Frey Remembers All-Star Games Fondly

By Brian Bohl on July 18, 2008

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Standing in an air-conditioned luxury suite at Commerce Bank Ballpark, Jim Frey looked relaxed about an hour and a half before the Atlantic League’s All-Star game would commence at the Somerset Patriots stadium.

Frey, who compiled a 323-287 career record as a big league manager, acted as the honorary manager for Sparky Lyle’s Freedom Division. Don Zimmer served in the same capacity for Dave LaPoint’s Liberty Division.

The tranquil environment stood in stark contrast to Frey’s other involvement with All-Star games. As the Royals manager in 1980, Frey led Kansas City to the World Series following a sweep of the Yankees in the ALCS. Kansas City lost the World Series but provided Frey the opportunity to skipper the AL squad in the 1981 All-Star contest at Cleveland Stadium.

But a player strike that lasted from June 12 to July 31 pushed back the game’s date from July 14 to August 10. The 77-year-old Frey said the All-Star game served as a precursor to regular season play resuming. The exhibition was attended by 72, 086 people, a record that still stands.

“That’s an awesome feeling to be looking up and there’s almost 80,000 people watching you,” Frey said. “It was tough to manage because the players weren’t all really fit and they weren’t in the frame of mind. It was kind of like ‘we got to go.’ It wasn’t like they all wanted to be there. It was different in that sense.”

Frey said his relationship with Zimmer dates back to his teenage years. Both shared the same suite, where Zimmer was sporting a 2000 diamond-encrusted Yankee championship ring with a studded interlocking NY logo in the center. The connection runs deeper, with Frey hiring Zimmer to manage the Cubs before the 1988 season.

“Jim Frey and I go back almost to elementary school,” Zimmer said. “We played American Legion ball together. He was my boss in Chicago.

“At first, I wanted to have four days off when [Somerset chairman] Steve Kalafer asked me to come, so I said, ‘Steve, I’m going to say no,’” Zimmer said. “So I hung up and an hour later I said, ‘hold on, I can’t say no. He [Frey’s] been too good a friend.”

Both are still involved with baseball. Zimmer still works as an advisor for the surging Tampa Bay Rays while Frey serves as Somerset’s vice chairman.

“Zimmer and I go back to when were 13 years old playing knothole baseball in Cincinnati and we ended up going to the same high school,” Frey said. “We’ve been friends ever since. In that sense, it’s a lot of fun just getting together with him.”

Frey managed the Royals for two seasons before serving as a Mets coach. That eventually lead to another managerial job with the Cubs, where his tenure lasted from 1984-86 and included a NL East title his first season on the bench. It marked Chicago’s first postseason appearance since 1945. After leaving the dugout, Frey became the Cubs general manager from 1988-91.

But Frey said he disagrees with Major League Baseball’s rule giving the winning league of the All-Star game home-field advantage in the World Series. The Ohio native said that edge should be determined by regular season performance.

“I don’t think it’s fair to do that,” Frey said. “The fair to do is the team who has the best record in baseball should get the home-field advantage. No matter how hard you try or how much importance you place on an All-Star game, the players don’t face the game the way they would a [regular season] game.

“It’s an exhibition and there are a lot of distractions.”

Gary Cater took home the game MVP award in 1981 as the National League won, 5-4. The America League starting lineup feature Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Carlton Fisk, Reggie Jackson, George Brett and Rod Carew. The rest of the lineup contained players familiar to New York sports fans: Willie Randolph, Bucky Dent and Ken Singleton rounded out the starting nine with potential Hall-of-Famer Jack Morris serving as the starting pitcher.

Frey said even with that collection of talent, he would have been forced into a motivational speaking role if home-field advantage rested on the game’s result.

“I would have tried to convince the players to play differently,” said Frey, who captured the 1984 National League manager of the year award. “I probably wouldn’t have managed differently, but there is a certain attitude that you might try to instill the importance of the players.”

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