The East-West All-Star Game was an annual all-star game for Negro league baseball

Negro league baseball

The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...

 players. The game was the brainchild of Gus Greenlee

Gus Greenlee

William Augustus "Gus" Greenlee was a Negro League baseball owner and an African American businessman....

, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords

Pittsburgh Crawfords

The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Named after the Crawford Grill, a club in the Hill District of Pittsburgh owned by Gus Greenlee, the Crawfords were originally a youth semipro team sponsored by...

. In 1933

1933 in baseball

-Headline Events of the Year:* First Major League Baseball All-Star Game, July 6 at Comiskey Park: American League, 4-2.* First Negro League Baseball All-Star Game.-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Giants over Washington Senators...

 he decided to match the Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Major League Baseball All-Star Game

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...

 with Negro league

Negro league baseball

The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...

 players. Newspaper balloting was set up to allow the fans to choose the starting lineups for that first game, a tradition that continued through the series' end in 1962

1962 in baseball

The 1962 season is perhaps most notable for the dismal 40–120 record of the New York Mets, the third-worst winning percentage and the record for most games lost since 1900.-Major League Baseball:...

.

Because league structures were shaky during the Great Depression

Great Depression in the United States

The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...

 and also because certain teams (notably the Kansas City Monarchs

Kansas City Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...

 and the Homestead Grays

Homestead Grays

The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...

) frequently played entirely independent of the leagues, votes were not counted by league, but by geographical location.