We spent Saturday with the whole family as we celebrated my father's 80th birthday. My nephew and I woke up at 5am and shot a round of golf with the old man. I won't go into specifics... but the old man kicked our butts.
2001 Upper Deck #70 Adam Scott RC
But at least, I now have something in common with Adam Scott. We both played hard, but ended up losing to a couple of class acts. Happy Birthday Papa Fuji... and congratulations Ernie Els on your second British Open Championship.
And if spending time with my family wasn't good enough... my beloved Oakland A's swept the New York Yankees this weekend. According to ESPN, it was their first four game sweep over the Bronx Bombers since 1972.
To top it off... my favorite player, who lost his starting job last month, finally hit his first home run of the season. Congratulations Kurt!
In honor of Mr. Suzuki... let's focus on athletes who aren't super stars.
Who is your favorite baseball player to never make a MLB All-Star team?
If you're not a fan of baseball, write about an NBA, NFL, NHL, or any other professional athlete who isn't considered a huge star in their sport.
Okay... after this long weekend, I'm tired. So let's keep this simple.
5 Points - 1st person to respond to the question and explain.
4 Points - 2nd & 3rd people to respond to the question and explain.
3 Points - 4th through 8th people to respond to the question and explain.
2 Points - Everyone else who responds to the question and explains.
1 Point - Anyone who responds, but fails to explain.
I'll accept responses until Wednesday at 3pm (PST). I hope all of you have a wonderful week.
54 comments:
Kirk Gibson would be my favorite player in that category.
I always loved his gritty style of play, and not to mention the famous homer off Dennis Eckersley in the 1988 World Series. The fact that he never made an All-Star team is staggering, especially considering he won the NL MVP award in '88.
Okay Chris Getz, will probably never make an all star team, but he can steal & I collect his cards, Career hitting .259 & I hope he gets a starting job and a manager with faith behind him. Also he helped me in my first year of fantasy!
Definitely Luis Sojo! He was such a fun player to watch - his 37 bounce singles up the middle. He lived playing the game and fit in perfectly on Yankee teams filled with high paid All Stars.
Easy. Scott Sizemore. I really hope that he can get healthy and stay in the lineup. He's got a long road to make an ASG, but I think he could make the push for one season.
Charlie Brown, cause he's got heart. Loves the game. Makes that long walk to the mound, despite knowing he's gonna get his block rocked. And just cause anybody that would let his dog play on the team is all right in my book!
As for football, if the silly girl would quit pulling the ball away... he needs to take one side long kick, right square in her butt!!
Tony Eusebio... he played hard and was a great catcher defensively. My bro and I always loved watching him hit. Had a great swing!
I'm jealous that you got in a round of golf. I haven't played in a year. I'd be embarrassed at this point to hit the links. Looks like you had a good time.
Right now it's Ryan Roberts of the D-Backs. He hasn't made an All-Star team yet and probably never will, but he plays hard and looks like he's having fun every time he steps on the field. I've met him in person and he's a really friendly guy as well.
Mine is probably Todd Frazier of the Reds, he's been a lot of fun to watch lately. Of older players who have been around (or were around for awhile), I guess I would go with Ryan Freel. He was a fun player (even if he was crazy and had voices in his head that he named - seriously, look up Freel and Farney.)
Geoff Geary, for reasons that have nothing to do with his on-field performance. He was just a really cool guy to see on the field during BP. He would interact with the fans in the bleachers, toss balls, make jokes, etc. You don't really see that too much anymore, especially since I only ever saw him when he was with the visiting team. Usually, visiting players avoid hometown fans as much as possible.
My favorite non-All Star was Jeff Weaver. He is a valley boy like me and got to pitch for the Dodgers. He was super chill when I met him in person. I was probably the only happy to see Weaver enter a ballgame while in LA.
My two main player collections are guys who've not made an MLB all-star game, yet: Luke Hochevar and Dexter Fowler.
Without a doubt, it's a Rusty Greer. He was one of those guys who played all out, all the time. It definitely shortened his career as he ended up with all sorts of injuries. His diving catch in Kenny Rogers' perfect game is one of the best all time highlights in Rangers' history. He still makes an appearance at the Ballpark every now and then and I hope to meet him someday.
Hmmm. I guess a tie between Jerry Sands and Kenley Jansen. A huge fan of both. Kenley has filthy stuff and should have already made an AS team, but eventually he should get called upon. Jerry's just a guy I really like, I collect him and he should have been given the opportunity to start for a season already.
Can't be any worse than Loney or Rivera.
Don't expect Jerry to make one but I just enjoy watching him play.
I would say Andrew Bogut from the NBA. The Australian is a beast and is one of the best centers! Got to show that Australian pride!
How about Mookie Wilson. He had some great years with the Mets but never got the AllStar nod. His on the field work ethic was second to none and he was a huge fan favorite.
Pat Burrell - had a lot o ups n downs in Philadelphia, but eventually helped the Phils Win a World Series. A very good ballplayer who never cracked an AS roster.
