Michael Young leading the early voting for DHs. Would be his 7th ASG.

This made me curious as to what the lowest career WAR totals are for players with 7 appearances or more.

The most comprehensive list of ASG appearance leaders I could find was this one at Baseball-Reference, which only lists players with 8 appearances or more.

Young is a career +26.4 WAR.

The lowest totals on the 8+ appearances list:

Harvey Kuenn (+24.3)
Del Crandall (+26.7)
Elston Howard (+28.2)
Walker Cooper (+28.4)
Marty Marion (+29.0)

So the 7-timers list would probably have a few others with totals lower than Young's. And Young will likely end up around +30 when his career is over.

Not the worst "perennial" All-Star ever... but surprising he's squeezed as many appearances out of his career as he has given he plays outside the major markets.

All the above were *noted for their Defense & very smart play.
All Captains- all very good players.
Young seems to be in a crowd of his own.
Certainly deserving, for Mikey's 7th All Star appearance- 2011

A bit deceiving to compare him to others who have finished their careers already. Also, "around 30" can mean a lot of different things. He's got 1.5 already this year which bumps him up a hundred slots or so up the list and there's a few hundred more slots depending on whether he ends up in the high 20s or more like the mid 30s.

Also, three of the five you list are catchers. This goes along with Uncle HubZ's point of these "low" WAR all stars being thought of as giving extra value from leadership, intangibles and face-yness...

Is there any greater player when it comes to leadership and intangibles than Mikey Baseball? The ultimate pro, ready to play anywhere he's needed to help the team win.

That's why they call him Mikey Team Player.

Normally I would agree with yall. Dont get me wrong, i'm not knocking him for the all star game he obviously deserves it, he's playing like a stud. However, i do believe that his image as "ultimate team player" has taken a hit this year. not just the whole offseason thing, but (this is my personal opinion) I feel that his insistance on playing the field, and wash granting this to keep him happy have effected the team negatively. Its hard for our team to get in a groove when players are being shuffled in and out of the line up. I dont belive MY should be playing 1B. if that position is open Napoli needs to be playing it, and he needs to DH. I dont have a problem with him filling at 2B, but thats mainly due to Kinslers offensive struggles, and my general opinion on Kinsler needing some "timeout" time every now and then to keep him in check. I think wash needs to sit him down and set him straight that MY is the DH. and thats all. For him to be the ultimate team player again, in my eyes, he needs to accept that role, and succeed at it. i dont doubt that he can do it. But watching napolis recent explosion has just made me realize how important it is to keep MY in check about his role so that we can put the best lineup out there on a daily basis.

I'm pretty sure we were being sarcastic.

And the fact he has changed positions so often.
Is he a Hall of Famer?

oh. didnt pick up on that. sorry.

I don't think I'm ever going to understand the dislike for this guy. He's moved positions 3 times now, and reportedly is learning to play OF in case he the team needs him to change positions yet again. He's griped a bit, sure - but he's done it.

More importantly, he was the only offense we had for the last month when Josh and Nelly were out. I don't know what statistic that translates into, but he hit the ball when no one else was doing so.

I'm with you Dan, these same people will complain about the pay-out scheme following their lottery winning day.

Face walks the walk, he may groan or say things ill advised from time to time but he produces. If Ichiro was not around he would be the hits leader of his generation.

Worst thing Young has done is gripe a bit. Not like he was a crack head that can't stay healthy and thinks he is better then everyone else...

I think the dislike for Young is more of a byproduct of the media painting him to be a better player than he actually is, combined with how he gripes each time he moves positions, then is painted as the ultimate team player. He's a good hitter, but he's not as good as the media and most fans make him out to be. And his saber stats don't come close to validating his salary or his hero status. Doesn't make him a bad guy or a bad player...but I think those who 'dislike' him are actually more resentful of his reputation exceeding his production than anything. Maybe I am wrong and some people just think he's a scumbag...

His griping over changing positions has really been overblown, IMO...

He's done no worse than what any other star player has done when asked/forced to move around the diamond...let alone one who has now made four moves. If "star" doesn't suit your fancy, then let's just say "established" or "veteran" or whatever you like.

I followed the Astros pretty closely in the latter part of Biggio's career when I lived in Houston and he wasn't enthusiastic about the move from 2B to the OF back to 2B. :ike Young, didn't blast the team. Yet the comments were taken in a much better light by Astros fans...he was never seen as a malcontent, just a competitive veteran who deserved a chance to say his piece.

Was Ernie Banks happy and enthusiastic about moving off of SS? Was Yount? Is any veteran giddy about moving to DH?

@Pull T - I think most everything about MY has been "overblown" Some overhype him and the others are too harsh on him. For such a quiet and mostly unassuming guy, he sure gets big reactions both ways. IMO he doesnt deserve all the love he gets from the media AND he doesnt deserve the hate he gets from places like this. But people seem to either love Mikey Baseball like no other or love to point out his faults. I admitedly, have been both of those people and I think I should just appreciate him for what he is....A very good Ranger who has kept his head down and mouth shut (for the most part) and just played ball. And played ball at a pretty high level for a long time. Regardless of when and how he gets his hits, he gets his hits. And regardless of how much we are paying him, having a guy that can play anywhere in the IF (quality of said play notwithstanding) and hit .330 is pretty valuable.

Is he a Hall of Famer?

Not even close.

Very few are in the middle of their 11th season.

Mikey is not Rogers Hornsby, as a RHH, nor is he graceful as an Ozzzie Smith
or even Elvis Andrus defensively... but few were and are. One can judge him by
numbers, which fails my imagination on the whole of Mikey, as a man & player.
I know what I'm getting from Young, day in/day out. He's healthy for a change.
Would he change minds if he hit .264 with 30+ HR's p/year? Underrated power.
Hard to judge a player's reality out of position, offensively and defensively.
Hall Pass here, on the two at 3B. Injured & hurting without nary a peep nor grimace.

The legend of Mikey Baseball grows...

Clearly other players in the league respect MY more than you guys do here. I'm pretty sure I can guess which opinion he values more.

I really can't understand why there has to be a line drawn in the Sand, with Young.
If most want a totally Elite Ballplayer, to play this game, then I'd say stay with the fantasy
of Play Station. Real Players aren't going to live up to ones imagination of elite, as a whole,
but it certainly makes for better viewing as a fan. Under/Over achieving is part of Reality.
Poor Albert Pujols... injured- he's going to take a Major hit, with his statistics & fall from the
top shelf of Elite. The personal Tear Down of Hero's, is an oddity, I'll never understand.