Best Players to Never Make the All Star Game

[Bahama O's Fan]

Three O's on the list, back to back to back. Try guess who they are before opening.

https://calltothepen.com/2021/07/11/mlb-the-25-best-mlb-players-never-to-make-an-all-star-game/26/

[Moose Milligan]

That first one, as great as he was, I never would have thought of him for something like this.   Strictly because he didn't provide great offensive output.

[bpilktree]

1 hour ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

Three O's on the list, back to back to back. Try guess who they are before opening.

https://calltothepen.com/2021/07/11/mlb-the-25-best-mlb-players-never-to-make-an-all-star-game/26/

4 if you count Mike Timlin. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

I never would have guessed that Kirk Gibson never made an all star team. 

[Moose Milligan]

42 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I never would have guessed that Kirk Gibson never made an all star team. 

IIRC, only MVP not to make an all-star game.

[incubus]

9 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

IIRC, only MVP not to make an all-star game.

One of the Orioles on the list did that as well…

[Moose Milligan]

35 minutes ago, incubus said:

One of the Orioles on the list did that as well…

Regular season MVP?  Who?

[Il BuonO]

2 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I never would have guessed that Kirk Gibson never made an all star team. 

Definitely should have been.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Definitely should have been.

Looked it up out of curiosity and in Gibson's 1988 MVP year, he put up a 155 OPS+ in the first half with 15 home runs when that really meant something. Rafael Palmeiro made the all star game that year (as a reserve OF) for the Cubs when he put up a 125 OPS+ with only 6 home runs. 

There were multiple Cubs on the all star team that year, so it's not like a case where Palmeiro made it as the lone representative of his team. Gibson just got straight out snubbed. 

[OriolesMagic83]

Some of those guys were snubs, but Dempsey and his .233 average (and no doubt his low OPS) wasn't a snub.  All Star ballots were a popularity contest back then even more than today.  I remember one year Carew was batting around.200 before the All Star game and still made it over Eddie Murray.  I also liked how often their performance in a World Series was mentioned as if that would get them to the All Star game that year.  Last I checked, All Star game was in the middle of the season and World Series was after the season. 

[Moose Milligan]

5 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Some of those guys were snubs, but Dempsey and his .233 average (and no doubt his low OPS) wasn't a snub.  All Star ballots were a popularity contest back then even more than today.  I remember one year Carew was batting around.200 before the All Star game and still made it over Eddie Murray.  I also liked how often their performance in a World Series was mentioned as if that would get them to the All Star game that year.  Last I checked, All Star game was in the middle of the season and World Series was after the season. 

They used to have two all star games. One halfway, one after the season. That stopped awhile ago though. 

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, bpilktree said:

4 if you count Mike Timlin. 

I refuse to read these articles where you have to keep clicking “next” and endure all these ads.   Who are the three players?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Frobby said:

I refuse to read these articles where you have to keep clicking “next” and endure all these ads.   Who are the three players?

Dempsey, Mancini, Hoiles.

[Number5]

58 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

They used to have two all star games. One halfway, one after the season. That stopped awhile ago though. 

In the several years they had 2 MLB all star games, both were mid-season, about 3 weeks apart.  I don't believe there was ever a post-season MLB all-star game.  The NFL's pro bowl might be the post-season all-star games you are thinking of.

[Frobby]

Slightly surprised about Hoiles.  In ‘93 he had a 6.8 rWAR, 1.001 OPS season.  At the all star break he had a .984 OPS with 18 HR, 46 RBI.   Our good friend Cito Gaston picked Terry Steinbach as the backup C.   At the break he had a .781 OPS with 9 HR and 34 RBI.  He finished at .749 OPS and 2.5 rWAR.   Pudge Rodriguez was the starting C in his third major league season (2nd straight all star game), with a .720 OPS, 5 HR, 39 RBI at the break, on his way to a .727 OPS, 2.5 rWAR season.   Can’t blame Cito for that, though I’d like to. 

In Cito’s defense, he had to pick someone from Oakland and Steinbach was their sole representative.   The O’s had Ripken and Mussina on the team, though Mussina…well, you know.