The MLB All-Star game comes to Miami for the first time in 2017. The Oakland A’s Yonder Alonso is the only Miami Hurricanes baseball alum appearing in the game at Marlins Park.
Neal Heaton was the first Miami Hurricanes baseball alum to appear in the MLB All-Star game. Heaton was on the 1990 National League roster as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. That was the first of three straight Pirates National League Eastern Division titles.
Thirteen Miami Hurricanes baseball alums have combined to make 37 MLB All-Star game appearances in their careers. Ten of those were position players and the other three were pitchers. Mike Piazza has the most appearances with 12.
Piazza played just one season with the Hurricanes before transferring to Miami-Dade Community College. The Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun has the second most appearances and is first among active Miami alums with six appearances. Former Major league outfielder Greg Vaughn played four times in the mid-summer classic.
No Hurricane other than the previously mentioned three have played in more than two games. Danny Graves and Chris Perez are the only Miami pitching alums with more than one appearance. Prior to Alonso’s selection this season, the most recent MLB All-Star appearance by a Miami Hurricanes baseball alum was 2015.
Braun and Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal were both on the National League All-Star Roster that season.