Ranking past Mariners All-Stars from 1977-2022: Nos. 31-48

July 5, 2023 Updated Wed., July 5, 2023 at 9:40 p.m.

Seattle Mariners first baseman Ty France competes a double play on Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez in the fifth inning, April 7, 2023, at Progressive Field. (Tribune News Service)

By Bob Condotta Seattle Times

SEATTLE – So, it obviously can’t be denied that the Major League Baseball rule stating every team must have at least one representative was the main reason the name Mariners was included on the list of All-Stars in the early years of the franchise.

But since the arrival of Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989, the Mariners have had a pretty representative history when it comes to the All-Star Game, with three MVPs, three starting pitchers, and a few others who turned in game-winning moments.

As another All-Star Game in Seattle awaits, it feels like the appropriate time to recall all of the Mariners who have taken part in past games.

There have been 48 individual Mariners named as All-Stars from 1977-2022, making 91 appearances overall.

Some have taken part in more than a few – Ichiro and Griffey are tied for the most All-Star appearances as Mariners with 10.

And then there are the 35 who were selected to just one All-Star Game as a Mariner.

That’s a list that includes some big names such as Jay Buhner, Alvin Davis and Kyle Seager; two who made their debuts last year – Julio Rodriguez and Ty France; as well as some who time may have forgotten such as Matt Young, Craig Reynolds and Floyd Bannister.

But All-Star Games are a time celebrating not only the game’s present but also remembering its past.

So, in that spirit, here’s a ranking of every Mariner named to an All-Star Game before 2023.

In this first part, we rank Nos. 31-48 in descending order.

48. P Rick Honeycutt

Years: 1980.

Comment: Honeycutt didn’t get to pitch in an All-Star Game with the Mariners amid a 59-103 season – his 10-17 final record has to be among the worst for any All-Star pitcher.

47. SS Craig Reynolds

Years: 1978.

Comment: The Mariners’ second All-Star represented a rare highlight during what was a dreary 56-104 season, hitting .306 at the break. But this was back in the day when teams tried a little harder to win, and Reynolds didn’t get to play as starter Freddie Patek went the whole way.

46. 1B Daniel Vogelbach

Years: 2019

Comment: Given the rather peripatetic nature of his career – Vogelbach has played for five teams in eight years – he may seem like one of the team’s more unlikely All-Stars. But he had 21 homers and 51 RBIs at the break (famously slumping to nine HRs and a .162 average after the break). He got one at-bat as a pinch-hitter and flew out.

45. P Floyd Bannister

Years: 1982

Comment: Bannister didn’t get to pitch in 1982 but probably should have as the Mariners were one of the surprises of the first half of that season, just four games out of first at the All-Star break, the first real sign of life in Mariners history. Bannister was 8-5 at the time but finished 12-13 as Seattle slumped to the finish line.

44. P Yusei Kikuchi

Years: 2021

Comment: On a roll heading into the game with a 6-3 record and 2.77 ERA in his previous 12 starts before the All-Star break, Kikuchi was the only Mariner named to the game. But Kikuchi was placed on the COVID-19 list two days before the game. He passed a rapid test and was cleared to play and flew to Denver to take part on Monday. That night he was placed on the inactive list amid reports he had decided he didn’t feel he was able to pitch in the game.

43. 3B Jim Presley

Years: 1986

Comment: At age 24, Presley looked like a future star in 1986. He had 18 homers and was hitting .280 at the All-Star break to earn the nod as Seattle’s representative. Presley, though, didn’t get to play, with Wade Boggs going almost all the way at third base, and he never made another All-Star Game.

42. 2B Jose Lopez

Years: 2006

Comment: Lopez played only one inning in his only All-Star Game. But it was about as eventful as an inning can get. With the AL trailing 2-1, Lopez entered in the top of the ninth with two outs to pinch-run for Paul Konerko, who had singled off Trevor Hoffman. Troy Glaus followed with a double, but Lopez stopped at third, even though many thought he had a chance to score. No matter, Michael Young followed with a triple to score both runners and put the AL up 3-2. Lopez stayed in the game to play third, a position he’d played in only two games in his MLB career to that point and promptly made an error to give the NL some life. But Mariano Rivera saved the win.

41. P Hisashi Iwakuma

Years: 2013

Comment: In a season in which he finished third in the Cy Young voting at 14-6, Iwakuma didn’t get to pitch in his only All-Star appearance after having gone seven innings in a Mariners win two days prior.

40. P Matt Young

Years: 1983

Comment: Young did just fine in his one All-Star appearance, tossing a scoreless inning as the AL won only its second All-Star Game since 1962. But illustrative of the lost season that was the Mariners in 1983, Young made the All-Star team with a 7-8 record, on his way to an 11-15 record for a team that went 60-102.

39. P Shigetoshi Hasegawa

Years: 2003

Comment: A key part of stellar Mariners bullpens in 2002 and 2003, Hasegawa made his only All-Star Game in 2003, having allowed just four earned runs in 46⅔ innings at the break. But Hasegawa had a tough All-Star outing, giving up as many runs in two-thirds of an inning as he had all season to date.

38. P Brandon League

Years: 2011

Comment: In the midst of his one really good season with the Mariners – he finished with 37 saves – League pitched one inning but gave up two hits and a run in a 5-1 AL loss.

37. OF Jeffrey Leonard

Years: 1989

Comment: In one of his two All-Star appearances – the HacMan also made it in 1987 with the Giants – Leonard went 0 for 1 with a strikeout against Jay Howell in a 5-3 AL win. He had 15 of his 24 homers at the break.

36. P J.J. Putz

Years: 2007

Comment: Putz, who at the time of the game was in the midst of setting a Mariners record with 30 straight converted saves, had an interesting appearance in his lone All-Star outing. Given a chance to save a 5-2 AL lead, Putz got two quick outs but then gave up a single and a two-run homer to Alfonso Soriano. After another walk, Putz was replaced by Francisco Rodriguez, who walked the bases loaded before getting the final out.

35. 2B Joey Cora

Years: 1997

Comment: One of five Mariners named to the game – tied for the second most in team history – Cora got to play the last four innings of the AL’s 3-1 win, flying out in his only plate appearance. Cora hit a career-high (for a full season) .300 in 1997.

34. 1B Tino Martinez

Years: 1995

Comment: Martinez’s only plate appearance, was pinch-hitting for Edgar Martinez in the eighth inning, singling off none other than Heathcliff Slocumb (who for better or worse, became a Mariner two years later). But he was stranded there in a 3-2 NL win.

33. P Aaron Sele

Years: 2000

Comment: Sele pitched a scoreless fourth inning in an eventual 6-3 win for the AL during a season in which he went 17-10 for a Mariners team that advanced to the ALCS.

32. P Michael Pineda