Blame it all on the weather. The all-star game in Washington was
postponed a day by rain, sending President Nixon out of town and
forcing the American League to change pitchers because its starter was
in the dentist's chair.

Nixon missed the game to greet the Apollo 11 astronauts splashing
down in the Pacific. The Tigers' Denny McLain missed the start of the
game after flying back to Detroit for a dental appointment.

The National League won, 9-3 for its seventh consecutive victory.

"McLain set an all-star record. He had nine teeth capped,"  The Times'  Ross Newhan wrote.

AL Manager Mayo Smith, McLain's boss in Detroit, defended the dental adventure because an infection had developed.

It should be noted that even in 1969, baseball players were very
different from us regular folks. Newhan reported that once McLain got
the OK to return to Detroit, his private pilot flew them home. Then
when McLain was delayed the next day, his private secretary phoned
Smith to tell him the pitcher was airborne.

He was in uniform 15 minutes after the game started.

–Keith Thursby