MLB first held its official All-Star Game in 1933. The inaugural contest was played on July 6 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, where the American League defeated the National League 4–2.
The game was organized as part of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and was promoted by Arch Ward, the Chicago Tribune's sports editor. It was initially intended as a one-time exhibition during the Great Depression, but its popularity persuaded baseball to make it an annual event. It soon acquired the enduring nickname “the Midsummer Classic.”
Babe Ruth supplied one of the game's defining moments, hitting a two-run home run for the American League. Connie Mack managed the AL, while John McGraw managed the NL. Fans helped select the starting players, an early version of the public voting tradition associated with the event today.
The year 1933 refers to the first official MLB All-Star Game between league-wide American and National League selections. Earlier exhibition contests involving all-star teams did exist, including the 1911 Addie Joss Benefit Game, but those were not the official MLB All-Star Game that became the annual Midsummer Classic.