The Weirdest All Stars in MLB History 

Another weird example I've seen was Shelby Miller in 2015 with his lone season for the Atlanta Braves. He made 33 starts, tossed over 200 innings with a 3.02 ERA, yet somehow ended the year with a record of 6-17, leading the league in losses. His overall numbers validated his all-star selection, but the win-loss record always jumped out to me as so jarring.

Surprised Alfredo Griffin in 1984 didn’t come up. Back in the day, MLB allowed a selected All Star player to bring a guest. In 1984 Blue Jays 2B Damaso Garcia was selected for the ASG. And his guest wound up being his double play partner, Alfredo Griffin. However, during the pregame warmups, Alan Trammell hurt his arm and couldn’t suit up. So AL manager Joe Altobelli found Griffin in the stands and put him on the team because he needed a backup for Cal Ripken Jr. That season, Griffin had a slash of .241/.248/.298

Kirk Gibson never making an All Star Game was pretty weird, too.

Reggie also tried to kill the queen when he was on the california angels lmao

Surprised not to see Jesse Crain, made the all-star team in his 10th season in 2013 as a Chicago White Sox. But never threw another pitch in the majors after being selected. It wasn't just his last season. His career was already over by the time he was named to the team. Wild

Speaking of weird 2006 all star selections, Brewers closer Derrick Turnbow made the all star squad despite having an era over 6 that year. And it's not even like they needed him as a representative as they already had Chris Capuano there as well.

Remember that the All Star game is in the middle of the season which is why some All Stars have underwhelming stats. A lot of them have a great first half then a lost second half

Frankie Zak, a player with 208 career at bats made the all star team in 1944 due to the best players at the time serving in the military.

One that stands out to me is Sandy Alomar Jr in 1991. Played 51 games Avg: .217 HR: 0 Extra Base Hits: 9 Runs: 10 RBI: 7 Slugged .266

Hey Mike Macdougal was a stud closer for the 2003 Royals that stormed out of the gate and was still leading the AL Central at the All-Star break. His 2.59 ERA and 24 saves in the first half suggested that he was a big part of the team's success. Of course the less said about the team and their second half the better.

Ewell Blackwell is the all-time weird all-star selection, marking six selections in a career of only 236 games. One of them came in the middle of season where he finished 7-9 with a 4.54 ERA (86 OPS+). The next year he went 5-5 in thirty games (only four starts) with a perfectly average 4.23 ERA. Here's the most inexplicable part--in two years before and after the above he was great with three FIP crowns and leading the league in K/9 twice. After that sixth straight all-star season he only pitched another 150 innings in his career, posting a 4.64 ERA (80 OPS+).

1989. Mike Schmidt got voted in as NL 3rd Baseman despite retiring at the end of May. Same year Jose Canseco got voted in as AL Outfielder despite not playing a lick due to a wrist injury.

Those throwback pirates jerseys are wild

I think a weird example was the 2014 all star game where SIX OAKLAND A'S Players were selected to the all star game. It was a great year for Oakland and as an A's fan it was great to see, but for a small market team who gets usually one all star a season, 6 in one season is insane;

Aledmys Diaz was a great weird all star for the cardinals in 2016, his rookie year as the only representative on a fairly competitive team only to get traded and become a backup utility infielder for the rest of his career

La Stella was something else man Loved watching him play for the Angels

I'm of the honest opinion that it's good every team gets a representative. The All Star game is a celebration of baseball and the people who play it. People will debate tirelessly over how ridiculous Cooperstown is, how guys who deserve it don't get into the hall, it's nice to have an event that isn't just completely exclusive. Every team gets someone to rally around, and for a brief period we get to celebrate the sport for what it is, a fun pastime, and not just a cutthroat competitive game. I know the concern is some guys get snubbed, but the All Star game rosters already have more spots than can possibly give everyone playing time in the game itself, there's plenty of room for a few fringe guys to give their fans something to cheer for and rally behind for a time. Are people worried about diluting the talent pool of an all star roster or something? Especially since they did away with that "winning team gets world series home field advantage" crap. A lot of the fringe guys who do get in end up with some incredible stories of what the all star game means. Many of them it ends up being a rare chance to be seen with some legends of the game and they come away with amazing stories. There's also some great stories that come out of it for the rest of us. Alex Cobb getting his first all star nod this year at 35, and hearing how much he wanted it for a long time, is endearing on a personal level. If you look at other sports, the NHL has some fantastic cases. In 2015, Zemgus Girgensons was voted to the All Star team, and though he wasn't completely undeserving, he was a fringe all star who was the best player on the worst team who got in because his entire home country (Latvia) voted to get him in as both the pride of his team and the pride of a country that is more on the fringes of hockey greatness. The next year was the John Scott year, arguably the worst all star selection in any of the North American major sports leagues ever, who was voted in basically to make a mockery of the vote itself...and ended up becoming one of the greatest stories in all of 2010s sports as players and fans across rallied behind him as he shared how much it meant to him, despite the league doing everything it can to keep him from going. It's outright awesome to be there representing your team, and the journey you went on to become an all star. Who cares if a couple guys who look comparatively mortal get to stand next to legends of the game for a day on a roster that's already overflowing as is for the sake of inclusivity? Like I'm not saying we should just have a team of Jordan Lyles and leave off the likes of Ohtani, but I think it's okay to not have to split hairs to make sure that the absolute best 68 players get in every year in favor of allowing every team to at least have one guy to get behind who can often be one of the better players on a really bad team.

