Men Of A Certain Age
Posted by Steve Lombardi on January 9, 2010
Since 1901, there have only been 10 times where a big league team had three pitchers age 40 or older throw a pitch for them in a season. Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Season Finder, here's the list of teams with 2 or more 40+ year olds working for them in a given season:
| Rk | Year | Lg | Tm | #Matching | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007 | AL | Boston Red Sox | 3 | Curt Schilling / Mike Timlin / Tim Wakefield |
| 2 | 2007 | NL | San Diego Padres | 3 | Doug Brocail / Greg Maddux / David Wells |
| 3 | 2006 | NL | New York Mets | 3 | Tom Glavine / Orlando Hernandez / Roberto Hernandez |
| 4 | 2003 | AL | New York Yankees | 3 | Roger Clemens / Jesse Orosco / David Wells |
| 5 | 1958 | AL | New York Yankees | 3 | Murry Dickson / Sal Maglie / Virgil Trucks |
| 6 | 1947 | AL | Chicago White Sox | 3 | Earl Caldwell / Thornton Lee / Red Ruffing |
| 7 | 1945 | NL | Cincinnati Reds | 3 | Boom-Boom Beck / Guy Bush / Hod Lisenbee |
| 8 | 1945 | AL | New York Yankees | 3 | Red Ruffing / Paul Schreiber / Jim Turner |
| 9 | 1934 | NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 3 | Burleigh Grimes / Jesse Haines / Dazzy Vance |
| 10 | 1931 | NL | Brooklyn Robins | 3 | Dolf Luque / Jack Quinn / Dazzy Vance |
| 11 | 2009 | AL | Boston Red Sox | 2 | John Smoltz / Tim Wakefield |
| 12 | 2009 | AL | Tampa Bay Rays | 2 | Brian Shouse / Russ Springer |
| 13 | 2008 | NL | Atlanta Braves | 2 | Tom Glavine / John Smoltz |
| 14 | 2008 | AL | Boston Red Sox | 2 | Mike Timlin / Tim Wakefield |
| 15 | 2008 | AL | Detroit Tigers | 2 | Todd Jones / Kenny Rogers |
| 16 | 2008 | NL | Philadelphia Phillies | 2 | Tom Gordon / Jamie Moyer |
| 17 | 2008 | NL | San Diego Padres | 2 | Trevor Hoffman / Greg Maddux |
| 18 | 2007 | NL | Cincinnati Reds | 2 | Rheal Cormier / Mike Stanton |
| 19 | 2007 | AL | Detroit Tigers | 2 | Jose Mesa / Kenny Rogers |
| 20 | 2007 | NL | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2 | Roberto Hernandez / David Wells |
| 21 | 2007 | NL | New York Mets | 2 | Tom Glavine / Orlando Hernandez |
| 22 | 2007 | NL | Philadelphia Phillies | 2 | Jose Mesa / Jamie Moyer |
| 23 | 2006 | NL | Arizona Diamondbacks | 2 | Orlando Hernandez / Terry Mulholland |
| 24 | 2006 | AL | Boston Red Sox | 2 | Mike Timlin / David Wells |
| 25 | 2005 | NL | Houston Astros | 2 | Roger Clemens / John Franco |
| 26 | 2005 | AL | New York Yankees | 2 | Kevin Brown / Randy Johnson |
| 27 | 2004 | NL | Arizona Diamondbacks | 2 | Jeff Fassero / Randy Johnson |
| 28 | 2003 | NL | New York Mets | 2 | David Cone / John Franco |
| 29 | 1999 | AL | Oakland Athletics | 2 | Tom Candiotti / Doug Jones |
| 30 | 1997 | NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | Dennis Eckersley / Rick Honeycutt |
| 31 | 1996 | NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | Dennis Eckersley / Rick Honeycutt |
| 32 | 1995 | AL | Oakland Athletics | 2 | Dennis Eckersley / Rick Honeycutt |
| 33 | 1993 | NL | Florida Marlins | 2 | Charlie Hough / Bob McClure |
| 34 | 1990 | NL | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | Doug Bair / Jerry Reuss |
