Because Not Everyone Can Be An All-Star

Anthony Rendon had an eventful 2019. Chief among those events were a World Series title and a new nine-figure contract. Of lesser, but still significant note, was that Rendon was a first time All-Star. For several years leading up to 2019, Rendon was a popular All-Star “snub”. He had produced several All-Star caliber campaigns, yet had no selection(s) before 2019 to match his production. 

It is tough to say how much baseball players care, on average, about being selected as an All-Star. It is safe to say that opinions vary drastically from player to player though. For Rendon, a massive contract and a World Series ring surely take the front seat of his 2019 list of accomplishments. One figures there might be some diminishing marginal returns for each selection too. But the first selection is probably a meaningful event for most players. And for players that don’t perennially turn in high-WAR campaigns, playing particularly well to start a season and being recognized for their play probably has more considerable significance. 

With all these considerations in mind, what follows is a quick glance at some of the other significant players in recent memory who didn’t get the chance to play in an All-Star game. To do this, data was filtered to include position players who made their debut only after the DH rule was implemented (1973) and who made at least 2,000 plate appearances in their career. 

Before running through a couple of those views though, below is a scatterplot juxtaposing career plate appearances and All-Star appearances to provide a bit of context.

Surprise! More career plate appearances generally correspond to more All-Star game appearances. The point furthest along the y-axis represents one Cal Ripken Jr., a 19 time All Star. He’s followed by Ozzie Smith and Tony Gywnn, who were each selected 15 times. 

However, the primary interest of this piece are those players whose careers are represented by the lowest points featured, those players who never were selected to be an All-Star.

One can see that no players in more recent memory reached 10,000 plate appearances without being selected to at least one All-Star team. Seemingly, elite longevity necessitates a corresponding “peak” of some sort, although All-Star appearances of course aren’t a truly reliable indicator for performance (just ask Anthony Rendon). 

So, first let’s take a look at those players (having debuted in or after 1973) who made the most plate appearances without an All-Star selection. 

This is, by and large, a list of fairly well known names. While not every player is or was a household name, more than a few come as a bit of a surprise to have not made an ASG appearance. In Kirk Gibson, there is an MVP on this list. The Top 15 includes a World Series champion and multiple-time Gold Glove winner in Orlando Cabrera. There are also Rookie of the Year and Silver Slugger award winners, respectively, in Eric Karros and Tim Salmon.

Of course, longevity alone doesn’t have to translate to strictly above average production or an All-Star-worthy (first half) spike either. The two leaderboards below draw from the top 50 players who never have been an All-Star, ranked by plate appearance, and then order them by top 10 lists in first, career bWAR, and second, by peak season bWAR.

These two charts feature some of the aforementioned names from the first list. Eric Chavez is a new player who makes appearances on both though, and reminds us of his particular stretch of brilliance. Four player-seasons above matched 6.0 bWAR (something Anthony Rendon had achieved just once before 2019), a threshold worthy of high praise regardless of an All-Star selection. 

Tony Phillips, whom I regret to say I had never heard of, really comes to the forefront in these two charts though. As the leader in plate appearances since 1973 without an All-Star appearance, his career-long snub feels increasingly flagrant upon seeing his career numbers. Six times in his career the switch hitting Phillips walked over 100 times; for his career, Phillips’ on base percentage was 112 points higher than his batting average. He played multiple positions (possibly a detracting factor for his candidacy in fact) and rated as above average defensively most seasons. In all, we have a player who crept up on the 60 WAR mark yet who never played in a Midsummer Classic. 

Finally, to briefly flip the script, below is a list of players on the other end of the spectrum. Here are the top 15 players based on fewest plate appearances per ASG appearance. As you’ll see, it is a list of players whose capabilities are, in several cases, roughly as robust as their personal relevance to baseball.

The PAs per ASG ratio tops out at roughly 600+, which makes sense, given that players must by and large remain healthy and play full seasons in order to get perennial voting traction. Also of note is the presence of 6 catchers on this list; this is likely due to fewer PAs per season for players at such a physically demanding position. Salvador Perez, for instance, debuted in 2011, a year ahead of Bryce Harper, but sharing playing time, injuries, and scheduled time off has limited him to nearly 1,000 fewer appearances than Harper over a similar span.

There are a plethora of extraneous variables that might make or break a player’s All-Star chances in any given year. From playing on a less competitive or relevant team, to playing a position that is particularly deep, to being a better second-half player. Whatever the case may be for those players listed above, regardless of recognition, their statistics speak for themselves.