1999 Braves is a weird one. On a stacked roster, Kevin Millwood and Brian Jordan got the nod with Smoltz, Maddux, Glavine, Lopez, Klesko, C. Jones and A. Jones missing out. Millwood did finish 3rd in the Cy voting but still weird. Chipper ended up winning MVP but missing the All-Star game. Past 3 Braves MVPs have actually missed the all-star game the year they won it (Freeman, Jones, Pendleton).

There was one year when Jason Varitek was an All Star with like a .210 AVG, but was elected by the players because he was well-respected and started the season out decently, then hit a huge slump.

What about those Tigers greats like Robert Fick (2002) and Brandon Inge (2009). Fick scored the tying run of a MLB All-Star Game that ended in a tie! Inge even went to be in the Home Run Derby (we try to forget) and put up an o'fer. These were both defensively minded players but still some interesting choices. There's your new video series idea: weirdest Home Run Derby participants. I can think of a few

Seeing the Reggie Jackson entry reminded me of when MLB created 2 roster spots to honor career achievements... Last year was Pujols and Miggy. Are they doing that again this year? If so, who are those players, or who would you nominate from each league?

I never realized in 87 the Athletics could have McGwire Canseco Reggie and Ron Cey in the same lineup. No Rickey that year though.

Neal Heaton was a weird one. Doug Drabek was on the same team, won the Cy Young that year and did not go. I think Heaton was also just temporarily in the rotation because of injuries

Random coincidence with you posting this video, but earlier I was looking at Jim Thome stats. Despite having over 600 home runs and being a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee, he was only a 5 time all star according to baseball reference. Would you consider a video comparing all star appearances (or lack thereof) vs Hall of Fame careers?

Biff Pocoroba. All-Star catcher for the Atlanta Braves. In 1978, he finished the season .242/.312/.332. Runners stole 82 of the 107 bases they attempted. But Phil Neikro was an all-star, and Tommy Lasorda wanted someone who could catch a knuckleball.

I mean Bret Boone was pretty weird. Not his selection though. He did miss that ball in the '03 Home Run Derby, and scored zero, so there's that.

Why did you show David Ortiz as someone who only earned the all-star due to it being his last year? Ortiz was a monster during his last year. Bro had one of his best seasons of his entire career.

I know this is a baseball list but whenever I think of weird All-Stars I go to Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres. He only made it because his native country of Latvia flooded the NHL fan vote

Merrifield is having a great clutch year

I don’t know about whit, I mean he is the best utility player. I think he deserves it because he fits that spot really well.

Well at the end of the day it's for the fans. Fans vote. Then the MLB has to take one player from each team and sometimes they seemingly just take a random player based on the positions that have already been taken and try to fill a need elsewhere, or they just take the "big name" on the team no matter their stats. All-Star selections are just a mixed bag, you'd like to think the best of the best get chosen but that's not always the case, and I'm perfectly fine with players who are retiring at the end of the year (who were long time players and produced) being selected one last time.

Mike sweeny really should've been the only representative of kc for like 6 years at the beginning of the 00's lol

Matt Wieters 2014. Played 26 games all year as O’s catcher. Somehow voted in as starting catcher.

I'm confused why an All-Star selection is always listed in a player's career achievements when it only reflects 2 1/2-3 months of performance of the year. It seems like a much lesser distinction than Golden Gloves, batting titles, Cy young, etc, which reflect an entire season of performance. Perhaps All Star Teams should be assembled from the award winners of the previous season.

This is great. I would most DEFINITELY include 1984 Alfredo Griffin. His teammate and double play partner Damaso Garcia made the team and Griffin went to the game as his guest, essentially as a fan. Alan Trammell got injured during warm-ups, the night before. Robin Yount was on the team but also injured, so they needed a back-up SS. Manager Joe Altobelli invited Griffin, he of the .578 OPS heading into the game, to play. He had to borrow Garcia’s spare glove and jersey to practice until his stuff was shipping the next day. He even got into the game as a defensive replacement. It was his only all star game. According to baseballl reference, Alfredo Griffin has the worse WPA in the history of baseball, making him quite possibly the worst MLB long term positional regular in baseball history.

