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Oldest living former players

Posted by Andy on March 22, 2010

I just found out that by setting Year of Death = 0, the Play Index searches for players who are still living.

Here are players found in the Batting Season Finder with at least 300 games who do not have a recorded date of death:

Rk Player Year G From To Age PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Jack McCarthy 1907 603 1901 1907 32-38 2470 2233 242 629 103 26 0 238 132 0 .282 .325 .351 .676 *78/3 CLE-TOT-CHC-BRO
2 Jack Dalton 1916 345 1910 1916 24-30 1346 1163 167 333 39 15 4 112 129 112 .286 .362 .356 .718 89/7 BRO-BUF-DET
3 Benny McCoy 1941 337 1938 1941 22-25 1423 1214 182 327 52 18 16 156 190 122 .269 .369 .381 .750 *4/65 DET-PHA
4 Lennie Merullo 1947 639 1941 1947 24-30 2264 2071 191 497 92 8 6 152 136 174 .240 .291 .301 .591 *6/3 CHC
5 George Binks 1948 351 1944 1948 29-33 1181 1093 112 277 55 10 8 130 67 108 .253 .299 .344 .643 9/873 WSH-PHA-TOT
6 Ralph Hodgin 1948 530 1939 1948 24-33 1822 1689 198 481 79 24 4 188 97 63 .285 .330 .367 .697 75/98 BSN-CHW
7 Buddy Lewis 1949 1349 1935 1949 18-32 5937 5261 830 1563 249 93 71 607 573 303 .297 .368 .420 .789 59/78 WSH
8 Ed Stevens 1950 375 1945 1950 20-25 1356 1220 134 308 59 17 28 193 121 151 .252 .322 .398 .719 *3 BRO-PIT
9 Bobby Doerr 1951 1865 1937 1951 19-33 8028 7093 1094 2042 381 89 223 1247 809 608 .288 .362 .461 .823 *4 BOS
10 Danny Litwhiler 1951 1057 1940 1951 23-34 3858 3494 428 982 162 32 107 451 299 377 .281 .342 .438 .780 *79/58 PHI-TOT-STL-BSN-CIN
11 Luis Olmo 1951 462 1943 1951 23-31 1733 1629 208 458 65 25 29 272 88 128 .281 .319 .405 .724 87/549 BRO-BSN
12 Putsy Caballero 1952 315 1944 1952 16-24 706 658 81 150 21 3 1 40 41 34 .228 .273 .274 .547 45/6 PHI
13 Ray Coleman 1952 549 1947 1952 25-30 1902 1729 208 446 74 33 20 199 148 158 .258 .318 .374 .692 978 SLB-TOT
14 Tommy Brown 1953 453 1944 1953 16-25 1384 1280 151 309 39 7 31 159 85 142 .241 .292 .355 .647 6/75439 BRO-TOT-CHC
15 Allie Clark 1953 351 1947 1953 24-30 1107 1021 131 267 48 4 32 149 72 70 .262 .312 .410 .722 *9/7538 NYY-CLE-TOT-PHA
16 Gene Hermanski 1953 700 1943 1953 23-33 2295 1960 276 533 85 18 46 259 289 212 .272 .372 .404 .776 97/8 BRO-TOT-CHC
17 Marty Marion 1953 1559 1940 1953 22-35 6141 5506 602 1448 272 37 36 624 470 537 .263 .323 .345 .668 *6/5 STL-SLB
18 Neil Berry 1954 424 1948 1954 26-32 1230 1087 148 265 28 9 0 74 113 105 .244 .317 .286 .603 64/5 DET-TOT-BAL
19 Bobby Brown 1954 544 1946 1954 21-29 1862 1619 233 452 62 14 22 237 214 88 .279 .367 .376 .742 *5/64798 NYY
20 Pete Castiglione 1954 484 1947 1954 26-33 1820 1670 205 426 62 11 24 150 103 126 .255 .300 .349 .648 *5/64397 PIT-TOT-STL
21 Joe Garagiola 1954 588 1946 1954 20-28 2169 1872 198 481 82 16 42 255 267 173 .257 .354 .385 .739 *2 STL-TOT-PIT
22 Bill Glynn 1954 308 1949 1954 23-28 767 684 94 170 22 4 10 56 61 105 .249 .314 .336 .650 *3/97 PHI-CLE
23 Don Lenhardt 1954 454 1950 1954 27-31 1720 1481 192 401 64 9 61 239 214 235 .271 .365 .450 .815 *7/359 SLB-TOT
24 Johnny Pesky 1954 1256 1942 1954 22-34 5516 4745 867 1455 226 50 17 404 662 218 .307 .394 .386 .780 654 BOS-TOT-DET
25 Carl Scheib 1954 321 1943 1954 16-27 493 468 51 117 14 6 5 59 21 59 .250 .284 .338 .621 *1/79 PHA-TOT
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/21/2010.

