Thirty years later, those who participated in the 1987 All-Star Game remain as fond of it as those who watched at home. But players remember less about what happened during the game than how they felt before beforehand, when they were even more excited than fans for the once-a-regular-season intersection of the American League and National Leagues.

“That was an absolutely cool event to just show up and be a part of,” said Angels broadcaster Mark Langston, the former Mariners pitcher who tossed two innings in the ‘87 All-Star Game. “That’s back in the day when you knew nothing about the National League. The only time we saw them was in the All-Star Game or World Series. There was no interleague play.

“It was like ‘Who are these guys?’ And it was cool.”

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So, too, was the chance to play the “what if?” game. What if American League players got the opportunity to face the split-fingered fastball that turned Mike Scott into the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and All-Star Game starter? What if Rickey Henderson, the eventual all-time stolen base king, and Eric Davis, who entered the 1987 All-Star Break with 48 homers and 93 stolen bases in his previous 162 games, led off for opposing teams in the same game?

What if Raines, the defending NL batting champion, got to share a field with Mark McGwire, who made the AL team as a reserve after hitting a rookie record 33 homers for the Athletics before the All-Star Break?

“I just remember as a kid seeing Tim Raines going ‘oh my God,’ and now I get to stand next to him,” said McGwire, the current Padres’ bench coach who went 0-for-3 in the 1987 All-Star Game. “All you did was see them on TV and then you really get to see them and stand next to them. That’s when you get the ‘wow’ factor.”

Today, the “wow” factor takes place on a daily basis. The starting pitchers in the 2017 Midsummer Classic, Chris Sale and Max Scherzer, have each opposed a team in the other league twice this season.

A generation ago, All-Stars and fans alike would have spent all day wondering whether Brewers closer Corey Knebel, who has struck out at least one batter in all 43 appearances this season and leads all relievers with 75 whiffs, would get a chance to face Yankees rookie phenom Aaron Judge, who leads baseball with 30 homers.

But the matchup happened Sunday, when Knebel struck out Judge with a 97 mph fastball in the ninth inning of the Brewers’ 5-3 win.

“Way different,” McGwire said. 

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The participants in this year’s All-Star Game will surely have fond memories 30 years from now. But they are likely to lack the wonder and the unique camaraderie that existed in the pre-interleague days, when the All-Star Game stood as the highlight of the season even for players who racked up eye-popping numbers.

“(The) ’87 (highlight), for me, is the All-Star Game,” said Langston, who set career-highs with 19 wins, an AL-leading 262 strikeouts, 14 complete games and 272 innings pitched. “It was cool to sit in the locker room and look around and see the guys that you compete against (and) are now on the same side.” 

“It was one of those things where you just — you never really (picture) yourself in that position, you’re sort of (freaking out),” said McGwire, who won the AL Rookie of the Year after hitting a rookie-record 49 homers. “You’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m here with all these guys.’ And you just look at the names back there. Oh my gosh, yes."