MLB All-Star Game: Each team’s worst All-Star selections ever
Arizona Diamondbacks – Damian Miller (2002)
After winning the 2001 World Series, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly was awarded the distinction of managing the National League squad in the 2002 All-Star Game. And if there is immediate benefit to managing the roster for one’s league, it is the ability to help determine which players . Sometimes that means rewarding your own guys in the process.
Such was the case with Damian Miller in 2002.
Mike Piazza drew the start behind the plate for the National League, but for some reason, Brenly deemed it necessary to carry three catchers on the roster, adding Benito Santiago and Miller as reserves. At the time of his selection, Miller was third among National League catchers with a 1.6 WAR and had mustered a .263/.355/.469 slash-line with nine home runs and 36 RBI. Now those numbers were perfectly acceptable for a catcher and merited some consideration if not for the fact that Brenly omitted Paul Lo Duca from the roster in favor of Miller and Santiago. Lo Duca was leading all National League catchers with a 2.8 WAR and was hitting .326/.384/.458 with five home runs and 36 RBI at the break.
Miller would have the final say in the matter, going 2-for-3 in the game with an RBI double and a run scored. Of course, none of it mattered as Bud Selig infamously ended the game in a tie. Miller would go on to struggle for the second half of the season, hitting just .205/.293/.329, perhaps cementing the fact that 2002 wasn’t an All-Star campaign.
Next: Atlanta Braves - Greg Olson (1990)