As Frey stared at a copy of a scorecard from the game, he was resting in a recliner with his feet propped on a wheelchair. Soon, the scorecard helped transport Frey from a cozy room in an assisted-living facility here back to 1939. He noticed an advertisement promoting 10 miniature cigars for 15 cents.

“Oh, those were the days,” Frey said.

Similarly, Feller was transfixed by the game’s box score. After talking for almost an hour about his museum in Van Meter, Iowa; about Babe Ruth; about how he learned to throw a curveball; about Lou Gehrig; and about several other topics, Feller turned quiet. He studied the names and numbers in the box score, steadying his glasses to gaze more intently. He was silent for two minutes.

“I see Lonny Frey went 1 for 4,” Feller eventually said, knowing that they were the only two living players from that game.

Three weeks before the game, Frey’s son, Tom, was born. Maggie, Tom’s wife, teasingly said that family legend had it that Lonny was out late with his teammates the night before the birth. Lonny was smart enough not to confirm that tale. Although Frey played in three All-Star Games, he spoke humbly about them and referred to them as “just another train ride.”

Image The first All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium on July 11, 1939. Box seats cost $2.20, bleachers 55 cents and scorecards a nickel. Credit... Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics — Getty Images

The ride in 1939 carried Frey to the second spot in the lineup, hitting behind Stan Hack of the Chicago Cubs and in front of his teammate Ival Goodman. Frey faced the Yankees’ Red Ruffing, a control pitcher who he said “made you hit the ball.” That worked for Frey, who described himself as “base-hit crazy.” He said he tried to “punch the ball somewhere.” He punched a double to right field in the third to put the N.L. ahead, 1-0.

One inning later, the 62,892 fans, about 10,000 short of a sellout, saw the A.L. respond with two runs. In the fifth, DiMaggio, who was hitting .435, homered to put the A.L. ahead, 3-1. Feller said DiMaggio was friendly, but added that the great, guarded Yankee was “a recluse” who isolated himself from his teammates.