FanPost

Best ASG Performances by Diamondbacks

For a team that is only in its 18th season, the Diamondbacks have had quite a few all stars, helped, of course, by Brenly managing the 2002 team and, in time honored tradition, picking a lot of his own players. What are the best performances by a representative of the Diamondbacks?

1998: Devon White was the lone representative, and he turned in what has to be a contender for best performance, although in a losing effort as the NL dropped the game 13-8. Plus, it was in Colorado, and it was the age of the long ball, so his 3-for-3 with a triple and a run scored didn't really get a lot of attention, and didn't get him much in terms of WPA (2.7%). Still, reaching in every plate appearance in an all star game is a rare feat. He tripled off a much younger Bartolo Colon, singled off the representative from the Devil Rays, Rolando Arrojo, and singled off Tom Gordon.

1999: Luis Gonzalez led the NL offense in terms of WPA, with 11.3%, thanks to a double off Mike Mussina that put runners at second and third with one out in a game the AL led 4-1. But Mussina struck out both Sosa and McGwire to end the threat. But Matt Williams grounding out in the second and becoming the only player to put the ball in play against Pedro Martinez might have been more impressive, simply because it prevented him from striking out all six batters he faced. Randy Johnson worked a perfect inning with one strikeout.

2002: There were a lot of D-backs on the field. Curt Schilling was the starting pitcher. Junior Spivey, Damien Miller, Luis Gonzalez, Byung-Hyun Kim, and Johnson joined him on the roster. All of them except Johnson, the previous Sunday's starter, saw action. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Damien Miller with the best performance, leading the NL in WPA, with 21.8%, for his 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI performance. He doubled in a run in the fifth that made it 5-2 NL, then his second double in the 7th put runners on second and third and set up Lance Berkman's go-ahead single, making it 7-6. It is likely that, had the NL won, Miller would have been named MVP.

2008: In a game that probably should have been called but for the insane home field advantage thing, and a game probably no one was watching (because of work the next day, play the dang thing on a weekend if you're going to let it last until way past midnight, Bud) Brandon Webb worked a perfect 14th. This included back-to-back strikeouts of Grady Sizemore and Evan Longoria. Maybe not the best performance by a D-back, but certainly the latest.

2010: Chris Young was the lone representative, and went 0-for-2, but the NL won. That's of note, because this was the first time since the D-backs joined the league that the NL had won the ASG, so although Young didn't play a significant role (one PO on a Joey Votto fly ball) it was at least in a winning effort. And we all know how important being a winner is.

2011: First, the game was at Chase Field. Miguel Montero and Justin Upton represented the D-backs, and Upton went 0-for-2, while Montero didn't get a plate appearance, and actually replaced Upton in the order, meaning that there was never more than one D-back on the field at a time. Yeah, and Prince Fielder got booed, a bunch, but won the MVP. No D-back player did well, but Chase Field itself deserves an honorable mention.

So, what's the best? Vote in this poll, or vote in the comments for a performance I'm missing here. By the way, the 1998 ASG was recently posted to YouTube by the MLB channel, so if you want to re-watch a classic pre-Humidor Coors Field slugfest with one D-back doing well, you can do that. I think most of these games are on YouTube, actually.