Hello, Bob Feller and Dwight Gooden.
And so, on the same day Ian Desmond withdrew from the 2012 NL All-Star team with an oblique strain, Bryce Harper has been selected by Tony LaRussa as the replacement for Giancarlo Stanton, who will have knee surgery. Youngest position player in an All-Star Game, ever -- joining Bob Feller and Dwight Gooden as the only teenagers in MLB history to make an All-Star team? #BryceIn12, indeed.
"I don’t have words to explain it right now. It’s exciting to go. I’m excited to get there and be around all of the top guys in the country, of course, and the top guys in baseball. I’m going to take it all in and try to enjoy it with my family and just be as mellow and calm as I can."
(Bryce Harper, via Nationals Journal, 7/7/2012)
Here's the official release from the Nationals/MLB:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 7, 2012
BRYCE HARPER TO REPLACE GIANCARLO STANTON ON N.L. ALL-STAR ROSTER
Harper Becomes Youngest All-Star Position Player Ever, Third Youngest All-Star Overall;
Record Five Rookies Named to the 2012 Midsummer Classic
Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has been named by 2012 National League All-Star manager Tony La Russa to replace Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton on the N.L.’s active roster for the 83rd All-Star Game, Major League Baseball announced today.
Stanton, a first-time All-Star, will be inactive for the All-Star Game due to a right knee injury. Harper entered Saturday with a .283 batting average, eight home runs, 25 RBI and 42 runs scored in his 61 games played. The 19-year-old Harper, who was born on October 16, 1992, becomes the third youngest Major League All-Star ever and the youngest All-Star position player in history. The only two players in baseball history who were younger in a Midsummer Classic were Dwight Gooden (the youngest All-Star ever; born 11/16/64; 1984 All-Star Game was 7/10/84) and Hall of Famer Bob Feller (born 11/3/18; 1938 ASG was 7/6/38). Previously, the youngest position player in a Midsummer Classic was Minnesota Twins catcher Butch Wynegar (born 3/14/56; 1976 ASG was 7/13/76).
The American League now has three rookies on its roster (Ryan Cook, Yu Darvish and Mike Trout), while Harper joins Wade Miley as rookies on the N.L. roster. Combined, the five rookies set a single-year All-Star Game record, eclipsing the previous mark of four, set in 2001 (Albert Pujols, Jimmy Rollins, Ben Sheets and Ichiro Suzuki) and again in 2003 (Lance Carter, Mike MacDougal, Hideki Matsui and Dontrelle Willis). At 20 years and 11+ months old, Angels rookie Trout is the seventh-youngest A.L. position player in All-Star history behind Wynegar (20 years, 4 months in 1976); Ken Griffey, Jr. (20 years, 7.6 months in 1990); Ivan Rodriguez (20 years, 7.6 months in 1992); Mickey Mantle (20 years, 8.6 months in 1952); Al Kaline (20 years, 9.7 months in 1955); and Claudell Washington (20 years, 10.5 months in 1975).
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