The Oldest Major League Players
For Those Who Like Baseball History and Trivia
Devoted baseball fans know that Satchel Paige, age 59, was the oldest pitcher to ever perform at the major league level. But, what about others, particularly the day-to-day position players? Here, briefly, are some of baseball’s oldest non-pitchers.
Oldest Position Player Pre-1900
That distinction belongs to Adrian “Cap” Anson. As the player-manager of the Chicago Colts (now Cubs), he was 45 years, five months old when he played his last game on October 3, 1897. For the season, he appeared in 114 games getting 121 hits in 424 at-bats (.285).
A versatile player, who played all nine positions during his career, Anson played 27 seasons in the majors, all but five with Chicago, and had a lifetime batting average of .333. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.
Oldest Position Player in the American League
Believed to have been born November 29, 1925, Minnie Minoso at the age of 54 years, ten months, appeared in two games as a pinch hitter for the 1980 Chicago White Sox, his second of two “comebacks” after officially retiring in 1964. During a brief three game stint in 1976, Minoso became, at the age of 50, the oldest American League player to get a hit.
Popular with fans and the media, Minoso was an outfielder and third baseman whose appearances in 1980 allowed him to tie pitcher Nick Altrock for being the only players whose careers spanned five decades. Although he is yet to be elected to the Hall of Fame, his credentials are worthy of selection.
The oldest position player who played in at least a third of his team’s games was Rickey Henderson who was 43 years, 9 months old, at the end of the 2002 Boston Red Sox season. He ended the year appearing in 72 games with a .223 average, fifty points below his career average. The following year, he played in 30 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Known as the “Man of Steal,” for his base running abilities, Henderson owns the major league records for career stolen bases (1406); single season stolen bases (130); and, career runs (2295).
Oldest Position Player in the Modern Era National League
Jim O’Rourke, at the age of 54 years, 21 days, made an appearance with the New York Giants on September 22, 1904 when Giants Manager John McGraw, a friend and former teammate, allowed O'Rourke to catch one game. He went one for four at the plate, thus becoming the oldest major league player to ever get a base hit, and scored a run. Ironically, it was this game in which the Giants clinched the 1904 pennant.
O’Rourke was a pioneer of early baseball, playing a total of 23 seasons starting in the early 1870s. He was a career .311 hitter and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945.
The oldest National League player to have played in at least a third of a season’s games was Julio Franco who was 49 years old at the end of the 2008 year. That year he appeared in 55 games for the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves and had 20 hits in 90 at-bats as an infielder and designated hitter.
Franco, a journeyman ballplayer who began his major league career with the Phillies in 1982, is the owner of several “old” records. Among them are the oldest player to hit a home run, pinch hit home run, and grand slam home run.
The Oldest Baseball Rookie
The oldest rookie who was not a pitcher was Chuck Hostetler, an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers in the mid-1940s. Benefiting by the manpower shortage caused by World War II, Hostetler was 40 years, seven months, old when he played his first game in 1944. He also played for the Tigers’ World Series championship team in 1945 before retiring.
Related article: The Youngest Major League Players
