Zalusky: 1967 All-Star game was a Crosstown Classic

It was played under the smoggy skies of Southern California.

Yet there was a distinct Windy City atmosphere to the 1967 All-Star Game in Anaheim Stadium.

The contest shaped up as a mini-Crosstown Classic, with Cubs rising star Ferguson Jenkins and White Sox ace Gary Peters putting on a strikeout clinic in the Orange County stadium.

The duo would account for 10 of an All-Star Game record 30 strikeouts during a game that also set a record for most innings played, 15, that stood unmatched until 2008.

Jenkins himself tied an All-Star Game record originally set by Carl Hubbell in 1934 with 6 strikeouts.

It was a breakout year for the Canadian pitcher, acquired by the Cubs the year before from the Phillies.

In his next-to-last start before the break, he notched his 11th victory, a 4-1 three-hitter on July 2 against the Reds, aiding his own cause with a double and a triple.

The win placed the Cubs in a tie for first place and fueled optimism among the Wrigley Field faithful, who had suffered through a 103-loss season in 1966.

There was reason for optimism among Comiskey Park rooters as well. The Sox had been posting winning seasons since 1951 and held a two-game lead in the AL pennant race at the break.

Peters and Joe Horlen, both headed to Anaheim, although Horlen didn't pitch, anchored a strong Sox rotation, with Peters posting a 10-4 record in the first half.

His last two starts were a tough-luck loss to Detroit on July 2 in which he only yielded 3 hits, and a two-hit, eight-inning effort in a 2-1 win against Minnesota on July 7 in which he did not earn a decision.

More than 46,000 packed Anaheim Stadium on July 11 to see NL starter Juan Marichal of the Giants face Dean Chance of the Twins.

Jenkins told Tim Sheridan in an episode of the CubTalks documentary web series, "I was pretty excited. I was 22 years old."

He said that prior to the game Manager Walter Alston told him the pitching order would be Marichal, Jenkins and Bob Gibson.

"I said, 'Wow, it's an honor to be in the middle of these two guys.'"

The NL struck first in the second, when Philadelphia's Dick Allen, Jenkins' first roommate when he was with the Phillies, hit a solo homer off Chance.

One of the pleasures of watching the All-Star Game film is hearing Jack Brickhouse's narration, as Allen's blast goes "way, way back" over the center field wall.

Alston brought in Jenkins in the fourth. With one out, the Twins' Tony Oliva slapped a single up the middle past a diving Jenkins. But Oliva's teammate Harmon Killebrew struck out when Jenkins painted the outside corner with a slider. Then Oliva was caught stealing to end the inning.

In the fifth, the AL was threatening, with two out and Carl Yastrzemski on second. That's when AL manager Hank Bauer sent in Mickey Mantle, making his 15th all-star appearance, as a pinch hitter.

It wasn't Jenkins' first encounter with the Mick. He remembered facing Mantle in spring training with the Phillies.

Mantle swung and missed at a high fastball, and then, pitching out of the stretch, Jenkins struck him out looking on another fastball.

Jenkins, however, allowed the tying run in the sixth when the Orioles' Brooks Robinson hit a solo smash into the left field bullpen.

In the top of the sixth, Bauer called on Peters.

In an interview with historian Mark Liptak, Peters said, "It was a big thrill for me because I got a chance to see and to face all those National League stars that I had heard about."

The left-hander pitched three perfect innings, striking out four.

Jenkins was the first batter he faced. The Cubs hurler flied out to right, faring better than the next two Hall-of-Fame hitters.

Peters unleashed his slow, easy windup and left Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente frozen at the plate, the victims of called third strikes.

In a concession to NBC, the game began at 4:15 p.m. Pacific. Clemente would later say the light conditions made the ball hard to judge.

But Alston said, "Some said the twilight made the pitches hard to see, but you have to credit the pitching. It's still the name of the game."

As Peters pitched deeper into the game, he continued to baffle the hitters, as the Cardinals' Orlando Cepeda looked at a third strike and Allen flailed wildly for another punch out.

But in the end, neither Jenkins nor Peters factored in the ultimate outcome. In the top of the 15th, Cincinnati's Tony Perez hit the game-winning homer off the A's' Catfish Hunter. Then, in the bottom of the 15th, 22-year-old Met Tom Seaver nailed down the NL's 2-1 victory by striking out Ken Berry of the White Sox.

Jenkins would win 20 games in 1967, beginning a streak of six consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins, as the Cubs finished third.

Peters finished the season 16-11, with a 2.28 ERA and 215 strikeouts, but the Sox would fall to fourth place, only three games back of Boston. It would be five long years before the South Side would see another winning season.