'I got goose bumps': 10 feel-good All-Stars

You get into the Midsummer Classic with great stats, not great stories. But when the story is as good as the stats, well, that's something special.
Now that the American League and National League rosters and Final Vote candidates have been announced for the 89th All-Star Game presented by Mastercard on July 17 at Nationals Park, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, you don't have to look long and hard to find some guys for whom inclusion in this experience is especially emotional.
• VOTE: 2018 Camping World MLB Final Vote
This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but here are 10 guys whose story or situation makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
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Matt Kemp, Dodgers
The Braves traded Kemp last offseason to free up some cash for 2019 and to free up playing time in their outfield for Ronald Acuña Jr. The Dodgers acquired Kemp in that deal to spread some salary over multiple seasons and get under the luxury tax threshold for 2018. They really didn't have plans to start or even roster him. In other words, there was nothing fun or heartwarming about Kemp's transactional reunion with L.A. It was mostly about money and about an older and seemingly washed-up player losing his position to a young stud at a time when that trend is all the rage in MLB. But the 33-year-old Kemp showed up to Spring Training in great shape, legitimately won the job in left and then won over the hearts of fans with a resurgent season (.905 OPS, 143 OPS+) that has him in the All-Star Game for the first time since 2012 -- and rightly starting, no less.
"I don't think he'll let on how much this means to him," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "But it's well-deserved."

Nick Markakis, Braves
How many players since World War II have notched 2,000 career hits, 400 doubles and 1,000 runs without ever making an All-Star team? Well, that's a trick question, because the answer is now "none." But prior to Sunday, the list began and ended with Mr. Markakis.
"To have Nick Markakis go to the All-Star Game," said teammate Freddie Freeman, "you almost get emotional."
Understated and underrated, Markakis has had a career in which his ability to get on base has been a constant. But his power production has never been better than it has been in this age-34 season in which he's logged a .494 slugging percentage to do his part in the Braves' rebirth.

Max Muncy, Dodgers (NL Final Vote candidate)
Released by the A's just 15 months ago, Muncy, a former fifth-round pick who had spent some time with the big league club in Oakland in 2015 and '16, wasn't even sure he'd ever get another Major League opportunity, let alone this chance at cracking the NL roster. He was beginning to think about going back to school or to independent ball when the Dodgers signed him to a Minor League deal late last April. Muncy had a good season at the plate, but his spot on the organization radar is probably best illustrated by the fact that he actually pitched mop-up duty three times for Oklahoma City.
But opportunity arose this season, and the versatile Muncy, who has achieved big power with improved loft, has seized it (1.027 OPS, 20 homers).
"We knew Max was a good hitter," teammate Clayton Kershaw said, "but I don't think anybody in the world would expect this."

Jesús Aguilar, Brewers (NL Final Vote candidate)
Yeah, if you're casting your NL Final Vote strictly on who is the biggest 2018 surprise, Muncy vs. Aguilar is a pretty darn difficult choice.
The Indians just never found big league playing time for Aguilar in his time in the organization. He put up solid numbers in three seasons in Triple-A, including a 30-homer season in 2016. But the club signed Edwin Encarnación to pair with Carlos Santana as a DH/first base option going into '17, and Aguilar was out of options. To the waiver wire he went, and the Brewers swooped him up. Aguilar fared well in a limited sample in 2017, but he was basically a reserve piece because of his lack of defensive versatility. Here in '18, though, he took advantage of an early season injury to Eric Thames and has become un-bench-able, with a .306/.368/.633 slash, 22 homers and 63 RBIs.
"[First base] is a very good position in the National League, and through no fault of his own, he had a late start compared to some of his competitors," Brewers GM David Stearns said. "You look at the numbers and it's tough to say that guy is not an All-Star."

