The best players who never made an MLB All-Star team

While there’s plenty of talk about the best Major League Baseball players who never won a World Series, there are just as many big names that never made an All-Star team despite posting monster numbers. This list will examine five of them, and some are mighty surprising!

5. Ellis Kinder

Position: Pitcher
Years active: 1946-1957
Teams: St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox

I consider myself a baseball history buff, but learning more about Kinder was a highlight of researching this article. He didn’t break into the big leagues until he was 31 and survived two rough years with the lowly St. Louis Browns. However, he went to the Boston Red Sox and became one of the better pitchers in the American League.

Kinder finished in the top 11 of MVP voting three times, led the league in saves twice, and went 23-6 in 1949.

4. John Tudor

Position: Pitcher
Years active: 1979-1990
Teams: Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers

Tudor found his biggest success with the Cardinals in the mid-1980’s. He went 21-8 in 1985 while leading the league in both WHIP (0.938) and shutouts (10). While he finished second in the NL Cy Young voting and eighth in MVP balloting, however, he did not earn a place on the All-Star team.

Tudor had several strong seasons in the years that followed, but this seems like a huge mistake on the part of the voting public.

3. Tim Salmon

Position: Outfield
Years active: 1992-2006
Teams: Los Angeles Angels

Best known as the second-best Angel with the last name of a fish, Salmon won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1993 and was one of the most feared hitters in the junior circuit during the mid-1990’s. From 1995 through 1998, he averaged .302, along with 31 homers and 105 RBI’s per season.

He tailed off in the mid-2000’s, but was still a vital part of the Angels’ run to the 2002 title, as he hit .346 against the Giants in the World Series.

2. Eric Chavez

Position: Third base
Years active: 1998-2014
Teams: Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks

Chavez came to be a vital part of Billy Beane’s "Moneyball" teams in the Bay Area, and for good reason. He won six consecutive Gold Gloves at third base and drove in 100 or more runs four times. Injuries, unfortunately, meant that he only played more than 90 games in one of his final eight seasons, but at his best, he was one of the top infielders of his era.

1. Juan Pierre

Position: Outfield
Years active: 2000-2013
Teams: Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies

Juan Pierre’s skill set was never truly appreciated because he was a singles hitter during the steroid era. However, he’s one of just 18 players in MLB history with at least 600 stolen bases, and he led the league in steals three times. He also retired with 2,217 hits and twice led the NL in hits over the course of a season.

Pierre won a ring with the Marlins in 2003 after hitting .301 in that postseason.