15 Responses to “5 Hit Games by Three 37-Year Olds in the Same Season”

1. Ebessan Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 1:13 pm

   Look at those years. Nothing from 1927 to 1986? Must be because of steroids!

2. LJF Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 2:22 pm

   1988 - 2 catchers who had good years - Boone's first OPS+ of over 100 since 1979. And Chris Speier, who outside of this game had a slash line of .194/.271/.292 in about 200 PA's.

3. jiffy Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 2:25 pm

   Otis Nixon might have been 38, but he looked like he was 70 for most of his career. That should count for something.

   And how about a 45-year-old Pete Rose? Crazy. (Good on Bill Conlin for rallying for Chaz Hustle in his awards speech at Cooperstown as well).

4. RobMer Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 2:29 pm

   And all three have had recent ties (or in Jeter's case still does) to the Yankees. Doesn't mean anything, but adds to the statistical oddity.

   Pete Rose had a five-hit game at 45. That'll be a tough one to top.

5. Doug Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 4:43 pm

   Wow. Rose going 5 for 5 at age 45, as player manager, and playing only sporadically to that point in the season.

   After this game, Rose appeared in every game for the next week (a farewell homestand?), including 3 complete games. He had 3 more hits, all in the same game (Aug 14), before his last career appearance, pinch-hitting on Aug 17th against San Diego.

6. Jimbo Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 5:45 pm

   Yeah the Rose game is remarkable.

7. DoubleDiamond Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 7:29 pm

   I wondered if that Harrah game in 1986 was the one in which the Orioles out-grand-slammed him 2-1 but still lost. I checked the box score, and yes, that was the game. Harrah batted 9th in that game, the only one in this list to have batted in that slot. There aren't even any NL or pre-DH AL players who batted 8th, although there are a couple of post-DH AL players who hit 8th. Two 1993 Phillies played for Texas in that game - Pete Incaviglia and winning pitcher Mitch Williams. Williams had one inning of work - the bottom of the 7th - and lucked out when Harrah's slam brought the Rangers within one and a two-run double by Larry Parrish put them ahead for good in the top of the 8th.

   @1 - The DH may have been part of the reason for more in recent years, although that can't be totally explained by this gap. And now I see that only 4 of the DH-era age 37+ players, including the two not named Derek Jeter for this year, were serving as the DH. And one of the two from before this year was a National Leaguer playing an interleague game in an AL park. So maybe the DH is not so much a factor after all. (One of the "younger" guys who did it this year did so as the DH.)

8. John Autin Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 9:05 pm

   Nice find, Raphy!

9. Tristram Says:
   July 26th, 2011 at 9:53 pm

   To put the Pete Rose game in perspective, it would be like David Justice getting a 5 hit game right about now. Except that he's been retired for NINE YEARS!

10. J.R. Says:
    July 26th, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    fascinating that, with the exception of 2000, every other instance features at least one HOFer.

11. J.R. Says:
    July 26th, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    ah... oops. Pete Rose isn't a HOFer... yet!

12. Ryan Says:
    July 27th, 2011 at 1:03 am

    Interesting that this group of fogies stole 6 bases, but were caught 8 times on their momentous days...the fountain of youth only ran so deep i suppose...

13. steven Says:
    July 27th, 2011 at 3:33 am

    That Cobb guy...pretty good ballplayer.

14. nightfly Says:
    July 27th, 2011 at 10:04 am

    Tom Paciorek? Wow. And if he was about six months older, it would have been three 40-year olds with five-hit games in 1986. That's pretty darned cool.

15. BalBurgh Says:
    July 27th, 2011 at 10:05 am

    The 1925 Cobb game included 3 HR. Pretty good for a guy who hit 12 that year and only 117 in his career...