The names on the rosters for the 2016 MLB All-Star game are out, with Miguel Cabrera (11th selection) and David Ortiz (10th selection) the only players with double digit selections. A long way to go before reaching the likes of Willie Mays, Pete Rose, Mickey Mantle, and the others on the list of players with the most All-Star appearances.
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The list is according to the number of seasons the player was selected to the All-Star game, not “helping them out” with the inflation of AS games from 1959 to 1962, when two All-Star games were held each season.
Mantle was selected to 20 All-Star games due to the double All-Star tradition that ran from 1959 to 1962. A Yankees player from 1951 to 1968, he’s been in the hall of fame since 1974, and has 7 World Series titles and three AL MVPs to show off with.
Pete Rose, 17
Rose began his major league career in Cincinnati, and made it to the All-Star game in 1965. His 16 other appearances came in 1967-1971, 1973-1982 and his last one in 1985. Baseball’s all-time leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215), and outs (10,328), he is a three-time World Series champion and one-time NL MVP. He’s still not in the hall of fame.
Ted Williams, 17
Williams played his entire career (1939-1942, 1946-1960) for the Boston Red Sox, actually playing in 19 different All-Star games. His career was interrupted due to World War II, with Williams serving in the US Navy and Marine corps. He’s a two-time AL MVP and a hall of famer since 1966.
Carl Yastrzemski, 18
Another Red Sox legend, Yastrzemski played for Boston from 1961 to 1983, with a stretch of 15 consecutive All-Star games included in his CV (1965-1979). A hall of famer since 1989, he was the AL MVP in 1967, and was the first American League player to be in the 3000 hits club and get more than 400 career home runs (finished with 452). He was the All-Star MVP in 1970.
Rod Carew, 18
Carew made his major league debut in 1967 for the Minnesota Twins, and finished his career in 1985 playing for the Angels. He was an All-Star for the first 18 years of his career, and won the AL MVP in 1977. He was inducted to the hall of fame in 1991.
Cal Ripken Jr, 19
Ripken played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles (1981-2001), and holds the record for the most consecutive games played in the majors with 2632. He made the All-Star game 19 times in a row (1983-2001), and among the many things on his CV, are the 1983 World Series title with the Orioles, and his two AL MVP awards.
Stan Musial, 20
Musial appeared in 24 All-Star games (a few years with double AS), and was on the All-Star roster in the last 18 season of his career, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1963, with a break in 1945 due to his service in World War II. Musial won the World Series three times with the Cardinals, was a three-time NL MVP, and made it into the hall of fame in 1969.
Willie Mays, 20
Mays played for the Giants for almost his entire career, both in New York and in San Francisco, before two final seasons with the New York Mets in 1972 and 1973. Mays was in the All-Star game every year from 1954 (his career started out in 1951), but his army service during the Korean War cost his 266 games; most of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season, spending much of his time in the Army playing baseball at Fort Eustis, Virginia. He won the World Series once, and the NL MVP three times. He won the All-Star MVP twice (Ted Williams once said that the All-Star game was invented for Mays), and made it into the hall of fame in 1979.
Hank Aaron, 21
Aaron was selected to more All-Star games than anyone, and was part of 25 due to the double All-Star, short-lived era. He played for the Braves from 1954 till 1974, and then two more seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. He won the World Series in 1957 and the NL MVP that year. His home run record of 755 held for 31 years, until it was broken by Barry Bonds in 2007. He was inducted into the hall of fame in 1982.
Among active players, Alex Rodriguez has the most All-Star selections with 14, with Cabrera’s 11th selection putting him at 2nd place.