This is part five in a ten part series chronicling the greatest All Star Game moments in Brewer history.
The 1981 All Star Game was kind of a bizarre scenario. An extended in-season strike ran from June 11 into August, canceling two full months of the schedule and forcing Major League Baseball to adopt a one-season system where the year was split into two halves and Division Series playoff games were played for the first time. The All Star Game was scheduled to be held during the strike, and as a result it was moved to Sunday, August 9, the day before regular season play resumed. Three Brewers were selected to participate: Catcher Ted Simmons, outfielder Gorman Thomas and reliever Rollie Fingers.
Thomas got into the game relatively early on this night, pinch hitting for pitcher Len Barker and popping out in the fourth. Simmons, on the other hand, made more of his opportunity. The AL had already scored twice in the sixth inning to take a 3-2 lead when he was called upon to pinch hit for Willie Randolph with runners on first and third and two outs. Simmons singled to right off Burt Hooton, scoring Carlton Fisk to extend the AL's lead to two. Frank White entered the game to pinch run for the Brewer catcher, ending his brief appearance.
Unfortunately, the lead was short lived. The NL chipped away with a run in the seventh, and Mike Schmidt hit a two run shot off of Rollie Fingers in the eighth to score the game-tying and eventual winning runs. Fingers faced four batters and recorded just one out in the game.