Big Bart was officially released by the Atlanta Braves today. While he apparently is drawing interest from the Mets for a reunion (among other teams showing interest as well), many see this as the end of the road for Colon, who at 44 is the oldest player in the major leagues this season.
Assuming that he's really done, that leaves Ichiro as the oldest man standing. Just today he surpassed Rod Carew on the MLB hits leaderboard, making him the most prolific hitter born outside the United States.
Last week on twitter, various bloggers and baseball fans were sharing the names of the last player to play in the majors that were older than they were (most people were saying Jamie Moyer); as well as the first player in MLB history that was younger than they were.
For me, that guy is David Wright. *Whoops, this turns out to be wrong, not Wright. I will correct this with my next post* This Whippersnapper is just barely younger than me, and he made his debut way back in July of 2004, back when we were both 21 year olds.
Wright might not be done, though he is currently on the 60 Day DL for the Mets. His contract extends through 2020, so there may be some career yet to go for the dean of the Mets.
There is another active player who is younger than me, and older than David Wright. Ervin Santana made his MLB debut in May of 2005.
I didn't feel so old once I did a little research - I found that there were close to 50 players in the big leagues still older than me. Which one will be the last?
I felt a whole lot younger when I realized that 2016 Topps Rookie All-Star Seung-Hwan Oh was older than me. Can't be that old if a rookie last year was around before me, right? . . . right?
Aw, get off my lawn!
Son (hehe), Life begins at 40, and you ain't close yet.
ReplyDelete...and now you're older still. I love the TMBG allusion. We must be mere months apart in age, because David Wright almost was the first for me. According to my research, Jeremy Bonderman was the first MLBER to be younger than me. Bigger names who debuted that same year who ate also younger than me include Miguel Cabrera, Jose Reyes,and Edwin Jackson.
ReplyDeleteNice catch - I am never sure if TMBG is part of the zeitgeist or not...
DeleteThe first player younger than me to debut (that I remember) was Jason Heyward and the first to play for my team was Starlin Castro. I remember the epiphany that hit me when I was listening to Star's debut game - very odd feeling.
ReplyDeleteHmm, yeah that's another interesting question. Without looking it up, I am going to guess that Joe Mauer was the first Twin younger than me. He's about half a year younger than me, and didn't take long to get to the big leagues.
DeleteHere's something that will make you feel even younger:
ReplyDeleteI was a 21-year-old in 1986. David Wright (and, you, I assume) was 3.
The down side of course is that I never got to see Shoeless Joe hit in person ;)
DeleteOr Yaz. Or Rod Carew.
Manny Ramirez, Chipper Jones, and I were all born a few months apart... and they made their debuts back in 1993. I'm pretty close in age to Bartolo too. He's around 8 months younger than me. Damn. I feel old.
ReplyDeleteHey Bartolo is drawing interest from several clubs, don't count yourself out yet!
DeleteA guy I know wants the Mets to have Bartolo and Tebow playing at the same time. He feels it would complete the shit show of a season.
ReplyDeleteYeeesh. Should sell some tickets anyway...
DeleteLove the TMBG reference - one of my favorites! As far as players and their ages go, I'll never forget the look of shock on my wife's face when she was watching the retired David "Grampa Rossy" Ross on Dancing With The Stars and I told her point blank he was almost two years younger than me. He may have the fame and money, but I got him beat on youthful good looks!
ReplyDeleteI want Bartolo to stick around.. He's the Last Expo..
ReplyDeletei think jim thome was the last "position" player older than i (or perhaps it was jason giambi), but the last player to appear in a game that was born before me was darren oliver. mariano rivera was older than that, but he sat out the last few games of the 2013 season while oliver pitched. the first player younger than i was el guapo himself, rich garces.
ReplyDelete