When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, the MLB All-Star Game was a special event. However, there was one major event before the game that probably was as much fun as watching the game.

In 1970, MLB and Gillette joined together to introduce the first fan’s ballot to select the starters in the classic. I’m sure all of us can recall a moment or two about the ballots.

In this week’s version of Yesterday - a trip back in time to the late 1960s, 1970s and the early 1980s - I will focus on some All-Star Game highlights as well as some other related and unrelated facts.

Punch those holes ... I remember those days well. It likely was late June, and the large Gillette cardboard All-Star Game fixture was usually in drugstores back then.

I remember a drugstore in the shopping center of my parents’ business in Easton, and I was a little apprehensive to take a large handful of the ballots at 10 years old (It was due to my Catholic school upbringing). Luckily, there always seemed to be ballots available when I visited the fixture in the store.

But I took as many as I thought was right, and it was a little piece of heaven for me and possibly you. We all believed we were making a difference voting for one player at each infield position and catcher and three outfielders.

You usually had a pencil or a pen to punch the holes for each position, and made sure you would punch only one hole per player. There always were mistakes.

The real treat was looking at the American League All-Stars. In the 70s, you really had to study the boxscores, read the newspaper briefs on games, and watch the national broadcasts of games on Mondays, Friday, and Saturday to find out about the AL players. If you were fortunate to get WPIX Channel 11 on your cable, you could watch the Yankees’ games to evaluate them.

There also was the write-in candidate section at the bottom of the ballot. That was the place to vote for the Phillies who weren’t on the ballot.

After you posted as many votes as you could, it was time to track your chosen players progress either in the newspapers or on the nightly sportscast. They were the only real outlets before ESPN emerged in 1979.

Unbeknown to many, this was the first time the balloting was restored since 1957 when It was halted due to ballot stuffing.

MLB evenly distributed the ballots to approximately 75,000 outlets across the country and to a combined 150 minor and major league parks.

It definitely was a part of our youth that connected us to the game.

Speaking of be connected to the game, how many of you kept score of the game in a scorebook? That also was a big honor for me, and a major highlight for the summer.

A game for the ages ... The 1970 All-Star Game has gone down in the baseball annals as one of the more special ones. Of course, Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek had the call as they had many of the games in the 1970s.

It was the first-ever night time version of the game that was played in recently opened Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Atlanta’s Rico Carty became the first player who was a write-in candidate to get a starting nod.

The game ended when Pete Rose barreled over Oakland catcher Ray Fosse, who lost the ball in the collision in the bottom of the 12th.

Their collision became one of the game’s more recognizable one over the years. Unfortunately, Fosse suffered a broken collarbone, and he never regained that all-star level of play after the game. On the other hand, Rose added to his gritty, “Charlie Hustle” image.

Who was the Phillies representative in the game? Remember left-handed reliever Joe Hoerner, who had a 5-3 record with six saves at the time.

A Phillies’ Five ... Only three times from 1970 to 1990, did the Phillies placed five players on the NL squad.

In 1976, Larry Bowa, Bob Boone, Dave Cash, Greg Luzinski, and Mike Schmidt took the honors. The ‘76 game accordingly was at the Vet, and the National League won, 7-1.

San Diego lefty Randy Jones, who started and won the game, won the Cy Young Award that season with an overall 22-14 record with a 2.74 ERA. Jones had an amazing 25 complete games in 40 starts. At the time of the break, Jones had a 16-3 record. He arguably had one of the best seasons in the 1970s.

Three years later in 1979, Bowa, Boone, and Schmidt were joined by Steve Carlton and Pete Rose. In 1981, Carlton, Rose and Schmidt were joined by Manny Trillo and Dick Ruthven (remember him?).

Take a slurp ... In the early 70s, 7-11 released their “Slurpee Cups,” that featured a notable sketch of a then current superstar on the front of the cup. It became a challenge to collect as many cups as possible. Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan, Willie Mays were among a collection of stars. Steve Carlton was the Phillies’ player in the collection. There also was a brief Hall of Fame collection released that included Babe Ruth.

A Three Dog Night ... On June 15, 1970, Three Dog Night had the No. 1 song in the land in “Mama Told Me Not To Come. The band, which has just two original members remaining, was one of the hottest bands in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s with a series of hits and seven gold records.

The band still tours and occasionally makes a stop at Penn’s Peak.

Take a stick or a piece ... Talk of baseball wouldn’t be complete without the mention of chewing gum.

Big League Chew didn’t debut until 1980, but there were plenty of other gums or similarities that crossed our paths.

One forgotten gum of the 70s is Fruit Stripe that was actually striped and contained a flavor close to its color. There also was Chicklets in the colored box with the square colored pieces.

Does anyone recall the Gold Nugget gum pieces in a bright golden color, or the gum cigars that came in multi colors? As for a non-gum, how about candy necklaces that always were fun to wear and eat.

Do You Remember? ... Every week, I’ll mention a likely forgotten player or manager from yesterday. Do you remember the Phillies’ Bob Dernier? He was billed as the franchise’s next stolen base threat in the early 1980s. Dernier had a cup of coffee in 1980 and 1981. He became the team’s starting center fielder in 1982 and stole 42 bases.

Dernier was traded to Chicago in March 1984 and began to flourish. He returned to the Phillies in 1988 and played his final season a year later when he hit a walk-off, inside-the-park homer.