KANSAS CITY, MO - Royals legend Frank White's favorite All-Star Game was his last one, in 1986 in the Astrodome.
To set the stage, keep in mind that White had not had a hit in his previous four All-Star Games.
"Actually, I hadn't really gotten close to getting a hit in those games," White said. "So, I really wanted to just get at least one hit in that game. I didn't really know if I'd ever get to another All-Star Game so I wanted one hit to remember."
But when White entered the game as a pinch-hitter late in the 1986 game, he had to face Astros right-hander Mike Scott, who was at the peak of his career.
"The fans went crazy when he got in the game," White recalled. "He had the hometown fans behind him, 45,000 fans screaming, and he was really jacked up."
Scott started the seventh inning by facing Cal Rikpen and Jesse Barfield. He struck them both out.
"Oh, and he just blew them away," White said, laughing. "I mean, wow. They had no chance. Scott was throwing so hard, they just shook their heads as they were coming back to the dugout."
When White came up next, he figured he had no chance, either. He quickly fell behind 0-2 when Scott fired two fastballs by him.
But then Scott left a fastball about a belt high on the inside corner and White was ready for it: He drilled it over the left-field wall for a home run.
"Individually, that was one of the happiest moments of my career," he said. "You always dream of hitting a home run in a World Series or an All-Star Game, and I hit one in that game against a heckuva pitcher.
"When it got to 0-2, I really thought I was done, too. But he was just trying to back me off the plate with the next pitch and it never got all the way inside."
Was White's blast a no-doubter?
"There weren't any no-doubters in the Astrodome," White said. "Tough place to hit home runs."
For as splendid a career as White had, he was only voted into one All-Star Game – in 1979 in Seattle.
When White became a starter with the Royals and began raising eyebrows around the league with his defensive play, Bobby Grich of the Angels was the established star at the position.
"It was always going to be tough for me to get voted in, playing in a small market," White said. "You had Grich in California, you had Willie Randolph in New York and you had Lou Whitaker in Detroit. I guess I was lucky to be voted in once.
"But really, I was just honored to get to the game each time I did."
White was first selected to the All-Star Game by Billy Martin in 1978.
"That was pretty special," White said. "And then the last year I made it, when I hit the homer, we were managed by Dick Howser. And it was shortly after that when Dick was diagnosed with the brain tumor.
"So I was very happy to have played for Dick during that game."