Todd Stottlemyre. That's not to say he was deserving and got snubbed, just that he's one of my favorites. I'm a bit biased as we're distantly related, but I was also very impressed by his dedication to coming back to pitch WITH a torn rotator cuff, as detailed in this story:
http://articles.courant.com/2000-05-23/sports/0005230055_1_david-zeman-todd-stottlemyre-surgery
Bob Apodaca - Growing up a Mets fan always liked him and loved his name how it rolls off the tongue! lol
Alex Gonzalez --Toronto Blue Jays in the 90's--This was when I was coaching my daughters baseball team and he was her favourite player--We collected his cards together and forged another bond between us--She still has the collection to this day
Mookie Wilson
Before I understood the concept of rivalry's fully, I really liked the Mets as a young kid. Due in no small part to the Mets Pennant my aunt from the City brought out to Arizona. The Mets of the mid-80's were easy to like and Mookie was my favorite. For years I said he had the "hit" in game 6, then I learned the finer points of filling out a score card.
He had a very solid career, but never made an All-Star Team.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsomo01.shtml
Jeff Francoeur. I've always been a fan of his. He was responsible for a really awesome TTM success, and I've always been a fan of right fielders who can gun the ball to get a runner at the plate. He played in the All-Star Futures game and won a Gold Glove, but never played in the MLB All-Star Game.
Adam LaRoche, 1b, currently with Washington.
Adam has always been fun to watch. Really good with the glove, and the sweetest left handed swing in the majors. He has a great approach to the game, both on the field and off. He always makes time for the fans, including his and his wife's charity work.
Well, I love Todd Hundley and Edgardo Alfonso, but they both made an all star team in their careers. I finally hit one with Mookie Wilson. While the young best player on the early 80's Mets, he never made an all star team, even as the pity "every team gets a player" selection. First of all, I love him because his name is Mookie. Secondly, he hit the ball up the line in game 6 that we all know so well (even non-Mets fans) and most people forget that he was so fast, he would have beaten Buckner to the bag anyway, even if he had fielded the ball cleanly. Wilson was always smiling, always hustling, and always in the thick of things. Mookie was the man - still is, really.
No doubt it's Elrod Hendricks. He's a favorite of a lot of O's backers because of his fan friendly persona, easy smile and loyalty to the club. RIP Ellie!
Realizing most of my favorites have made at least one. I would have to go with Ben Petrick, a catcher for the Rockies. I first came to like him in my keeper fantasy league where i picked him up as a minor leaguer with star potential. He didnt really pan out but became well known again for battling Parkinsons. Imread an article several months back about his battle that touched me - my grandma battled Parkinsons her last few years of life. I have picked up a few of his cards and plan on getting more.m i have read several articles about him and he seems like a great person too. I have a draft blog post that has been half done for a couple months i need to finish up.
Wei-Yin Chen. I love his deceptive stuff. Pitchers that throw some junk always amaze me. It looks so hitable and then you've struck out. Love it.
Wow! This was an amazingly challenging question for me. I went down the list of my favorite players and every one of them played in at least 1 All-Star Game. So I have to go with the player responsible for one of my favorite Baseball moments. So I'm going with Don Larsen who threw the only, as of now, perfect World Series game. I will be going to the National to see his uniform and meet him. Larsen threw the perfect game on the same day as my birthday, quite a few years before I was born.
Great question! All the players I followed are / were All-Stars. I was able to go back to Tim Salmon. I had a 1992 (?) Upper Deck Iooss card of him (at the time those cards were pretty popular / valuable) and I've never heard of him before, but assumed he was either a good or up and coming player because he wound up on that insert set. At that point, I wound up following him as close as I could, and remember being happy for him when the Angels won the World Series.
Wow... loved the names submitted. Some of them I hadn't heard in quite a few years. Thanks for the entries... I'll tally up the points right now.
It pains me to remember the HR off of Eck... but what a great moment in the history of the game.
LOL... Awesome!
I'm ashamed to say, I don't remember him. Looks like he had a couple of decent years though.
It was a blast. I'm not one of those guys who take golf super seriously. I usually only play executive courses. To me it's an opportunity to bond with nature, my friends/family, and relieve stress.
I'll never be a pro... nor am I really striving to be. As long as I can hit the ball straight enough to not hold up other people, I'm content.
That's awesome. I like players who play hard and have fun.
LOL... that's pretty weird. I wonder if he blamed his DUI on Farney.
Looks like Weaver had a talent for hitting batters too ;-)
Fowler is having a pretty solid season this year.
Now that's a name, I've not heard in a long... long time. Good call. Greer was a very solid player.
No doubt... Jansen will make an AS appearance sooner, than later.
I agree... I'm pretty stoked that he'll be playing in a Warriors uniform next season.
Now this is the kind of player I'm looking for. I still cherish his 1981 Topps rookie card with Hubie Brooks.
Burrell went to high school in San Jose, so he's pretty popular here. He definitely had a couple of seasons where he should have gotten an AS nod.
Great story. Todd had a very solid career.
Awesome name.
LOL... I remember collecting his 1992 Bowman card.
Yeah... I'm a big fan of Mookie!
A few years ago... I thought he was going to be a super star.
Another guy... who I thought was going to be a star early in his career.
Third nomination for Mookie... and I agree 100%
I pulled his autograph in 1998... and was stoked. Always wondered what happened to him. It's good to know he's a great person.
Yeah... he has a shot at making an AS roster.
Yeah... I think it's pretty natural for people to choose stars as their favorite players. Nice call with Larsen. Anytime something has only been done once in the history of the game, it's pretty remarkable.
Salmon had a solid career... and in 1995, he had one helluva 2nd half of the season.
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