Justin Verlander, Astros
Verlander hasn't been an All-Star since his age-30 season in 2013. And you know how it's supposed to go for 30-something pitchers with well north of 2,000 innings to their name. They're supposed to go gently into that good night. Verlander himself thought his career was over one August night in '14 when got knocked around for one inning and left with a sore shoulder.
"I was 99 percent sure I was going to need shoulder surgery," he said. "I couldn't throw a baseball."
Verlander avoided surgery, but that offseason, he changed up his routine. In 2016, he finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting. Last year, Verlander made the in-season move to Houston and was a force in the Astros' run to the World Series. And this year, in the midst of one of the better age-35-or-older pitching seasons in memory, he has made it back to the Midsummer Classic. Even though Verlander will be inactive for the game because he's due to pitch Sunday, his late-career resurgence is something to celebrate in a profession where so many pitchers peter out.
And speaking of guys coming back from the dead, how about Paul Goldschmidt rebounding from a .198 average and .675 OPS as recently as May 22 to post legit All-Star numbers?

Scooter Gennett, Reds
Teammate Eugenio Suárez could just as easily be on this list. Both guys have far exceeded the expectations placed upon them when the Reds acquired them. But at least Cincinnati brought Suarez into the fold in a pre-2015 trade with the Tigers with the intent of molding him into an infield regular. Their waiver-wire acquisition of Gennett from the division-rival Brewers prior to 2017 came with no such assumption. The Reds just thought his left-handed bat would give them the occasional boost against right-handed pitching. They had no way of knowing a little guy named Scooter would break out with a four-homer, 10-RBI game last June (Gennett had never logged more than four homers in an entire month previously) or that he'd assert himself as their everyday second baseman.
Gennett has surprisingly emerged as the NL batting average leader (.326), to go with a .368 on-base percentage and .515 slugging percentage.
"I think a lot of players, until they get that opportunity or until they earn that opportunity, it can be tough," Gennett said. "I fought my way into the lineup last year. Once I've been in there every day, the rest is kind of history in a sense. I think the true player in me came out and that's been a lot of fun."

Miles Mikolas, Cardinals
All hail the Lizard King! Formerly known primarily as the dude who ate a live lizard -- on video, of course -- on a dare from his Arizona Fall League teammates, Mikolas packed up his career Major League ERA of 5.32 and moved to Japan, where he spent three seasons in the Pacific League, sharpening his command and learning a routine. The Cardinals signed him last offseason with relatively low expectations.
"I just wanted to come over here and do good," he said, "whether that was flying under the radar, or on the radar, or over it."
He got on the All-Star roster radar by emerging as one of the NL's most reliable starters, with a 2.63 ERA and just 1.4 walks per nine innings. Bonus: No lizards were harmed by his selection to the NL squad.

Shin-Soo Choo, Rangers
Choo has had a productive and at times transcendent (he had a .423 OBP with the Reds in 2013) career, and it earned him a seven-year, $130 million contract with the Rangers prior to 2014. But coming into this season, that big deal was looking like a big albatross, as Choo has battled injuries and reduced production in recent years. Here in '18, though, he's produced a .903 OPS and a current 47-game on-base streak, setting a Rangers franchise record. Now, he's the first Korean-born position player to reach the All-Star Game.
"I got goose bumps," Choo told reporters. "When I was coming from Korea to play in the big leagues, I was never expecting this. I never thought I'd be playing in an All-Star Game with the best players. It's probably the best day of my life."
Jean Segura, Mariners (AL Final Vote candidate)
That he's a spark and steady presence for a Mariners team on pace to end the longest postseason drought in North American professional sports is alluring enough. But it's impossible not to root for Segura after all he endured in 2014, when he lost his 9-month-old son, Janniel, who passed away suddenly in the middle of the season. "I almost quit baseball," Segura later told the Seattle Times. "I was dead out there on the field."
Segura faded from his All-Star high of 2013, but he began to put the pieces back together in the ensuing years. Now, he's got two young sons and a spot on this Final Vote ballot, in the midst of his finest season to date.

Mitch Haniger, Mariners
Three years ago, Haniger, then playing in the D-backs' system, asked Arizona to demote him from Double-A to Class A, or else release him. His stance was simple: He wanted more at-bats. The D-backs granted Haniger's wish to move down a level, and he began to rake. He played at Double-A, Triple-A and a bit in the bigs in 2016. The Mariners targeted Haniger as a secondary piece in their trade for Segura prior to 2017, and after injuries stunted an otherwise productive first year in Seattle, here he is boasting impressive offensive numbers and representing one of baseball's biggest surprise squads. We don't think he'll be demoted to Class A anytime soon.