MLB players with the most All-Star selections ever: Kershaw chasing untouchable mark

As he pushes toward his 38th birthday next March, it's anyone's guess just how much longer Clayton Kershaw will be donning a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform. Every chance to watch him on the mound, snapping off one of those iconic breaking balls, feels like a gift. Major League Baseball isn't taking any of them for granted, and they wanted to make sure he'd have one more opportunity to do so on one of the sport's biggest stages, naming him as a Legacy Pick for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Kershaw might not be one of the best pitchers in the NL anymore, but he's still pretty dang good, and his track record speaks for itself. Plus, this latest All-Star honor is a significant one, as it pulls him into a tie with Mike Trout for the most Midsummer Classic appearances by an active player with 11. Hitting double digits in that category is some rarefied air indeed.

Unfortunately for Kershaw, though, he's still not even within sniffing distance of the overall record. That mark is one of the most untouchable in baseball history, and neither Kershaw nor anyone else might ever reach it again.

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Which active MLB player has the most All-Star selections?

Kershaw and Trout stand atop the active list with 11 All-Star nods apiece, two ahead of a six-way tie for third that includes Freddie Freeman, Chris Sale, Salvador Perez, Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander and Craig Kimbrel. They might not be able to hold that title too long, though: Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper have eight each with plenty of great baseball still ahead of them, while Aaron Judge sits at seven and Ronald Acuña Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are just some of the young stars at five and counting.

Here's the full list.

Which player holds the record for the most All-Star selections ever?

While 11 is no doubt impressive, though, it's not even half of the all-time record. Braves icon Henry Aaron holds that mark with a whopping 25 All-Star appearances in his career, a nearly unfathomable number.

Of course, it does come with something of an asterisk: From 1959 through 1962, MLB held two All-Star Games each season, a period that just happened to overlap with Aaron's prime and certainly helped him boost his total. Of course, Aaron also holds the record for most seasons on the All-Star roster with 21, so it's possible that he was just really, really good at baseball.

Willie Mays and Stan Musial are just one shy of Hammerin' Hank at 24, while Mickey Mantle is the only other player to crack 20. Here's the full top 25:

Again, it's hard to overstate just how unlikely it is that any player active now or in the future will be able to catch Aaron's mark. It's hard enough to even play 25 seasons of big-league baseball, much less to do so at a high enough level that you're considered an All-Star in every single one of them. Pitching feels far too strenuous for that sort of longevity, and given the level of competition now, how likely is it that any hitter can keep up into their mid-40s?