October 12, 1963, 60 years ago: Since 1883, baseball games had been played at locations named "The Polo Grounds." This would be the last one. It remains a game unlike any other in baseball history.
The old Harlem Horseshoe hosted the Latin American All-Star Game. A team of Latin stars from the National League beat their American League peers, 5-2. The postseason exhibition, in which Minnesota Twins 1st baseman Vic Power, a native of Puerto Rico, is honored as the top Latin American player during a pregame ceremony. That ceremony includes future Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Clemente, and Juan Marichal.
Marichal started the game for the National League, later saying, "It was historic. There was a lot of emotion among all the players, and you could tell the fans were excited about it, too."
Despite the rise of Hispanic players, the rosters weren't quite filled-out. The American League's 1st baseman was Julio Becquer, who didn't even have an official at-bat that season: He appeared in 1 game, as a pinch-runner for the Twins, though he did come around to score.
The National League team had trouble finding catchers. Their starter was Facundo "Cuno" Barragan, a Mexican-American from California, who struck out in his only at-bat that year for the Chicago Cubs. That was the last of his 190 major league plate appearance.
The other catcher on the NL roster wasn't even Hispanic: It was Joe Pignatano, formerly of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who had closed out his career the previous season, grounding into a triple play to end the Mets' season at the Polo Grounds. He went on to coach for the Mets, including in their 1969 World Championship season.
Only 14,235 fans attended this game, a terribly small crowd for the dual occasion of the coming-out party for Hispanic ballplayers and baseball's farewell to one of its most historic venues.