Detroit Tigers: Chuck D pays tribute to the 1971 All-Star Game

The last All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium was historical for so many reasons not only to Detroit Tigers fans but baseball fans everywhere.

As a child of the ’80s, three things were ingrained into my childhood. 1. Detroit Tigers baseball, 2. Sci-fi and cartoons (Transformers, Ghostbusters) and 3. Whatever music my older brother listened to.

He would bring home tapes from Dearborn Music or the “1-cent deal” from Columbia House and he would play the newest tapes on a two-tape deck Panasonic RX-CW43 boombox radio AM/FM with a dual cassette deck. Sometimes, he would record the latest hip hop or top 40 from the radio onto a blank tape and would make mixtapes.

There were several tapes that stood out to me which are all non-baseball-related but there are two that relate to this story. The first tape he bought and was in rotation in the upstairs bedroom we shared was 1988’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy and the follow-up, Fear of a Black Planet.

Now, keep in mind, the lyrics that Carlton Douglas Ridenhour aka “Chuck D”, one part of Public Enemy didn’t understand at the time but it was a departure from the pop sensations of the time that my older brother listened to on “Power 96.3”. At that point, I simply like how it sounded, the mixing and sampling.

As I got older and wiser of the world, two things I started understanding better were the history of baseball and how lyrics of a song can hit you a certain way.

The 50th anniversary of the 1971 All-Star game at Tiger Stadium is not just another “back in the day” moment.  It is considered one of the best games of all time.  Chuck D wrote a song about “his baseball cards coming to life”

The song speaks to a moment that to me at least, captures baseball history at a point where the guard was changing. For the first time, you had a lineup that was created by a computer program.  You have Reggie Jackson in an Oakland A’s uniform along with Vida Blue were starting their run of dominance in the American League. It would be the final appearance of Roberto Clemente in an All-Star game.

25 Hall of Famers were there including Sparky Anderson and Earl Weaver, as both managers would rise to legends as the decade went on. Even former Detroit Tiger great and Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer threw out the first pitch.

Even now, if there is one thing I can appreciate about Chuck D in his lyrics is that he always has a message. To me, as I understood what his messages were in his song lyrics, his love of baseball comes out so crystal clear.

The messages in his songs are observations of the world from his perspective.  This tribute to the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium to some, may send you back to a place in time when the City of Detroit was in the national spotlight for a day, and for any fans of baseball, it may have you searching for the six home runs hit on YouTube.

Chuck D perfectly illustrates the spirit of one of the best All-Star Games of all time. I highly suggest checking it out and saving it among your favorites.

Thanks to my older brother, Roly, for playing the music that still rolls in my head.