Hubie Brooks is our 3rd entry in our continuing series chronicling the upcoming 40-year anniversary of the 1986 ASG at the historic Astrodome.
Brooks would play 15 seasons in the majors, with his first All-Star Selection occurring for this very matchup.
Q: You had some amazing teams in Montreal, loaded with talent. What stood out to you about those teams?
A: It was something. Tim Wallach, Tim Raines, Andres Galarraga, Andre Dawson, Vance Law, I could go on and on. We had some great players.
The problem
was at the time, the Mets were really good also (laughs) and in 1986 in particular, they ran away with things.
Q: You were on a tear during the opening half of the 1986 season. You were batting cleanup. You had 14 HR and 54 RBI. Did you enjoy batting cleanup?
A: I would do anything to win. So whatever capacity they could utilize me, that’s what I was going to do. My job was to produce runs when guys were in scoring position. I was fortunate because it felt like Tim Raines and Andre Dawson were on base a bunch ahead of me. That’s why I had an opportunity.
Q: Let’s talk about July 15th at the Astrodome and the Mid-Summer Classic. What was that night like for you?
A: It was my first one and I just tried to soak it all in. I sat in my locker before the game and just observed and took it all in and all of those great players around me. You know what was crazy was at the time they had this guy running around (Barry Bremen) called “The Great Imposter” and he tried to crash the team photo.
Tommy Lasorda saw this and ran over to him and gave him the most profanity-laced tirade I had ever heard in my life (laughs). You’ll remember at the time, this guy was crashing events everywhere. Tommy gave him the riot act and he was removed from the field and taken away.
Q: So late that night, the National League begins mounting a comeback, you put up two runs in the 8th inning. You reached base. Did you feel you were going to come back and win that thing? The N.L. had a reputation at the time for dominating that event back in those days.
A: Yeah. 100%. I thought we were going to win. I really thought we could, and we had our chances but give them credit because they made more plays.
Q: The next year, you’d return to the All-Star Game, and your teammate Tim Raines would join you and be named MVP that night out in Oakland. Why do you think it took so long for Raines to be elected to Cooperstown?
A: I honestly don’t know. I can remember that Andre Dawson, who is Tim’s best friend, would always tell him to just be patient and that one day it would happen and then it happened. That was a great moment.
