List of Major League Baseball players who played in four decades
Playing Major League Baseball in four decades has been attained by only 31 players in the league's history, dating from the 1870s to the present day.
Introduction
Since 1900 (the first year that a player could play in a "fourth decade"), every completed decade except the 1910s has added at least one player to the list.
Outside of skill and durability, a player must usually have some "generational luck" to have started his career in the later years of a decade, so that if he is still playing 21–24 years later, he is playing in the early years of a fourth decade.[1] For example, Albert Pujols started his career in 2001, so he would have had to play 30 seasons to make the list. Whereas Bill Buckner, whose career started in the last year of the 1960s, finished his career in the first year of the 1990s, requiring only 22 seasons to make the list. Most of the players on the list started their careers in the final or second-to-last year of their first decade and finished their careers in the first or second year of their fourth decade (a notable exception is Nolan Ryan, whose 27 seasons played is a major league record).
Although it has always been possible for a retired three-decade player to make a cameo appearance in a fourth decade for the purpose of joining the list, the only player to have actually done this was
Five-decade players
Paige was added to the list post mortem, due to Major League Baseball incorporating
Pre-National League four-decade players
Major League Baseball recognizes the first major league season as 1876, the inaugural season of the National League. The following three players played parts of their careers in the 1850s and 1860s, and do not qualify as four-decade players, although they played four decades at the highest level of play available to them at the time: Joe Start (1859-1886), Candy Nelson (1867-1890), and Deacon White (1868-1890).
The National Association is widely recognized as a precursor to modern major league baseball. It existed from 1871 to 1875, before giving way to the National League in 1876. One four-decade player, Jim O'Rourke began his career in 1872 with the National Association's Middletown Mansfields.
Negro Leagues four-decade players
African Americans have played professionally since 1878 when Bud Fowler first played professionally, although he had been playing since at least 1877 and possibly as early as 1872. Major League Baseball does not consider any players or leagues prior to 1920 to be Major league players. The following players played four decades at the highest level of play possible to them at the time: Bud Fowler (1878-1904), Clarence Williams (1886-1913), Candy Jim Taylor (1904-1942) (as noted above), Smokey Joe Williams (1905-1932), John Henry Lloyd (1906-1932), Pelayo Chacón (1908-1931), Oscar Charleston (1915-1941), José Fernández (1915-1947), George Britt (1917-1942), and Bill Holland (1919-1941). Taylor also played at the highest level possible to him for five decades.
Future candidates
It is now unlikely that the 2020s will add any players to the list as none who debuted in the 1990s has played past 2019. Near misses include
Baseball-Reference.com lists 19 still-active players who debuted in 2009 or earlier and have a chance to make the list by playing until 2030. The youngest is Madison Bumgarner, born in 1989, who will turn 41 in 2030.
List of players
The players are listed by primary position played and years spanning their careers. Fifteen players from the group have been inducted into the
† | Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
|
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References
- ^ DiComo, Anthony (January 20, 2010). "Four-decade players a rare breed: Griffey, Vizquel, Moyer set to join exclusive company". MLB.com.
- ^ "White Sox legend Minnie Miñoso dies at age 90". SBNation.com. Vox Media. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- ^ "Ankiel ends Major League comeback attempt". MLB.com. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
- ^ Brown, Larry (May 24, 2022). "49-year-old Mets legend still hoping for another MLB opportunity". Larry Brown Sports. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
- ^ "Mets rumors: Fan favorite wants to return to Queens in wake of Max Scherzer injury". FanSided. May 20, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
External links
- Hunt, Ryan (February 17, 2000). "Been a long time: Three more enter baseball's four-decade club". Sports Illustrated.