First, Dave Dombrowski made the now infamous comment about Bryce Harper not being an “elite” player anymore. Now, commissioner Rob Manfred has selected Harper as a “Legacy Selection” to the NL roster. The official description of just what – or who – a legacy selection is comes from the current CBA: Under Article XV(N) of the collective bargaining agreement, the MLB Commissioner holds the explicit prerogative to add active players to the All-Star roster to honor distinguished, generational careers or significant contributions to the game.
In the past, the honor has been given to players creeping up on retirement who were not voted into the game by either the fans or MLB players. In 2022, Manfred chose Albert Pujols (St. Louis) and Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) to join the roster of their respective league. Pujols retired after the 2022 season and Cabrera played one more season before stepping away from the game. Last season, Manfred selected Clayton Kershaw who retired following last season.
If anybody believes that Harper is getting close to retirement, it would be interesting to hear your reasoning. By the way, it’s not as if Manfred didn’t have anyone else to select; the commissioner does not have to select a legacy player or players.
The bottom line is that Harper is not at the point in his career that Pujols, Cabrera, or Kershaw were in theirs when they were placed onto the all-star roster. He may not be in his prime, but he is definitely putting together an elite season. In fact, Harper is on pace to finish the season with a slash line of .270/.370/.522/.822 with 36 home runs, 103 RBI, and 101 runs scored. The home run and RBI numbers would be the second most in Harper’s career and the runs scored would be the third most. It’s worth noting that he has also played in every game this season, something that he has not done in his career. His career high in games played was 159 in 2018, his last season with Washington. His second most number of games played was 157 in 2019, his first with the Phillies.
One reason – perhaps the most likely – is that with the game in Philadelphia, Manfred extended the invite to Harper for that reason. Keep in mind that Harper basically had the commissioner removed from the Phillies clubhouse during spring training when the commish brought up the idea of a salary cap.
The strive for five
With five players from the Phillies going into this season’s All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, the team has now had at least five players in a game in eight different seasons – 2024, 2011, 2009, 1995, 1981, 1979, and 1976 – are the others seasons. Pitchers Cristopher Sanchez and Jhoan Duran were both chosen, as were Brandon Marsh, Kyle Schwarber, and Harper. Sanchez has a shot at being the starter in the game and Marsh will be starting for the National League squad. Schwarber was voted in by the players, who selected him over Shohei Ohtani, who was the choice of the fans.
The franchise record for the most Phillies in one all-star game was set as recently as 2024 when eight Phillies were all-stars. Three-quarters of the Phillies infield – Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Alec Bohm – weren’t just voted into the game, but were starters. Starting pitchers Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez, and Zack Wheeler were selected, as were Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm from the Phillies bullpen.
The only team to never have at least five players on one roster is – Tampa Bay. Three times Tampa Bay has had four players in one game (2021, 2010, and 2008). The most players in one game distinction is held by – Boston. The Red Sox had 11 players chosen for the 1946 All-Star Game. The Yankees had 10 players selected in 1939 and 10 other teams, including the Phillies, have had eight players selected in a single season.
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