So the Hall of Fame voting results were revealed yesterday or whatever and everyone was very outraged. I don't think a guy with a lifetime .328 OBP should really be in the HoF, but it's not like it was a terrible choice. You know what is a terrible reason to vote for someone, which I saw being cited for a few voters? "They made the All-Star Game."
Here are some people that have started in the All-Star Game since 1999 alone (arbitrary 10-year cutoff):
Matt Williams
Jeromy Burnitz
Jay Bell
Kenny Lofton
Carl Everett
Travis Fryman
Rich Aurilia
Bret Boone
Juan Gonzalez
Shea Hillenbrand
Jose Vidro
Edgar Renteria
Javy Lopez
Alfonso Soriano
Garret Anderson
Troy Glaus
Esteban Loaiza
Jason Schmidt
Mark Mulder
Aramis Ramirez
David Eckstein
Jason Varitek
Brian Roberts
Vernon Wells
Mark Loretta
Kenny Rogers
Paul Lo Duca
Brad Penny
Russell Martin
Jake Peavy
Kosuke Fukudome
Geovany Soto
Ben Sheets
Milton Bradley
Raul Ibanez
Yadier Molina
Don't get me wrong, they don't suck or anything (well... a couple of these guys suck, actually), and obviously a lot of guys who ARE future Hall of Famers and/or consistently excellent players have gone to the All-Star Game a ton of times,* but a lot of these are "Wow, remember that one good half-year that guy had?" It's pretty safe that none of these guys are ever heading to the Hall of Fame (though with the Red Sawx Propaganda Machine in full gear, it will probably be my luck that Varitek gets into the HoF and Posada doesn't).
And remember that Tim Wakefield went to the All-Star Game for the first time in a crazy long career this year because at the All-Star Game, he ZOMG led the league in WINS!
* Again, since 1999:
Barry Larkin
Mark McGwire
Jeff Bagwell
Mike Piazza
Pedro Martinez
Ken Griffey Jr.
Manny Ramirez
Jim Thome (you forget how awesome he was)
Cal Ripken Jr.
Ivan Rodriguez (can't hit any more, but he sure could)
Roberto Alomar
Curt Schilling (gag)
Derek Jeter
Bernie Williams
Chipper Jones
Vladimir Guerrero
Randy Johnson
Todd Helton
Barry Bonds
Jeff Kent
Ichiro Suzuki
Alex Rodriguez
Edgar Martinez
Roger Clemens
Jason Giambi
Jorge Posada
Albert Pujols
Carlos Delgado
Bobby Abreu
Carlos Beltran
Mark Teixeira
David Wright
Jason Bay
Chase Utley
Prince Fielder
Hanley Ramirez
Kevin Youkilis
Joe Mauer
Again, just like I didn't think the other guys necessarily sucked or whatever, these guys are definitely not like, all first-ballot HOFers (though a bunch of these guys are more or less locks, and hey Cal Ripken Jr. is already there with 98.5% of the vote on the first ballot). A lot of them probably aren't going to make it to the HOF at all, but that doesn't change the fact that I think of them as consistently very good players throughout their careers, though obviously some of them are newer to the game than others.
I don't know what the point of this giant list was, I guess just to show that excellent players make it sometimes and non-excellent players make it sometimes so "they went to the All-Star Game!!!" is a dumb reason to vote for someone.
