGwire and Sosa home run chase, and the Midsummer Classic was heading to a stadium that people were already calling "The Pre-Humidor Launchpad." Coors Field was only three years old, and the air was thin, the grass was fast, and the balls were flying.
Honestly, it was the perfect storm.
The 1998 MLB All Star Game didn't just feature a few stars; it featured a collection of talent that, looking back, feels almost mythical. You had Cal Ripken Jr. still doing his thing, a young Derek Jeter making his first All-Star start, and Ken Griffey Jr. looking like the coolest person on the planet. But there was this underlying tension, too. We didn't call it the "Steroid Era" back then—not officially—but you could see it. The players were huge. The scores were ridiculous. The 13-8 final score in favor of the American League remains the highest-scoring game in All-Star history, and it's not even close.
The Coors Field Factor and the Home Run Derby Madness
Before the actual game even started, the Home Run Derby set a tone that was basically impossible to follow. Ken Griffey Jr. almost didn't participate. He was tired. He wanted a break. But the fans in Denver booed him during batting practice the day before, and being the ultimate competitor, he changed his mind. He went out there and won the whole thing, hitting 19 home runs total.
It’s funny how we remember that Derby more than the game itself sometimes.
The altitude in Denver is roughly 5,280 feet, and in 1998, the Rockies hadn't yet started storing their baseballs in a humidor to keep them from drying out and becoming "flighty." Every fly ball felt like a potential home run. Pitchers like Greg Maddux and David Wells looked legitimately concerned every time a batter made contact. It wasn't just about the thin air, though. The outfield at Coors is massive to compensate for the thin air, which means if you don't hit it out, the ball just rattles around in the gaps forever.
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What Really Happened During the Game
The American League jumped out early and they never really looked back. What most people forget is that the AL was managed by Mike Hargrove and the NL by Jim Leyland. It was a tactical mess because, let's be real, nobody was there for the pitching changes.
Alex Rodriguez opened the scoring with a solo shot in the 3rd inning. It was vintage A-Rod—effortless power to center field. But the National League fought back. Roberto Alomar, who ended up winning the MVP, was absolutely everywhere. He went 3-for-4, stole a base, and hit a home run. It was one of those performances where a guy just decides he’s the best player on a field full of Hall of Famers.
Wait, we have to talk about the pitching for a second.
It was a nightmare.
Sixteen different pitchers saw the mound. Only three of them didn't give up a run. Tom Glavine got tagged. Maddux got tagged. Even Randy Johnson, who was then with the Mariners (it was his last All-Star appearance as an American Leaguer before the trade to Houston), gave up a hit. The game was four hours long. For an All-Star game in the late 90s, that was an eternity.
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The Roster of Legends (and Infamy)
If you look at the box score of the 1998 MLB All Star Game today, it reads like a Cooperstown induction list mixed with a Congressional hearing transcript.
- The Icons: Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., Rickey Henderson.
- The New Guard: Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Ivan Rodriguez.
- The Controversies: Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens.
There was a moment in the bottom of the 4th when Barry Bonds hit a three-run blast off Bartolo Colon. At that point, the score was 6-4 AL. The crowd went nuts. Bonds was still "skinny Barry" relatively speaking, but he was already the most terrifying hitter in the game. Seeing him, McGwire, and Sosa in the same lineup felt like a video game with the cheats turned on.
People argue about this era constantly. Was it "real" baseball? Probably not in the purest sense. But was it entertaining? Man, it was electric. The 1998 MLB All Star Game was the zenith of that excitement before the "Mitchell Report" and the "BALCO" scandal turned everything gray.
Why This Specific Game Still Matters
Most All-Star games fade into a blur of mid-summer jerseys and bad commercials. But 1998 sticks because it represented the "rebound" of baseball. After the 1994 strike, the game was hurting. Fans were cynical. The 1998 season, headlined by this game in Denver, was the moment everyone decided to forgive MLB because the product was just too fun to ignore.
It also changed how MLB handled Coors Field. The offensive explosion was so lopsided that it forced a serious conversation about "park factors." 21 total runs and 31 hits in an exhibition game? That’s not a game; that’s a slow-pitch softball tournament score.
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A Quick Reality Check on the Stats:
The American League's 13 runs came from a relentless barrage. They didn't just rely on the long ball. They slapped singles into those massive Coors Field gaps. By the time we got to the 9th inning, the NL was using relief pitchers like Ugueth Urbina just to get the thing over with.
The Roberto Alomar MVP Controversy
Okay, "controversy" might be a strong word, but a lot of people thought Ken Griffey Jr. should have taken the trophy if he'd had one more big hit, simply because of the Derby narrative. But Alomar was surgical. He played for the Orioles at the time and was arguably the most complete second baseman to ever play. His home run in the 7th inning effectively iced the game.
It’s sort of poetic that Alomar won it. He represented the "old school" way of winning—speed, contact, and defense—in a game that was otherwise defined by gargantuan humans trying to hit balls into the parking lot.
Actionable Takeaways for Baseball History Buffs
If you’re looking to revisit the 1998 MLB All Star Game, don’t just watch the highlights. There are a few things you should do to really appreciate the context of that night:
- Watch the Home Run Derby Intro: Find the footage of the player introductions. The roar for McGwire and Sosa is unlike anything you hear in modern stadiums. It’s a snapshot of a very specific cultural fever.
- Analyze the Strike Zone: If you can find full-inning broadcasts, look at the strike zone compared to today’s "automated" standards. Umpires like Ed Montague had a massive "veteran" zone that players still managed to crush.
- Check the Bench: Look at the guys who didn't start. Jim Thome, Rafael Palmeiro, and David Justice were coming off the bench. The depth of talent in 1998 was arguably the highest it has ever been in the history of the sport.
- Research the "Pre-Humidor" Era: To understand why the 13-8 score happened, look up the physics of a dry baseball in high altitude. It basically turns a standard Rawlings into a golf ball.
The 1998 MLB All Star Game was a loud, colorful, slightly inflated masterpiece. It was the last time baseball felt like the undisputed king of American culture, even if we now know that much of that power was fueled by things we weren't supposed to talk about. It remains the highest-scoring, most chaotic, and perhaps most representative game of its decade.
For anyone trying to understand why the 90s were "The Golden Era" for some and a "Dark Age" for others, that Tuesday night in Denver is the only evidence you need.
To dig deeper into the specific box scores or to see the pitch-by-pitch breakdown, the Baseball-Reference archives for the 1998 season provide the most accurate statistical mapping of the event. Comparing those numbers to the 2024 or 2025 All-Star games highlights just how much the "Three True Outcomes" era has shifted the game away from the high-scoring chaos seen at Coors Field.