As the first NABU All-Star Game was set for the newly-refurbished Forest City Grounds in Cleveland, the local team was in first place in the Midwest Division. Three games ahead of Indianapolis, the CFC looked for their first pennant since 1881. Meanwhile, the other Forest City squad -- the one from Rockford -- held down the top spot in the Plains Division, tied with Minneapolis. Altoona was tied with the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets atop the Keystone, while the defending Cup champs from Wilmington led the Atlantic, the Eckfords of Brooklyn were on top in the Empire, and the Lowell (Mass.) Chippies led the Northeast.
In the All-Star Game itself, a packed house saw Jim Creighton himself toss out the first pitch and the East's Pete O'Brien send home the first run, with a blast in the bottom of the second. The West went ahead in the fourth with three tallies, keyed by George Davis' two-run triple. After notching another run in the fourth, the East went back in front with a triple by Big Ed Delahanty and a long home run by Emil Gross in the sixth: 4-3, East.
But the West wouldn't give up. Behind the strong pitching of Bob Black, they evened the score in the eighth thanks to Heinie Reitz and Heinie Peitz -- no, they're not the same person, but the first Heinie singled and the second bunted him over, and Conny Doyle drove him home. It stayed even going into the tenth, when Peitz struck again with a single, then Black and "Wee" Willie Keeler also reached and gave the West the final run of the day.
The All-Star Game was a huge success with both cranks and the papers, insuring it would be an annual event.