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Not that you care, but you have no idea what I just did. There's no setting in Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index to get a report of the best starting lineups in All-Star history. I just spent four hours manually copying and pasting lineups, wrestling with formatting, running the ...
Wait, come back! I'm sorry, I'll shut up and get to the lists. You like lists. They tell you what to think. Here are the best lineups in All-Star history, by Baseball-Reference.com's Wins Above Replacement metric.
(Why WAR? Because it adjusts for era and park and you know what? I don't have to answer to you.)
Also, I went through 2000 so I didn't penalize any teams for having active players who haven't stopped racking up the WAR.
10. 1933 American League - 598 career WAR
| Ben Chapman | LF | 41.2 |
| Charlie Gehringer | 2B | 80.8 |
| Babe Ruth | RF | 163.3 |
| Lou Gehrig | 1B | 112.6 |
| Al Simmons | CF | 68.6 |
| Jimmy Dykes | 3B | 35.1 |
| Joe Cronin | SS | 66.3 |
| Rick Ferrell | C | 29.8 |
When Babe Ruth is in a lineup, there's a little bit of a head start, but this group does pretty well with least productive of the lineup, too. Rick Ferrell is a Hall of Famer, as are five others in the lineup.
9. 1998 American League - 609 career WAR
| Kenny Lofton | LF | 67.9 |
| Roberto Alomar | 2B | 66.7 |
| Ken Griffey, Jr. | CF | 83.6 |
| Juan Gonzalez | RF | 38.5 |
| Jim Thome | 1B | 72.9 |
| Alex Rodriguez | SS | 115.7 |
| Ivan Rodriguez | C | 68.3 |
| Cal Ripken | 3B | 95.5 |
David Wells was the starting pitcher, in case you were wondering. And A-Rod hasn't stopped adding -- or subtracting -- from his WAR, so this lineup could move up or down. The second-worst WAR in the bunch belongs to a Hall of Famer.
8. 1973 National League - 615 career WAR
| Pete Rose | LF | 79.8 |
| Joe Morgan | 2B | 100.3 |
| Cesar Cedeño | CF | 52.6 |
| Hank Aaron | 1B | 142.3 |
| Billy Williams | RF | 63.9 |
| Johnny Bench | C | 75.1 |
| Ron Santo | 3B | 70.6 |
| Chris Speier | SS | 30.5 |
Cedeño hitting third gives you a pretty good idea of how much of a beast he was back then. Also, the Reds were kind of good in the '70s. Seems like a "thing."
7. 1985 American League - 617 career WAR
| Rickey Henderson | CF | 110.6 |
| Lou Whitaker | 2B | 74.8 |
| George Brett | 3B | 88.4 |
| Eddie Murray | 1B | 68 |
| Cal Ripken | SS | 95.5 |
| Dave Winfield | RF | 63.9 |
| Jim Rice | LF | 47.3 |
| Carlton Fisk | C | 68.4 |
When I was eyeballing the lineups, I figured that the '80s were going to dominate. That was just my own bias, though. This was basically the first page of my baseball-card binder -- at least the page that wasn't fighting each other during the Dodgers/Diamondbacks game last month.
6. 1972 National League - 624 career WAR
| Joe Morgan | 2B | 100.3 |
| Willie Mays | CF | 155.9 |
| Hank Aaron | RF | 142.3 |
| Willie Stargell | LF | 57.3 |
| Johnny Bench | C | 75.1 |
| Lee May | 1B | 27 |
| Joe Torre | 3B | 57.3 |
| Don Kessinger | SS | 9 |
Kessinger hurt would could have been a contender for the top spot in this exercise, but it's still a ridiculous lineup. Don't forget how good Torre was as a player -- he could have made the Hall even without the managing.
5. 1957 National League - 625 career WAR
| Johnny Temple | 2B | 16.9 |
| Hank Aaron | RF | 142.3 |
| Stan Musial | 1B | 128.2 |
| Willie Mays | CF | 155.9 |
| Ed Bailey | C | 27.5 |
| Frank Robinson | LF | 107.2 |
| Don Hoak | 3B | 21.1 |
| Roy McMillan | SS | 25.4 |
It's pretty hard to get around a head start of Aaron, Musial, Mays, and Robinson. Those are four of the inner-circliest of the inner circle, and they overcome a Johnny Temple appearance ...
4. 1959 National League - 627 career WAR
| Johnny Temple | 2B | 16.9 |
| Ken Boyer | 3B | 62.9 |
| Hank Aaron | RF | 142.3 |
| Willie Mays | CF | 155.9 |
| Ernie Banks | SS | 67.7 |
| Stan Musial | 1B | 128.2 |
| Wally Moon | LF | 24.7 |
| Del Crandall | C | 28.4 |
... more than once. This one added Ernie Banks to the mix, along with Ken Boyer. Boyer made seven All-Star Games, and he lost his age-22 and -23 seasons to the Korean War. He has an MVP and five Gold Gloves. It's pretty shocking that he never got Veteran's Committee love. He peaked at 26 percent of the vote in his ninth year of eligibility under the BBWAA's auspices
3. 1966 National League - 630 career WAR
| Willie Mays | CF | 155.9 |
| Roberto Clemente | RF | 94.4 |
| Hank Aaron | LF | 142.3 |
| Willie McCovey | 1B | 64.4 |
| Ron Santo | 3B | 70.6 |
| Joe Torre | C | 57.3 |
| Jim Lefebvre | 2B | 17.1 |
| Leo Cardenas | SS | 27.5 |
The bottom two messed up a chance at the top slot, but it's hard to beat that top six.
2. 1965 National League - 659 career WAR
| Willie Mays | CF | 155.9 |
| Hank Aaron | RF | 142.3 |
| Willie Stargell | LF | 57.3 |
| Dick Allen | 3B | 58.6 |
| Joe Torre | C | 57.3 |
| Ernie Banks | 1B | 67.7 |
| Pete Rose | 2B | 79.8 |
| Maury Wills | SS | 39.7 |
Easily one of the most complete lineups. If you want to know how respected Dick Allen was, this is a pretty good example. Wills at the bottom makes this almost a sabermetric lineup, focusing on OBP at the top of the order. Gene Mauch, you dog, you.
1. 1934 American League - 690 career WAR
| Charlie Gehringer | 2B | 80.8 |
| Heinie Manush | LF | 45.7 |
| Babe Ruth | RF | 163.3 |
| Lou Gehrig | 1B | 112.6 |
| Jimmie Foxx | 3B | 96.4 |
| Al Simmons | CF | 68.6 |
| Joe Cronin | SS | 66.3 |
| Bill Dickey | C | 55.9 |
This is probably the most famous lineup in All-Star history, too. It's famous because of what it didn't do.
Hubbell didn't just strike out a great lineup. He struck out the best lineup in All-Star Game history. There's a reason we're still talking about it 80 years later, and it's a pretty good one.