This is sort of morbid--I set the game cutoff to 300 fairly arbitrarily because otherwise many more players are listed, but I am certain that the above list then excludes former players who are still living who happened to play in fewer than 300 games.

Looking at the above list, one thinks there must be some data missing. It seems exceptionally unlikely that Jack McCarthy is still alive, given that he had active MLB service time in the 1800s. Later this week he would be celebrating his 141st birthday making him by far the oldest living person (let alone former player...)

So I'm guessing that his death date is unknown and therefore unlisted in B-R.com's database. However, it turns out that Wikipedia includes an article on this subject that makes no mention of McCarthy or the other top 4 guys on the list above. According to them, the oldest living player from my list above is George Binks, and that there are 4 older guys still alive who played in fewer than 300 games.

Bobby Doerr is the oldest living Hall of Famer, followed by Bob Feller and Monte Irvin.

Where the Wikipedia article ends we can use the PI to find more. Here are the 25 Hall of Famers with the earliest dates or birth for whom there is no recorded date of death. Unlike the list above, I can confirm that all of these guys are still alive.

Rk Player Born
1 Bob Feller 1918
2 Bobby Doerr 1918
3 Monte Irvin 1919
4 Stan Musial 1920
5 Ralph Kiner 1922
6 Red Schoendienst 1923
7 Yogi Berra 1925
8 Whitey Ford 1926
9 Robin Roberts 1926
10 Duke Snider 1926
11 Tom Lasorda 1927
12 Dick Williams 1929
13 Willie Mays 1931
14 Ernie Banks 1931
15 Jim Bunning 1931
16 Whitey Herzog 1931
17 Hank Aaron 1934
18 Al Kaline 1934
19 Luis Aparicio 1934
20 Sparky Anderson 1934
21 Frank Robinson 1935
22 Bob Gibson 1935
23 Sandy Koufax 1935
24 Harmon Killebrew 1936
25 Bill Mazeroski 1936
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/21/2010.

Incidentally this made me curious about the youngest deceased HOFers. This is a pretty good trivia question to try on your friends (or write about on your blog, and link back here for the answers!

Among deceased HOFers, here are the ones with the most recent birthdates. I chose to go back to guys born since 1920.

Rk Player Born Died From To Age
1 Kirby Puckett 1960 2006 1984 1995 24-35
2 Catfish Hunter 1946 1999 1965 1979 19-33
3 Willie Stargell 1940 2001 1962 1982 22-42
4 Don Drysdale 1936 1993 1956 1969 19-32
5 Roberto Clemente 1934 1972 1955 1972 20-37
6 Mickey Mantle 1931 1995 1951 1968 19-36
7 Eddie Mathews 1931 2001 1952 1968 20-36
8 Nellie Fox 1927 1975 1947 1965 19-37
9 Richie Ashburn 1927 1997 1948 1962 21-35
10 Larry Doby 1923 2003 1947 1959 23-35
11 Hoyt Wilhelm 1922 2002 1952 1972 29-49
12 George Kell 1922 2009 1943 1957 20-34
13 Warren Spahn 1921 2003 1942 1965 21-44
14 Roy Campanella 1921 1993 1948 1957 26-35
15 Hal Newhouser 1921 1998 1939 1955 18-34
16 Early Wynn 1920 1999 1939 1963 19-43
17 Bob Lemon 1920 2000 1941 1958 20-37
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/21/2010.

