Consider it the name that got lost in the shuffle of all the Major League Baseball All-Star hoopla.

And it's a York County name, no less.

I'll get to that in a minute.

Last Saturday, Washington Nationals rookie outfielder Bryce Harper was named to the National League All-Star team, a replacement for Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who was sidelined by a knee injury.

It was a great opportunity for Harper for all the obvious reasons, not the least of which was a chance to rub elbows with 60 of the best players in the major leagues.

But the Nationals and Major League Baseball made a huge deal about the fact that Harper had become the third-youngest player, the third teenager and the youngest

Bryce Harper ... an NL All-Star at age 19. (Alex Brandon)
position player ever to be named to an MLB All-Star team.

Having been born on Oct. 16, 1992, Harper was nearly 19 years, 9 months old the day of the game.

As soon as I heard that over the weekend, I dug in my heels.

"Now wait a minute," I said out loud. "That can't be right, can it?"

Because I had someone else in mind for the "youngest-player-ever" honor.

And if you happen to be a longtime York countian and a serious baseball fan, you might have been thinking the same thing.

I thought it had to be York County's own, Harold "Butch" Wynegar, who was named to the American League All-Star team in 1976, when he was a rookie catcher for the Minnesota Twins.

Thinking back on it, I was pretty sure a whole bunch was made of the fact that Wynegar was the youngest player ever to be named to an All-Star team. And I thought he was still in his teens.

But maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. That was 35 years ago, after all.

Well, as it turns out, I was wrong.

For one thing, Bob Feller, a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, was 19 years, 8 months old when he was named to the 1938 All-Star team, the sixth ever played.

For another, Wynegar was actually 20 years, 4 months

Butch Wynegar ...an AL All-Star at age 20.
old when he became an All-Star for the first time in 1976, which meant he was the youngest position player ever named, but not the youngest player.

Wynegar moved down the youngest-player list one more notch six years later, when Dwight Gooden became the second teenager -- 19 years, 7 months old -- when he was named to the National League All-Star team as a pitcher. But Wynegar was still the youngest position player.

Now, Harper is the third teenager ever named to an All-Star team.

So, yes, he moved ahead of Wynegar on the all-time-youngest list.

But in my mind, that doesn't dim the shine on Wynegar's batting helmet at all because when he became the youngest position-player All-Star -- and remained so for more than 31/2 decades -- he did so at the expense of some pretty darned good baseball players.

Al Kaline, for example, who was only 20 years, 6 months old when he became the youngest starting position player in 1955. I don't believe that's ever changed.

But players named Johnny Bench, Frank Robinson and Mickey Mantle also were named All-Stars before their 21st birthdays.

So Wynegar was keeping some very fancy company -- for a while, at least.

We're proud of that in these parts.

In fact, every word that was written or spoken since last Saturday, about Harper's status on the All-Star team, was a bit of a thorn in my side because it didn't mention that York County's own Butch Wynegar was the guy who held the record before.

It was probably the highlight of Wynegar's baseball career.

So a little respect, please.

Around these parts, it's no small thing.

Sports columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Thurs days. E-mail: lhick s@yorkdispatch.com.