Best players to never make an MLB All-Star roster: 23. Earl Torgeson
Stats:
- 1,318 hits
- 149 home runs
- .265 batting average
Paying attention to the totality of Earl Torgeson’s career will undermine our argument. He spent several years during the back half of his time in the majors struggling to get hits.
When he was smack dab in the middle of his prime, however, he was a handful to deal with. In four of his five seasons in the majors, Torgeson registered double-digit homers, including a career high of 24 in 1951. One year prior, Torgeson led the league in total runs with 120. The Boston Braves didn’t necessarily benefit from his hot bat however. They mostly floundered in mediocrity.
Only twice did Torgeson play in any meaningful playoff games. He batted .389 on average through those games, had a slugging percentage of .556 and an OPS of 1.006. Torgeson was a solid player who showed up when it mattered most. It’s too bad that he didn’t play that way more times than not in the regular season.