All-Star Question:
 

This one may take research from the likes of Bill Gregory:

What player has been his team's sole representative the most times?


Now, the rosters change frequently after the initial selection announcements what with minor injuries or pitchers being unavailable - so leeway is given.


The answer, which I do not know, can be either voted in or selected and he doesn't have to play in any all-star game.


My first thought was of Dale Murphy during the pre-1991 Braves' days, but Niekro was around for much, if not all, of Murphy's career.



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Good question - those Brave teams of the mid-80s also had Bob Horner, I believe he was an all-star a couple of years.

My first thought was for the Expos from that time frame, but they had Raines, Dawson and Gary Carter.

Without looking up the correct answer on google, my guess would be Ernie Banks - consistently great player for some bad teams.

I thought about Banks too but he had Santo on the Cubbies.

My guess is Al Kaline.

Perhaps. I was thinking Rickey Henderson. The A's weren't particularly great in the late 70's and early 80's, and Rickey was. Just ask him.

For the Tigers it's Cecil Fielder - only representative in '92 and '93. Kaline was never the Tigers only rep. They were good for most of his career.


I got Tony Gwynn 5 times the only Padres rep. (86, 87, 94, 95, 96) Beat that.

I'm surprised it's not Hoffman for the Padres.

For the Indians, my guess is Bob Feller.

Fun question, Raymond. You make me feel like such a stat nerd, lol. It's ok, because I am one. I take Bill James' book with me to the restroom a few times a day, and read it as soon as I wipe the sleep out of my eyes in the afternoon. I've learning SABR like the WOPR in Wargames.

Maybe I'll commission the city of Flower Mound to put together a Bat Signal for you to shine when one of these questions comes up, only instead of a winged bat, I imagine it would look like a Louisville Slugger. :p

Tony Gwynn wasn't the only Padres representative at the 1996 All Star Game. Ken Caminiti played the whole season for the Padres. He was an All Star, and the National League MVP. ;)

By the way, I'm trying to figure out how the 1985 Padres got seven All Stars going 83-79. I know they won the National League Pennant the year before, but talk about teams that drastically underperformed!

Their All Star selections in '85:

Steve Garvey
Rich "Goose" Gossage
Tony Gwynn
LaMarr Hoyt
Terry Kennedy
Graig Nettles
Garry Templeton

~~~~~~~~~

The name that immediately popped into my mind, and new leader, is Ralph Kiner. He was the only representative on a horrible Pirates team five times. I thought it would have been six, but alas, three Pirates were sent in 1948. They were 83-71 that year, and he was joined by guys named Frankie Gustine (who?) and Elmer Riddle (who part two?). Gustine was inexplicably the lone Pirates All Star in 1947, but I think somebody mixed up the ballot counting. Gustine hit a respectable .297 for the 62-92 Pirates, but Kiner wasn't voted to the game. How, I'll never know. Generally, guys who score 118 runs, tally 177 hits, 51 home runs, 127 RBI, 98 walks, 361 total bases, hit .313 and slash .417/.639/1.056 get to go to the midseason classic. Kiner led the NL in home runs, slugging, OPS, total bases, and OPS +. Not only was he not an All Star, he finished sixth(!) in the MVP.

He was the only Pirate to go in the following years:
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953

I would flip that question around.

How did the Padres go 83-79 with 7 All Stars? ;)

Bill- Elmer Riddle was the best from my hometown the first half of the 20th Century. We have since produced Frank Thomas and Tim Hudson, but Elmer had a couple of nice seasons (albeit with the Reds) 'back in the day'. No (?) about it. Nineteen Wins and the ERA title in 1941 ; 21 Wins in 1943.

With the Pirates is '48, Riddle was 9-4 with a 2.66 ERA in 15 Starts with 11 CGs and 3 Shutouts at the break for a team that was 24-20.
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Actually, Murry Dickson also played in the 1953 All-Star game for Pittsburgh. Got the save, a knock and RBI.

Quote:
Originally Posted by the 'stache View Post
By the way, I'm trying to figure out how the 1985 Padres got seven All Stars going 83-79. I know they won the National League Pennant the year before, but talk about teams that drastically underperformed!

Their All Star selections in '85:

Steve Garvey
Rich "Goose" Gossage
Tony Gwynn
LaMarr Hoyt
Terry Kennedy
Graig Nettles
Garry Templeton

Could be worse, My Tigers won the series in 84' and finished 84-77.

They had 6 All-stars in 85' -
Lou Whitaker
Lance Parrish (replaced by Fisk for injury)
Willie Hernandez
Jack Morris
Dan Petry
Alan Trammell

Also, Darrell Evans finished 14th in AL All Star voting, Kirk Gibson 18th.

Yeah, that was a let down year. :(

I would guess someone from the expansion teams like Dave Stieb, or whoever they picked from those awful Mariners teams.

EDIT: Looks like 4 out of 7 of his appearances he was the Blue Jays only rep. Damaso Garcia (really?) was on two of the teams Stieb was on and Kelly Gruber was on one.