With the NL leading 5–4, two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Joe Gordon and Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees on base; Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit a walk-off home run off of Claude Passeau of the Chicago Cubs to win it for the AL.[1] Prior to Williams' at-bat DiMaggio hit a potential game-ending double play groundball.

[2] In the end, the AL's dramatic 7–5 walk-off win overshadowed two home runs hit by Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Arky Vaughan, which had given the NL 3–2 and 5–2 leads in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

[2] With the count two balls and one strike Williams hit a three-run home run off the third deck of the right field stands of Detroit's Briggs Stadium for a 7–5 American League victory.

[8] The 1941 Major League Baseball season, of which the All-Star Game marked the midway point, was the last played prior to the United States' entry into World War II.

[9] Although the Major League season and the World Series would continue to be played during the war years, the All-Star Game was cancelled in 1945 due to wartime travel restrictions.

The fact that Arky Vaughan was eventually denied the accolades of being the player of the game despite his two home runs can be seen as symbolic of his entire career: Despite arguably being the preeminent offensive shortstop of his time, hitting .300 or higher in 12 of his 14 Major League seasons,[10] Vaughan was not inducted into the Hall of Fame until 1985 (posthumously, by the Veterans Committee, nearly four decades after his last major league appearance) and is not remembered as vividly as many of the other stars of this era.