What makes an MLB All-Star in 2022? Here's what MLB All-Stars had to say

Before Paul Goldschmidt was a seven-time All-Star himself, he was a kid growing up in the Houston area, going to Astros games and voting for his favorite All-Stars: Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Lance Berkman, from that great generation of Astros players in the 1990s and early 2000s.

«The hard part was deciding how much of a homer you were going to be,» Goldschmidt recalled Monday. «I remember going to the games and getting the pamphlets and poking the holes in them and turning them in. We loved voting for that and talking with our friends about who deserved it and who didn't.»

The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman is still nostalgic about those blue-and-white paper ballots with perforated holes next to each player — the National League players on one side, American League on the other. And it turns out he's not the only one.

Seattle Mariners first baseman Ty France and New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole both grew up in Southern California, going to Angels games.

«I'd grab a big stack, and the whole game I'd just be poking holes,» France said.

Cole said he did the same.

«I wish we still had the punch holes,» he said. «I'd grab a bunch of ballots and use a pen and punch Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson and Darin Erstad and those guys.»

New York Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil has a similar recollection.

«Oh, yeah, the little punch cards,» said McNeil, who also insists he never let his affinity for the Los Angeles Dodgers affect his voting. «I don't think I did, just because I knew a lot about baseball when I was younger, so I think I voted correctly.»

Correctly. That's the debate that still rages on, nearly 90 years after the first All-Star Game was played: What makes an All-Star?

The players, of course, now get to relive those