A deep dive into Dee Gordon’s career would be very intriguing

The one that will always stand out in my mind is Ron Coomer in 1999, a corner infielder who managed a mighty 16 homers and 82 OPS+ in the heart of the Steroid Era. You'd think this wouldn't be too remarkable - bad teams always get their obligatory All Star selection, after all. The problem is, those Twins also had Brad Radke, who finished fourth among all pitchers in bWAR that year. But this was when people still thought pitcher W/L record still mattered, and a member of the horrible offense responsible for his middling record was rewarded for his incompetence.

6:50 Greinke brushing back Trout putting him on base lmao

Personally I hate having washed up legends at the end of their careers in the all star game. There are some players who might put up a great first half and only have this one chance to be an all star for there whole career, and then that spot is taken by a guy in his late 30s early 40s who can barely even swing a bat or throw a ball anymore. If you wanna have them at the all star game as an extra roster spot then fine its an all star game it doesn't really matter but don't take those chances away from the young/fringe all star players who might never get another real shot

Shocked not to see 1965 Bob Lee. Finished the season with 3 total RBIs

Love a video topic like this Jolly make a pt2

Javier Vazquez was an all star in 2004 with the Yankees he finished the season with a 14-10 record with a 4.91 ERA. It was is only all star selection of his career.

I'm surprised Omar Infante didn't make the list

I'm so glad you included LaHair. As a Cubs fan I will never forget him momentarily catching fire in that first half only to literally disappear off the face of the earth lol

Omar Infante was a strange selection in 2010 for the Braves as a utility man. But it actually wasn't terrible reasoning by Phillies manager, Charlie Manuel, to pick the one of the most versatile pinch hitters in the league who was use to coming in games cold off the bench.

Scooter gennet gotta be an honorable mention

Bryan LaHair wasn't just a first half wonder, he was like a first half of April wonder.

Omar Infante 2010. If I can remember, he wasn’t even starting everyday for the Braves. I can remember everyone being pissed off about that one

I will never understand why Nick Markakis never made an AS team with the Orioles

Great video Jolly! Could you do a video about players you forgot that were on a team? An example would be Nelson Cruz on the Orioles and Adrein Beltre on the Red sox and Mariners

I was at that 2003 Home Run Derby & All Start Game at Comiskey, we had season tickets on the first base line, fifth & sixth row, section 121. My brother & I were avid Fantasy Baseball enthusiasts and knew every All Star player's stats well. We're getting pretty hammered during all the pre-game pageantry when all of the sudden these two little girls dressed adorably in Pittsburgh Pirates gear made their way down our aisle, passing us as they got to the front row. It was Mike Williams family, and he was right in front of us as his wife passed the kids over the barrier onto the field. I of course loudly, & drunkenly, let our section know about Mr. Williams high ERA and perplexing section to the NL squad. He immediately shouts "Who said that!?!?" and I point to my brother, who sheepishly reacts with "NO!, I have you on my Fantasy Team!" (He needed those saves) Mike's wife calls us "jerks" (deserved) and the family enjoyed the rest of the exhibition on the field, away from us. The next day, at the actual All Star Game, a guy one row back of us was still cracking up over the encounter, claiming he told all his buddies at work about it. I still feel bad about pissing off Mike's wife, but hey, makes a great story for RU-vid comments.

Brock Holt was a weird all star.

Ronnie Belliard was an all star (journey man second baseman)

.194 and Reggie was an All-Star. Wow. Thanks Jolly!

Watching this video last week helped me nail a Royals all-star on immaculate grid. Never knew anything about Mark Redman until this video

Bryan LaHair, Somerset Patriots (pre-affiliation) legend

Remember Jeremy Jeffress… idk just thought we should say him

My favorite weird All-Star off the top of my head is 2010 NL All-Star Omar Infante, who got in because the brass thought the teams needed utility players.

"Dude is gonna be in a Jolly Olive video!" is a legit dig these days. lol

“Tommy *fuckin* La Stella” 😂😂

as a cubs fan, i’d have to say it’s not all that strange tommy lastella made an all star team. he was a beast off the bench and was clutch in a lot of at bats for the cubs in that timeframe of us being contenders. i always knew he’d be a good player if he signed elsewhere, but since he played with prime baez and russell in the middle infield, he couldn’t really shine like he should have.