| 35 | 1990 | AL | Texas Rangers | 2 | Charlie Hough / Nolan Ryan |
| 36 | 1989 | AL | Texas Rangers | 2 | Charlie Hough / Nolan Ryan |
| 37 | 1988 | AL | Minnesota Twins | 2 | Steve Carlton / Joe Niekro |
| 38 | 1987 | AL | Cleveland Indians | 2 | Steve Carlton / Phil Niekro |
| 39 | 1987 | AL | Minnesota Twins | 2 | Steve Carlton / Joe Niekro |
| 40 | 1987 | AL | New York Yankees | 2 | Tommy John / Joe Niekro |
| 41 | 1986 | AL | Chicago White Sox | 2 | Steve Carlton / Tom Seaver |
| 42 | 1986 | AL | New York Yankees | 2 | Tommy John / Joe Niekro |
| 43 | 1985 | AL | California Angels | 2 | Tommy John / Don Sutton |
| 44 | 1985 | AL | New York Yankees | 2 | Joe Niekro / Phil Niekro |
| 45 | 1985 | AL | Oakland Athletics | 2 | Tommy John / Don Sutton |
| 46 | 1985 | NL | Philadelphia Phillies | 2 | Steve Carlton / Jerry Koosman |
| 47 | 1981 | NL | Atlanta Braves | 2 | Phil Niekro / Gaylord Perry |
| 48 | 1980 | AL | New York Yankees | 2 | Jim Kaat / Gaylord Perry |
| 49 | 1968 | NL | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | Roy Face / Bill Henry |
| 50 | 1961 | AL | Chicago White Sox | 2 | Jerry Staley / Early Wynn |
| 51 | 1958 | AL | Kansas City Athletics | 2 | Murry Dickson / Virgil Trucks |
| 52 | 1952 | AL | Washington Senators | 2 | Connie Marrero / Bobo Newsom |
| 53 | 1948 | NL | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | Fritz Ostermueller / Rip Sewell |
| 54 | 1948 | NL | New York Giants | 2 | Thornton Lee / Bobo Newsom |
| 55 | 1947 | NL | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | Art Herring / Rip Sewell |
| 56 | 1946 | AL | Chicago White Sox | 2 | Earl Caldwell / Ted Lyons |
| 57 | 1946 | NL | Brooklyn Dodgers | 2 | Curt Davis / Art Herring |
| 58 | 1945 | AL | Chicago White Sox | 2 | Earl Caldwell / Clay Touchstone |
| 59 | 1945 | AL | Washington Senators | 2 | Pete Appleton / Johnny Niggeling |
| 60 | 1939 | NL | Chicago Cubs | 2 | Charley Root / Earl Whitehill |
| 61 | 1933 | AL | Chicago White Sox | 2 | Red Faber / Sam Jones |
| 62 | 1933 | NL | Cincinnati Reds | 2 | Jack Quinn / Eppa Rixey |
| 63 | 1932 | NL | Brooklyn Dodgers | 2 | Jack Quinn / Dazzy Vance |
| 64 | 1932 | NL | New York Giants | 2 | Dolf Luque / Clarence Mitchell |
| 65 | 1929 | AL | Chicago White Sox | 2 | Lena Blackburne / Red Faber |
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I wonder if we'll ever see a big league team with four pitchers "of a certain age" working for them in the same season?
January 10th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Surprising how good most of those teams were--3 world champions ('34 Cardinals, '58 Yankees, '07 Red Sox), another pennant winner in the '03 Yankees, and the '06 Mets won 97 games and finished just short of the Series. Even the '45 Yankees and '07 Padres were decently over .500
January 11th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
I don't think we will see a team with four 40+ pitchers, and certainly not soon. In 2007, there were 18 such pitchers in MLB. Last year, it was down to ten. It used to be almost exclusively knuckle-ballers who lasted that long. I'm afraid the numbers went up 'unnaturally' for a while.