What happens when a league’s schedule makers forget to include a team for an entire weekend?
In 1970, the American League was forced to solve that exact problem when they inadvertently left the Boston Red Sox off the Grapefruit League schedule entirely over the weekend of March 7-8. Of course, back then, schedules were put together by hand; a little human error was all it took for the whole thing to fall apart.
So, what did they do? Instead of re-doing the entire schedule, they cobbled together a handful of players from three different AL teams to create a new team so the Red Sox had someone to play. Just two games, to be held at their Spring home in Winter Haven, Florida, playing against a team that would last but a single weekend.
The players for this temporary team were plucked from the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Minnesota Twins. New Twins manager Bill Rigney was responsible for Saturday’s game, and Tigers skipper Mayo Smith was given the reins for Sunday.
Saturday’s game saw players such as Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, a very young future World Series MVP behind the plate in Rick Dempsey, and future manager Charlie Manuel all suiting up for the team, which the press had dubbed a variety of names, including the Midwest American League All-Stars, the Combos, the Pickups, and one even using a series of question marks in place of a team name in their headline. On the mound, Ray Culp started for the Red Sox, and Minnesota’s Dick Woodson countered for the Combos.
There’s no note on what uniforms the Combos players wore, but considering it was 1970 and a Spring Training game, the players likely wore their usual White Sox, Tigers, and Twins uniforms—just like an All-Star Game.
Perhaps due to some unfamiliarity with each other, the Combos/Midwest American League All-Stars struggled throughout the game, particularly in the field, with the temp team combining for six errors. Despite getting out to a quick 1-0 lead after the first inning, the Combos faltered from then on out; Boston scored two in the 2nd, one in the 3rd, four in the 5th, and six in the 7th to take the unusual game 13-2. The seventh inning alone saw the Combos commit five balks, three passed balls, and two errors.
Carl Yastrzemski and Reggie Smith led Boston’s offensive efforts, with Smith launching a home run off Chicago’s Wilbur Wood in the seventh inning. George Scott was another key contributor, driving in four runs, including a decisive bases-clearing double in the fifth inning.
As if this game wasn’t unusual enough, a total solar eclipse darkened the skies over the 1,330 fans watching at Chain O’Lakes Park that afternoon. The lights briefly turned on, and the eclipse reached totality over the ballpark at 1:38 p.m.
The second game of this series was set for Sunday, with the Combo team featuring a different roster of players from the same three teams. However, it wasn’t to be; the baseball gods stepped in and decided the temp team should forever remain a one-game wonder, as rainy weather cancelled the finale.
The Midwest American League All-Stars lasted just one day in the big leagues, a game interrupted by a total solar eclipse. With a future Hall of Famer in their lineup, they committed six errors and ultimately lost 13 to 2 before their opportunity at redemption in their swan song was erased due to rain, and the team was forgotten entirely by history. Hey, that’s Baseball.