Yonder Alonso 2017 (stole Hosmer's rightful roster spot because the A's needed a player)

Jeff smarjidza in 2014 all star for cubs got traded like 3 days before all star game. I’m sure there are plenty of other traded all stars that couldn’t play.

Keep em comin' Mr. Olive!

David Dahl was one of those 2019 juiced ball all-stars I loved

Another fantastic video

You forgot Weirdy Face McWeirdson.

Devers has had a good year he deserves the nod in ‘23

Ortiz deserved his All Star nod in his last year full stop

5:05 I indeed remember Ken Harvey and Mike MacDougal sadly - Doogie. Along with Angel Berroa. Kila Ka'aihue - great name. Shane Costa - wholesale. I gotta stop, it's been bad as a KC fan.

Cricket legend, Joliver, bringing us baseball content.

LOVE when the thumbnail is actually the first example shown.

Thank you for the video.

Jeff Locke had the most BABIP-fueled run ever. It was amazing for him to even carry it through half a season.

The best part about that Mark Lehair all star bid, wasnt because of the rule that at least 1 player from each team minimum. They genuinely thiutght he was worthy. The cubs already had their 1 guy minimum. As we can see Starlin Castro next to him.

The triumphant return of pre-game Jolly

2011 Royals had pitcher Aaron Crow as their lone All-Star. He had been originally called up from the minors on Opening day of that year, making his debut on March 31. I think he was selected as the AS rep as he might have not screwed up as bad as his fellow players so far that year.

Brian Harvey: made an All Star as an NL and AL All star but only lasted 8 years in the MLB

Special mention to Scott Cooper, the worst two time All-Star ever. A merely average player than got in twice for some reason, followed by the Red Sox making the playoffs the year after he left. He played for the Cardinals for a year, who also made the playoffs the year after he left, and after a forgettable stint with the Royals, he was out of the league.

I think of Zack Cozart in 2017. Great for the Reds in his final year Cincy but after becoming a free agent and getting signed by the Angels, he never reached those numbers again.

What about Tim Wakefield? He made his first all-star team in his 40s after bouncing between the starting rotation and bullpen.

Now I understand why Mike Williams was always a free agent in mvp baseball 2003. He had garbage numbers for a season and wanted so much money that no one would pick him up despite being ranked as the best relief free agent pitcher by a ton.

2:15 this jersey 😂

Just 650k more votes (about 2% of the total) and this video could have featured 2015 Omar Infante being selected to start the game over Jose Altuve.

i would love to see a video about Aramis Ramirez, he was amazing and i bet a lot of people forgot how good he was

I love how you covered Mark Redmond's face as if anyone would have any idea who the hell that is lol

George Sherrill made the All Star game in 2008 for the Orioles. He was a closer with a 4.73 ERA. 4.08 ERA in the first half. With a team that had Abrey Huff, Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts and you selected George Sherrill?

Mike Sharperson in 1992 rates up there for weirdness. He was the lone rep from the worst Dodgers team in history, and he was only a part-time utility player who had fewer than 400 PA on the season. What makes it even weirder is that the Dodgers had a perfectly good alternative in Brett Butler, who finished 3rd in the NL in OBP that season. While Butler was wildly under appreciated in his career, he wasn’t exactly a secret as he was an All-Star the year before. Clearly, the Sharperson selection wouldn’t happen again in today’s game.

This will help with my immaculate grid one day

alfredo griffin is the worst all star ever, they put him in the game just because he was there as damaso garcia's plus one and the AL needed another player asap

Idk Mark Redman sounds like a CHAD Innings eater to me

Look into Matt Young and his 1983 All Star year on the Mariners. Another guy that came up and did well as a rookie. But then nearly nothing.

I’ve never heard you drop an f bomb. It really caught me off guard

Someone mentioned Scott Cooper; Brock Holt. Safe to say Steven Wright will also remain infamous.

You’re so wrong about Whit, he’s an all star 10000% baserunning, fielding, playing multiple positions, and his high contact rate can’t be matched

Could you do a vid about how the 2019 mlb season and why there was so many home runs?

I only know Ken Harvey as the high A team for the Royals at the time, the Wilmington Blue Rocks, gave away Ken Harvey Stacking Dolls

jay howell, 87 a's. ended up an all star, even lost the game, despite having a horrible 1st half (and not like he had to be picked, big mac had already been named, so the a's had a rep). guessing pitcher got hurt or pulled, and since all star game was in oakland, he was there so they took him. ended up losing his closer job a few weeks later to some guy named dennis eckersley.

Odubel Herrera was an all star for one of the bad phillies teams of the mid 2010s. He deserved to be one that year but just a weird name to look at now

The slicked back hair looks fresh, Jolly