The Kansas City Royals Five Worst All-Star Selections

With the All-Star Game fast approaching, fans of every team have something to look forward to. No matter how bad their favorite team may be, each team will have at least one token representative, one player who reminds the rest of the nation that while the team may be awful, there is at least one good player there. At least, that is how being an All-Star works in theory. Sometimes, on those truly terrible teams, there really is not a player worthy of being named to the All-Star squad, leading to some truly interesting choices.

As Royals fans, we certainly remember what that was like, when the token Royal was someone that definitely did not belong in the Mid-Summer Classic. Those days have seemingly passed. The Royals have a solid young nucleus and have hopefully put those dark days behind them. Salvador Perez is going to start the All-Star Game next week, with Greg Holland and Alex Gordon also making the trip. Each of those three players are among the best at their positions, and certainly worthy of the honor they received.

But what of those players who were, shall we say, questionable choices for the All-Star Game? Well, here is a look back at the five worst All-Star selections from the Kansas City Royals.

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5. Mike MacDougal – 2003

“Mac the Ninth,” as he came to be known, was one of the many players on the 2003 Kansas City Royals to have their career season at the same time, as the Royals parlayed the improbable into their only winning season from 1995-2012. MacDougal, as the closer, received a solid amount of attention, as he posted a 2.59 ERA and 24 saves at the All-Star break, earning a spot on the American League squad.

As good as those numbers may have been, they belied the fact that Mike MacDougal was walking a tightrope as the Royals closer. MacDougal walked 22 batters in 41.2 innings at the break, and had a 1.368 WHiP. For someone that threw hard, MacDougal also did not strike out many batters, with 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings. It was a matter of time before things fell apart. They did in the second half. MacDougla had a 6.85 ERA and a 1.746 WHiP in the second half of the season, losing the closer job to . He truly fell apart in August, as the Royals slid back into the pack, as his 8.64 ERA and 2.400 WHiP certainly did not help matters.

For the season, MacDougal had 27 saves, with a 4.08 ERA and a 1.500 WHiP. That was enough to earn a 0.6 WAR, making just above replacement level.

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4. Ellie Rodriguez – 1969

Rodriguez actually made two All-Star games in his career, appearing in his second as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1972. While he deserved recognition in 1972 in what turned out to be a career season, the same could not be said about his first appearance in an All-Star game. Yet, Rodriguez still earned the honor of being the Royals first All-Star representative.

As the Royals were an expansion team that year, it was certainly slim pickings to locate someone to represent the team. However, the selection of Ellie Rodriguez, who was splitting time behind the plate with Buck Martinez, seemed a bit peculiar. It was not as though Rodriguez was tearing the cover off the ball either during the first half of the season, as he had a .260/.342/.339 batting line with two home runs. For the season, Rodriguez posted a .236/.333/.296 slash rate with those two home runs and twenty RBIs.

Both Joe Foy and Lou Pinella had solid seasons for the expansion Royals, and could have made a case to be the lone representative for Kansas City. Instead, that honor fell to a light hitting platoon catcher with solid defense.

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3. Ken Harvey – 2004

Harvey was another player who put together an unforeseen performance in 2003, having appeared in four games in 2001 before becoming the Royals main first baseman as a rookie. However, unlike most of the other players on that year’s squad, Harvey was actually able to improve the following year. For the season, Harvey posted a .287/.338/421 batting line with 13 home runs.

While those overall numbers were not exactly stellar, Ken Harvey had a decent first half of the season, posting a .305/.353/.452 slash line with ten home runs as he was the Royals token representative that year. Yet, even that high batting average was inflated by a .345 batting average on balls in play. When his numbers fell back in the second half, Harvey actually wound up as under replacement level, posting a -0.2 WAR.

Harvey’s tale ended sadly, as he seemed as though he was making progress over his first two seasons to being a solid piece in the lineup. Instead, he found his career derailed by recurring back problems, appearing in only 12 major league games in 2005, the last time he appeared in the majors.

Aug 22, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach

(45) against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

2. Tony Muser and Trey Hillman

Admittedly, this is cheating a bit. No one really cares if the manager is named as a coach on the All-Star team. In fact, if a team is putting together a passably decent season, it can be a way to reward those managers with a bit of recognition. Yet, neither Muser nor Hillman were in the middle of excellent seasons.

Tony Muser was able to get the Royals within a few games of .500 in 2000, posting a 77-85 record. However, the Royals were not that great in 2001, limping to a 65-97 record. Trey Hillman, who had won as a manager in Japan and was supposed to bring those winning ways to Kansas City, also had a 65-97 record in 2009 when he was named to the All-Star team as a coach. Maybe he was given credit for the greatness that was Zack Greinke that year. Or, perhaps, there is some strange rule that mandates that, if a Royals manager is on pace for a 65-97 record, they get named as a coach to the All-Star squad.

As bad as those two failed managers were, they still do not rate as the worst “All-Stars” in Royals history. That dubious honor belongs to….

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1. Mark Redman – 2006

If ever there was an All-Star selection that led people to question the legitimacy of giving each team a token representative in the game, it had to be Mark Redman. Aside from his 2003 season with the then Florida Marlins, Redman had been the definition of pitching mediocrity. He was even worse than that in 2006, putting together an 11-10 record with a 5.71 ERA and a 1.587 WHiP.

It is not as though the season fell apart for Mark Redman in the second half. He was equally terrible before the break, with a 6-4 record and a 5.27 ERA, both walking and striking out 32 batters. Maybe he was selected for having a winning record on a team that ended up 38 games under .500? As it was, that was the last hurrah for Redman, who would win four more major league games in the following two seasons before calling it a career.

Sadly, the Royals really didn’t have any other options. Emil Brown and Mark Teahen were the best hitters that year, and the Royals pitching staff posted a 5.65 ERA. Still, Mark Redman???