After winning three straight World Series titles from 1972 to ’74, the Oakland A’s fell on hard times. The late-’70s A’s were so anemic that they averaged about 6,000 fans for their home games. In ’78 Oakland’s lone All-Star, rookie pitcher Keough, got off to a surprising start, going 6-4 with a 2.16 ERA before the break. However, he finished the year with a 2-11 record and a 4.44 ERA. In ’79, he turned in one of the most ghastly sophomore campaigns of all time: a 2-17 record, with a 5.04 ERA. Keough’s post-baseball life has been even messier. He has struggled with alcohol addiction, and in 2008 he was sentenced to six months in jail for violating probation from a prior DUI arrest, all while his wife Jeana starred on the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Top 10 Worst MLB All-Stars
Clueless fans are to blame for the All-Star Game selection of some of these B-teamers, while others benefited from baseball's requirement that each club supply a warm body. Here are the players who prove that to make baseball's Midsummer Classic — which this year will be played on July 14 in St. Louis — you don't actually have to be any good
Matt Keough, Oakland A’s (1978)
Full List
Overrated
- Frankie Zak, Pittsburgh Pirates (1944)
- Vinegar Bend Mizell, St. Louis Cardinals (1959)
- Chris Cannizzaro, San Diego Padres (1969)
- Freddie Patek, Kansas City Royals (1972)
- Willie Mays, New York Mets (1973)
- Matt Keough, Oakland A’s (1978)
- Reggie Jackson, California Angels (1983)
- Alfredo Griffin, Toronto Blue Jays (1984)
- Sandy Alomar Jr., Cleveland Indians (1991)
- Mike Williams, Pittsburgh Pirates (2003)