So who, then, are the deceased HOFers to have played in the 1970s or later? That would be Puckett, Hunter, Stargell, Clemente, and Wilhelm.

Related posts:

    Oldest players to drive in 7 runs in a game
    Bloops: MLB Players Living at Home
    The Rocking Chair Rajah – Oldest Players With a 3 HR Game
    Youngest players to hit X homers
    Oldest players with 3 HR in a game

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 7:57 am and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

15 Responses to “Oldest living former players”

  1. Chip Ramsey Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 8:56 am

    With all due respect, I don't think Jack McCarthy is still around at age 141! if he is, that's a big story!

  2. Andy Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 8:57 am

    I guess you didn't read beyond the initial list.

  3. Dave Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 9:02 am

    How are these lists made?
    I just get blank "no seasons match your criteria" pages

  4. Andy Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 9:11 am

    Start with, for example, the Batting Season Finder and under the additional criteria in the lower right set Year of Death = 0. After that, it's a matter of selecting HOF or not HOFer, etc. I also selected the bubble at the top to find totals for careers so that each player didn't show up multiple times.

  5. Dave Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 9:26 am

    My list gives Pete Rose as most games played by a player still living

  6. Andy Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 9:28 am

    Yeah but he's not a HOFer. You are correct about Rose.

  7. DavidRF Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 9:36 am

    It was easier to lose track of ball players back in the day. Historians looking back end up having a heck of a time trying to find which "Jack McCarthy" or "Jack Dalton" was the baseball player. Too many other people with those names I guess.

    The great Charley Jones is also lost to history. The sponsor for his page wonders if he's hanging out with Ambrose Bierce and Amelia Earhart somewhere.

  8. Frank Clingenpeel Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 10:07 am

    I can see a significant number of players born in thr 'Thirties were omitted -- Cookie Rojas {My favorite player} comes immediately to my mind.

  9. Andy Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 10:10 am

    Rojas and other players from the 30s don't make these lists because they are not nearly as old as other guys here (note the years column on the first list refers to the last year they played and not the year they were born) and because they are not in the HOF.

  10. Pete Ridges Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 11:55 am

    Another way of looking at it is that we know the date of death of anyone who played in the majors between 1917 and 1933 inclusive.

    The database shows 187 players between 1876 and 1917 with no known date of death: the latest retirements were Jack Dalton and Jim Brown in 1916. But that figure of 187 is still falling, thanks partly to SABR and the opening of online genealogical databases. (That's 187 players in total, including 63 who played only one major league game...which helps explain why they disappeared from view.)

    Phil Cavarretta is now the only survivor from the 1934 season.

  11. John Tierney Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    I think Whitey Ford was born in 1928 not 1926

  12. Gerry Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    The Baseball Necrology http://thebbnlive.com/ site might be of interest to people here. Also http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/l_majlea.asp is directly relevant to this subject.

    So far as I know, McCoy and Merullo, numbers 3 and 4 on the first list, are still with us. They are younger than number 5, Binks, although they retired earlier.

  13. steven Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 7:13 am

    I was nine years old when Sandy Koufax retired at thirty. It seems strange, though he is seventy-four, to see him on any "old" players list.

  14. joe baseball Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 7:29 am

    Lee MacPhail is the oldest living HOFer

  15. Andy Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 7:45 am

    Excellent point, Joe. MacPhail is about half a year older than Doerr and is the oldest living person in the HOF. Doerr is the oldest living former player in the HOF.

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