Buster Posey is the starting catcher for the National League All-Star team. Big whoop, you might think. Of course he is. He's the best. Come back with some real news.
Except I'm here with a list of San Francisco Giants who have started the All-Star Game, and it'll remind you not to take Posey's selection for granted. The Giants don't always have All-Star starters. They can go years without one.
The complete list of Giants in the National League starting lineup for the All-Star Game:
1958 - Willie Mays
1959 (1) - Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda
1959 (2) - Willie Mays
1960 (1) - Willie Mays
1960 (2) - Willie Mays
1961 (1) - Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda
1961 (2) - Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda
1962 (1) - Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda
1962 (2) - Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda
1963 - Willie Mays
1964 - Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda
1965 - Willie Mays, Juan Marichal
1966 - Willie Mays, Willie McCovey
1967 - Juan Marichal
1968 - Willie Mays, Willie McCovey
1969 - Willie McCovey
1970 - Willie Mays
1971 - Willie Mays, Willie McCovey
1972 - Willie Mays
1973 - Chris Speier
1974 - N/A
1975 - N/A
1976 - N/A
1977 - N/A
1978 - Vida Blue
1979 - N/A
1980 - N/A
1981 - N/A
1982 - N/A
1983 - N/A
1984 - N/A
1985 - N/A
1986 - N/A
1987 - N/A
1988 - Will Clark
1989 - Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Rick Reuschel
1990 - Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell
1991 - Will Clark
1992 - N/A
1993 - Barry Bonds
1994 - Barry Bonds, Matt Williams
1995 - Barry Bonds
1996 - Barry Bonds
1997 - Barry Bonds
1998 - Barry Bonds
1999 - N/A
2000 - Jeff Kent
2001 - Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent, Rich Aurilia
2002 - Barry Bonds
2003 - Barry Bonds, Jason Schmidt
2004 - Barry Bonds
2005 - N/A
2006 - N/A
2007 - Barry Bonds
2008 - N/A
2009 - Tim Lincecum
2010 - N/A
2011 - N/A
2012 - Melky Cabrera, Matt Cain, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval
2013 - N/A
2014 - N/A
2015 - Buster Posey
And here are some notes:
- Willie Mays was good
- Orlando Cepeda was a regular ASG starter; Willie McCovey was not
- If you want to know why Will Clark was so important to so many people, look at the post-Mays wasteland of All-Star starters. That's a pretty pretty good way to endear yourself to your fans.
- During that time, several former Giants got starts. Dave Kingman, George Foster, Bobby Bonds, for three
- Barry Bonds was good
- Barry Bonds also had a 1.164 OPS at the All-Star Break when he didn't start the 2000 game. It's hard to complain too much about a Vladimir Guerrero/Jim Edmonds/Sammy Sosa outfield, but come on, voters
- One of the reasons that Mays made it every year was because the lineups were selected by the coaches, players, and managers from 1958 through 1969. Less of a chance for Finnbar Maypril to capture the imagination of voters
- 2012 makes me laugh every time I think about it. Giants fans stuffed the ballot box, got three starters in the lineup, managed to get the starting pitcher, too, then manhandled Justin Verlander to secure homefield advantage in the World Series ... then manhandled Verlander again when they got to the World Series. You can make an argument that season was the most magical run of the three, not that you should choose between them
- In the 58 years the Giants have been in San Francisco, the Giants have had only 19 different players start for them. Actually, I can't tell if that deserves an "only" or not.
Buster Posey will start his second All-Star Game. Don't take it for granted. These suckers don't come around that often.
Also, if you were paying attention to every Giants game in the '70s, I'm so sorry. That decade was lousy.