Manny Machado’s selection as the American League starter at shortstop in Sunday night’s All-Star roster reveal puts him in some very elite company.
Machado won the fan balloting to start at shortstop for the American League. It will be his second All-Star start, as he was in the lineup as the third baseman in 2016.
That’s where the history comes in. Machado will become only the fourth player in MLB history to start an All-Star Game at both third base and shortstop, and the names he joins are quite illustrious.
Manny Machado will join Alex Rodriguez, Arky Vaughan and Cal Ripken Jr. as the only players to start an All-Star Game at 3B and SS
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 8, 2018
Arky Vaughan is the only name you may be unfamiliar with there, but he’s a Hall of Famer who managed a .406 career OBP with Pittsburgh and Brooklyn in the 1930s and 1940s. Ripken is, of course, also enshrined in Cooperstown, while Rodriguez would be a sure bet to join them if not for the PED controversies that followed him later in his career.
The point? Machado is historically good in many ways, versatility included. No wonder so many teams want to land him via trade.
