first line of his obituary<\/a> called him a four-time All-Star.<\/p>\nAs we wait for next week\u2019s festivities in Atlanta \u2014 and celebrate the last quarter-century \u2014 here\u2019s a round-up of 2000s All-Stars you may have forgotten from each MLB team.<\/p>\n
Arizona Diamondbacks: Junior Spivey, 2002<\/p>\n
While Spivey never built on his career year (.301\/.389\/.476), it\u2019s still cool to remember a time when a player could be drafted at the end of the 36th round from a community college in Kansas, get shipped to the Pioneer League in Alberta, Canada, and work his way up to the All-Star Game. The draft is now capped at 20 rounds, and the Pioneer League lost its affiliated status in 2021.<\/p>\n
Athletics: Ryan Cook, 2012<\/p>\n
The 2012 A\u2019s reached the All-Star break at .500, nine games out in the AL West. Their lone All-Star was Ryan Cook, a rookie reliever who struck out a fellow rookie, Bryce Harper, in his scoreless inning. \u201cThis is everything I thought it would be,\u201d Cook told The Athletic\u2019s Dan Brown, then with the San Jose Mercury News, \u201cand 10 times more.\u201d The year was about to get even better, as the A\u2019s stormed to an unlikely division title.<\/p>\n
Atlanta Braves: John Burkett, 2001<\/p>\n
When it comes to Braves pitchers catching famous home run balls beyond the left field fence, nobody\u2019s topping Tom House, who snagged Hank Aaron\u2019s 715th in 1974. But Burkett is a solid second: Watch him step from the bullpen shadows for a nonchalant, sun-kissed catch of Cal Ripken Jr.\u2019s farewell All-Star blast.<\/p>\n
Baltimore Orioles: George Sherrill, 2008<\/p>\n
There are lots of ways to go here: Middle reliever Brad Brach, Austin Hays (the starting center fielder in 2023), the ever-versatile Ty Wigginton. But let\u2019s salute Sherrill, a lefty reliever who was the unsung hero of the AL\u2019s 15-inning win in the Bronx in 2008. Sherrill worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the 12th, then pitched a scoreless 13th and 14th in a seven-out effort that matched the longest of his career.<\/p>\n
Boston Red Sox: Matt Clement, 2005, and Steven Wright, 2016<\/p>\n
Just because both pitchers went 13-6 in their one standout season with the Red Sox, and you probably don\u2019t remember them in the midsummer classic. Wright \u2014 the last knuckleballer to make an All-Star team \u2014 didn\u2019t get to pitch, but Clement tossed a scoreless inning in Detroit and struck out Carlos Beltr\u00e1n.<\/p>\n
Chicago Cubs: Bryan LaHair, 2012<\/p>\n
Four years later, on their way to a championship, the Cubs would claim the entire NL starting infield: Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell and Kris Bryant. In 2012, though, only LaHair represented the North Side. A first baseman, LaHair hit just .202 after the break, signed with a Japanese team and never returned to the majors.<\/p>\n
Chicago White Sox: Jesse Crain, 2013<\/p>\n
The record shows that Crain pitched the final game of his career before his only All-Star Game. A setup man in his 10th season, Crain earned his selection with a 0.74 ERA in 38 games. But he injured his shoulder in late June and never returned to the majors.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Reds: Arthur Rhodes, 2010<\/p>\n
Arthur Rhodes wasn\u2019t a closer, but he sure knew how to finish his career. Rhodes pitched for 18 seasons in the majors without ever reaching the All-Star Game or the World Series. In year 19, he made the All-Star team for the Reds, and in year 20, he won the World Series with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n
Cleveland Indians\/Guardians: Matt Lawton, 2004<\/p>\n
Roberto Alomar had made 12 consecutive All-Star teams when the Mets traded for him in December 2001. How could they know that Alomar, who had just hit .336\/.415\/.541, was finished as a productive major leaguer? Alomar was very much not an All-Star for the Mets, but Lawton \u2014 one of five players traded for him \u2014 got there for Cleveland in 2004.<\/p>\n
Colorado Rockies: Mike Hampton, 2001<\/p>\n
Mike Hampton is remembered for failing in Colorado, where he lasted for just two seasons of an eight-year, $121 million contract. But did you know that he actually started off well? Hampton was 9-2 with a 2.98 ERA in his first 13 games for the Rockies, becoming the first All-Star pitcher in team history.<\/p>\n
Detroit Tigers: Tony Clark, 2001<\/p>\n
The head of the MLB players\u2019 union made his lone All-Star appearance in Seattle as a pinch hitter for Edgar Mart\u00ednez \u2014 at a ballpark that now has a statue of Mart\u00ednez out front. Clark struck out against Jon Lieber.<\/p>\n
Houston Astros: Shane Reynolds, 2000<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always strange when a good team basically just takes a season off. That\u2019s what happened to the Astros in 2000, the year they moved into the dubiously named Enron Field. The Astros had finished the 1990s with three division titles and would win another in 2001. But in 2000 they lost 90 games and had just one All-Star: Reynolds, a very good pitcher in the midst of his worst season (5.22 ERA). Reynolds did not get into the game and ended his season two weeks later while injuring his knee on a jog.<\/p>\n
