It was Baltimore's first All-Star game, and the city dressed to the nines. Red, white and blue bunting trimmed the ballpark. Vice President Richard Nixon threw out the first pitch to the Orioles' Gus Triandos, the starting catcher and a darling of hometown fans.
In the sixth inning, Triandos was lifted to a chorus of boos that echoed until O'Dell was summoned in the seventh.
The rest is history.
Of O'Dell's stint, The Sun wrote, "Against the southpaw's sliders and fastballs, the Nationals swung bamboo bats."
Even now, O'Dell can see AL second baseman Nellie Fox squeeze his glove around Crandall's pop fly to end the game.
"You never get over it," O'Dell said. "Sometimes I think, 'Wouldn't it be great to walk out there one more time and pitch?' But that's somethin' you can't do.
"I tell young ballplayers, 'You only get one trip around, so make the best of it.' "
mike.klingaman@baltsun.com
Sun researcher Paul McCardell contributed to this article.
