Detroit Tigers: Five best Tigers who weren’t All-Stars

Bobby Higginson, OF (23.1 bWAR)

Higginson played 11 big league seasons, all with the Tigers. He was with them for some of the worst seasons in franchise history, likely a factor as to why he was never named an All-Star. He debuted in 1995, hitting 14 home runs with a .224 average.

1996 was an All-Star caliber year for Higgy, who hit .320 with 26 home runs and 81 RBI. His first half was excellent, as he posted a .305 average with 14 home runs. The AL took six outfielders that season: Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle, Brady Anderson, Greg Vaughn, Jay Buhner and Joe Carter. This was the height of the steroid era, and a .320|14|42 line in the first half just wasn’t good enough.

1997 and 2000 were Higgy’s two other All-Star caliber seasons, but once again the AL outfield was stacked, and Higgy’s numbers just didn’t quite stack up. It didn’t help that the Tigers finished below .500 in each of those seasons.

The rule that each team must be represented at the ASG should have worked in Higginson’s favor, since he was arguably the best player on many Tigers teams. However, 1997 belonged to left-hander Justin Thompson, and 2000 belonged to reliever Todd Jones.

2000 might be Higginson’s best argument for being snubbed. He was hitting .285 with 17 home runs at the All-Star break, but was passed over by Carl Everett and Matt Lawton, among others.

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Higgy’s Legacy

Higginson was one of Detroit’s best players during the late-1990’s and early-2000’s, and retired just before the team returned to the World Series in 2006.

Hopefully Castellanos, who is Detroit’s best player during a rebuild, will avoid the same fate.