Kansas City Royals: Mark Redman, 2006<\/p>\n
The Royals had just one All-Star representative each season from 2004 through 2012, with fellows like Aaron Crow, Ken Harvey and Redman, a lefty who blitzed through eight teams in a 10-year career. Redman won all five of his starts in June 2006, but reached the break with a very un-All-Star-like 5.27 ERA.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Angels: Jared Walsh, 2021<\/p>\n
Walsh certainly deserved the honor with 22 homers at the break. But when he actually got into the game, he found himself at a position he had never played in the majors: left field. Naturally, the ball came his way \u2014 and Walsh made a nifty sliding catch.<\/p>\n
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Los Angeles Dodgers: Hung-Chi Kuo, 2010<\/p>\n
A lefty from Taiwan, Kuo was mostly ordinary, with a 4.38 ERA in six of his seven seasons with the Dodgers. The outlier was his otherworldly 2010, when Kuo had a 1.20 ERA, a sub-0.800 WHIP and 11 K\/9 in 60 innings. The only pitcher with a season like that in the first 10 years of the 2000s, Eric Gagne, won the Cy Young Award.<\/p>\n
Miami Marlins: Henderson \u00c1lvarez III, 2014<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s something we\u2019ll never see again \u2014 a pitcher witnessing the end of his own no-hitter while wearing a batting helmet in the on-deck circle. That\u2019s what happened to \u00c1lvarez in the final game of the 2013 season, when the Marlins walked off Detroit on a wild pitch, with \u00c1lvarez due up next, in the bottom of the ninth. \u00c1lvarez parlayed that into a strong 2014 season (12-7, 2.65) but shoulder problems kept him from ever earning another win.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee Brewers: Derrick Turnbow, 2006<\/p>\n
At the end of June in 2006, Turnbow had 23 saves and a 3.28 ERA \u2014 good enough to earn a trip to Pittsburgh. From that point on, he had one save, four blown saves and a frightful 13.06 ERA. He did pitch a scoreless seventh inning in the All-Star Game, but was finished in the majors within two years.<\/p>\n
Minnesota Twins: Eduardo N\u00fa\u00f1ez, 2016<\/p>\n
N\u00fa\u00f1ez spent 11 seasons as an essentially league-average player, compiling 0.2 bWAR for his career. He had his moments in bigger markets, with four seasons as a Yankee and three in Boston, where he starred in the 2018 World Series. But a mid-career stint with the Twins gave him his lone All-Star nod.<\/p>\n
New York Mets: Taijuan Walker, 2021<\/p>\n
Walker made the All-Star team by going 7-3 with a 2.66 ERA in the first half. It turns out that he was done winning for the season. After the game, in which Walker allowed a home run to Mike Zunino, he went 0-8 with a 7.13 ERA, part of a teamwide collapse in the second half.<\/p>\n
New York Yankees: Mike Stanton, 2001<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s something wild: Dellin Betances suited up four times as a Yankees All-Star \u2014 more than Roger Maris (3), Mark Teixeira (2) and Tino Martinez (1). But Betances isn\u2019t the pick here. It\u2019s Stanton, the tireless lefty reliever, who produced an all-time All-Star highlight when he broke Vladimir Guerrero\u2019s bat in Seattle:<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Phillies: Vicente Padilla, 2002<\/p>\n
The answer for the most obscure Phillies All-Star of the 2000s is outfielder Domonic Brown in 2013. But let\u2019s spotlight the unusual experience of Padilla in 2002. The Phillies had gotten him from Arizona in a trade for Curt Schilling, the NL starter that year. Padilla was the unlikely NL finisher \u2014 because after two innings, he couldn\u2019t go any longer and the game ended in a tie, embarrassing commissioner Bud Selig at his home ballpark in Milwaukee. Phillies manager Larry Bowa was grateful that Padilla wasn\u2019t overextended, but acknowledged to the New York Times: \u201cAs a fan, do I agree with it? No, not at all. If I\u2019m paying $100-125 a ticket, I want to see somebody win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Pirates: Evan Meek, 2010<\/p>\n
The third member of the NL\u2019s 2010 bullpen to make this list, Meek was probably best known for the final pitch of his major-league career. As an Oriole in 2014, Meek gave up Derek Jeter\u2019s walk-off single in the last game Jeter ever played at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n
San Diego Padres: Everth Cabrera, 2013<\/p>\n
It\u2019s safe to say that the All-Star selection was the high point of Cabrera\u2019s summer. The 2012 NL leader in stolen bases, Cabrera was suspended three weeks later for his role in the Biogenesis scandal. He hit .227\/.267\/.285 for the rest of his brief career.<\/p>\n
San Francisco Giants: Melky Cabrera, 2012<\/p>\n
Speaking of PEDs, who can forget the heartwarming tale of the 2012 All-Star Game? Returning to Kansas City after the Royals had traded him the previous fall, Cabrera went 2-for-3 with a homer to win the MVP award. The next month, he was suspended after testing positive for testosterone, a caper that involved a fake website built on his behalf in a ham-handed effort to exonerate him. The Giants went on to win the World Series without Cabrera, who was stripped of the 2012 batting title but did go on to earn $60 million in future salaries.<\/p>\n
St. Louis Cardinals: Aledmys D\u00edaz, 2016<\/p>\n
Lesser-known All-Stars are fun. But sometimes you just want to see the big stars. Take 2016 in San Diego: bases loaded, two outs, eighth inning, NL down by two runs. It\u2019s the highest point of late-game leverage, with Corey Seager set to face Andrew Miller. Two moves later the matchup is D\u00edaz against Will Harris, and D\u00edaz strikes out looking in the only All-Star appearance of his career. Both were deserving stars that summer, to be sure. But you get what I mean.<\/p>\n
Seattle Mariners: Daniel Vogelbach, 2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s tempting to go with Shigetoshi Hasegawa, just because his name is so mellifluous, but how can we resist Vogelbach, the 6-foot, 270-pound first baseman who smashed 21 homers before the break in 2019? Fun fact: the game took place in Cleveland, where the pitcher Seattle traded to get Vogelbach, Mike Montgomery,<\/a>\u00a0had saved Game 7 of the 2016 World Series for the Chicago Cubs.<\/p>\nTampa Bay Rays: Corey Dickerson, 2017<\/p>\n
The Rays have had lots of random relief pitchers make the All-Star team \u2014 Danys B\u00e1ez, Brad Boxberger, Lance Carter and so on \u2014 but Dickerson is the pick here, because of the oddity of him actually starting the All-Star Game as designated hitter. A journeyman who played for eight teams, Dickerson actually won a Gold Glove the next season for Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers: Milton Bradley, 2008<\/p>\n
Bradley had ended the previous season, with the Padres, by tearing his ACL while being restrained by manager Bud Black during an umpire argument. Bradley\u2019s notorious temper probably cost him a chance at stardom, but eight teams gave him a try \u2014 and one got an All-Star performance. Bradley was sensational in 2008, hitting .321 with an AL-best .999 OPS and serving as the starting DH at the Yankee Stadium All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
Toronto Blue Jays: Santiago Espinal, 2022<\/p>\n
The Jays have had quite a few obscure All-Stars this century, from all over the diamond: catcher John Buck, infielder Whit Merrifield, outfielder Michael Saunders, starter Ricky Romero and the left-right middle-relief duo of Brett Cecil and Steve Delabar, who made it together in 2013. But the choice here is Espinal, a competent utility guy now playing for Cincinnati.<\/p>\n
Washington Nationals: Tyler Clippard, 2011 and 2014<\/p>\n
Clippard is the Nationals\u2019 leader in games pitched (with 418, he\u2019s just seven behind franchise leader Tim Burke of the Expos) and a deserving All-Star twice. He makes this list for the trick he pulled in 2011, when he faced one batter, gave up a hit \u2014 and earned the victory. How? He gave up a hit to Adri\u00e1n Beltr\u00e9, but Hunter Pence threw out Jos\u00e9 Bautista at the plate. Then the NL came to bat and took the lead for good, giving Clippard a curly-W in the box score.<\/p>\n
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson \/ The Athletic; Photos: Jonathan Daniel, Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Todd Warshaw\/Getty Images, Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Stearns, a major-league catcher for a decade, also played safety for the University of Colorado. He carried…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":52129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1279,1280,1276,1281,1271,1274,5048,1282,1283,1885,2382,1284,1285,2502,1286,4247,1287,1266,1305,2228,5055,2083,1886,1306,1275,1288,62,3692,1289,1278,1290,67,132,68,1291],"class_list":{"0":"post-52128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","9":"tag-atlanta-braves","10":"tag-baltimore-orioles","11":"tag-boston-red-sox","12":"tag-chicago-cubs","13":"tag-chicago-white-sox","14":"tag-cincinnati-reds","15":"tag-cleveland-guardians","16":"tag-colorado-rockies","17":"tag-detroit-tigers","18":"tag-houston-astros","19":"tag-kansas-city-royals","20":"tag-los-angeles-angels","21":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","22":"tag-miami-marlins","23":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","24":"tag-minnesota-twins","25":"tag-mlb","26":"tag-new-york-mets","27":"tag-new-york-yankees","28":"tag-oakland-athletics","29":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","30":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","31":"tag-san-diego-padres","32":"tag-san-francisco-giants","33":"tag-seattle-mariners","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","36":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","37":"tag-texas-rangers","38":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","39":"tag-united-states","40":"tag-unitedstates","41":"tag-us","42":"tag-washington-nationals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}