A Quote to Start Things Off

""I'd love to go to Santa Fe at some point, Emmett said, but for the time being, I need to go to New York. The panhandler stopped laughing and adopted a more serious expression. Well. that's life in a nutshell, aint it. Lovin' to go to one place and havin' to go to another. Amor Towles in the Lincoln Highway.

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Pictures of Memories I

Pictures of Memories I
Snow kidding! These "kids" now range from 17 to 23
Showing posts with label 100 oldest living players. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 100 oldest living players. Show all posts

Monday, January 3, 2022

Oldest Living Baseball Players Cup of Coffee Edition



 


George Elder the oldest living baseball player

Elder played 41 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1949

Though meager this greatly surpasses the 16 living players with 10 or less games 


Yesterday I saw the Kurt Warner biopic, American Underdog.  At the beginning of the film Warner (portrayed by Chuck star Zachary Levi) voices over how common the dream to play in the NFL is and how staggeringly difficult it is to achieve.  He also mentions that the majority of players who do make it only last a season or two.  The same of course could be said about any professional sport.  For me it was baseball and I knew by little league that I would never played for my beloved Cubbies or White Sox. 


This dream became a reality for every major league baseball player even if it was for just a handful of games.  Of the current list of the oldest living players , 16 of them only played for the proverbial cup of coffee (10 or less appearances).  


Friday, November 26, 2021

Golden Days Era Ballot


 On January 25, 2022 the attention of the baseball loving public turns once again  to Cooperstown, New York for the announcement of  those who will be inducted into the  2022 class of Baseball's Hall of Fame   

Each year the BBWAA (Base Ball Writer's Association of America) is tasked to pick among the most elite of the previous generation of ballplayers who will be placed with the rest of the legends of the sport.  

This process now can take approximately 15 years as players are placed on the writer's ballot 5 years after retiring from the game and players are allowed to be on the ballot up to 10 years while trying to receive the 75% of the sportswriters votes  needed to be elected to the hall. 

This is not the only avenue available for players to be enshrined into Cooperstown.  There is a path for players not elected by the BBWAA as well as managers, umpires and executives to be included into the HOF.  This path formerly called the veteran's committee now has 4  individual committees  based on the era that the individuals were involved in the sport: The Today's Game Committee (1988 to Present) , Modern Baseball Committee (1970-1987), The Golden Days Era Committee (1950 to 1969) and the Early Baseball Era Committee (1871-1949).

At least one of the committees meets each year at the annual Baseball Winter Meetings . The Today's Game and Modern Baseball Committees meet twice every 5 years.  The Golden Days Era meets once every 5 years while the Early Baseball group meets once every 10 years.  On December  5th of this year the Golden Day's Era Committee and the Early Baseball era  Committee (each comprised of 16 members)will both vote on 10 people to be considered for Cooperstown.  Any one receiving 75% of the vote or more will be among those announced in the Hall of Fame on 1/25/2020 and inducted on Sunday, July 24th 2022. 

The remainder of this article is about the Golden Era Ballot.  

These are the  9 former players and 1 former manager who are under consideration on the Golden Era Ballot


Dick Allen  Years Played:  1963-1977 Teams: Philadelphia Phillies , Chicago White Sox , LA Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals,   and Oakland Athletics 

Allen was the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year when playing for the Phillies and the 1972 AL MVP for the  White Sox as well as a 7 time all star.  Allen has been considered by the committee on 3 past occasions missing enshrinement by 1 vote in 2015. Dick Allen passed away on December 7, 2020 at the age of 78.


Ken Boyer Years Played: 1955-1969 Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, LA Dodgers, NY Mets, and Chicago White Sox.

While Dick Allen was earing his NL Rookie of the Year award in Philly, Boyer was the  NL MVP  for the 1964 World Champion Cardinals. He was also  an 11 time all star with 5 gold gloves at third base.  Boyer has also been considered by the committee on 3 past occasions.  Ken Boyer died on September 7. 1982 at the age of 51.

Gil Hodges Years Played:1943 - 1963 Teams: Brooklyn & LA Dodgers and New York Mets.

Hodges was an 8 time all star with 3 gold gloves,  He played for the World Series Champion 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and 1959 WS Champ LA Dodgers.  He managed the 1969 Mets so he has caused a little misery to both Chicago teams over the years.  Hodges has been considered by 4 previous veteran's committees, the most recent being in 2015. Gil Hodges only  lived to the age of 47 dying on April 2, 1972. 

Fun Fact: Gil Hodges homered in the first baseball game my Dad ever saw on 6/28/1953 in County Stadium in Milwaukee.  Fellow Golden Era nominee Dick Allen homered in the first White Sox game I ever went to but I think I had been to a few Cubs games before that.

Jim Kaat Years Played 1959-1983 Teams Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins (same franchise), Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. 

Kaat is a 3 time 20 game winner (twice in a row with my beloved White Sox), a 3 time all star and owner of a whopping 16 consecutive gold glove awards. Kaat pitched in the 1965 World Series for the Twins as they lost to the Dodgers and in 1982 pitched in the World Series as his Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers. Kaat has been considered on 3 previous occasions missing enshrinement by only 2 votes in 2015. Jim Kaat is one of 3 living former players on the ballot and turned 83 earlier this month.

Roger Maris Years Played 1957-1968 Teams New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians. St. Louis Cardinals,  and Kansas City Athletics.  

Maris won back to back AL MVP awards in 1960 and 1961  for the Yankees  In 1961 Maris broke Babe Ruth's home run record with 61. Maris was in 7 all star games , 7 World Series (winning with the Yankees in '61 and in '62 and with the Cardinals in '67. Maris has been on the veteran's ballot 1 previous time in 2007. Roger Maris lived until 1985 dying at the age of 51.

Minnie Minoso Years Played: (1946-1980) *includes his time in the negro leagues and his return to baseball in 1976 and 1980* Teams: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, New York Cubans, Washington Senators, St. Louis Cardinals.

Minoso had a life time batting average of .298 and was 37 hits shy of 2000.  A 9 time American League All Star (4 time all star with the negro leagues). Minnie had 4 gold gloves and his only post season play was when the New York Cubans won the Negro League World Series in 1947. Minoso was the first black player to play for the White Sox.  Minoso has been on 4 previous Veterans committee ballots, in 2015 he received 8 of 16 possible votes.  Minnie Minoso died in 2015 less than 9 months before he would have turned 90.  

Danny Murtaugh Years Managed (1957-1976) Team Pittsburgh Pirates

Murtaugh is the only person on this years Golden Days Era Ballot that I had not previously heard of. Murtaugh played  second base for the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Braves, and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1941 to 1951 in between serving in WW II.  As a manager, Murtaugh led the Pirates to two World Series championships in 1960 and 1971 and managed 3 all star games..  Murtaugh has been twice considered by veterans committees previously in 2008 & 2010. Danny Murtaugh died at the age of 59 on December 2, 1976 just 2 months after retiring as the Bucs manager.  

Tony Oliva Years Played (1962-1976) Team Minnesota Twins

Oliva like Murtaugh did as a manager, retired from playing baseball after the 1976 season.  In the American League( like Dick Allen in the NL)  was  the 1964 Rookie of the Year. Oliva won back to back AL batting crowns in 64&65 and a third in 1971 and was an all star for 8 consecutive years beginning in his sensational '64 campaign. Olivia received as much as 47.3% of the BBWAA votes in his 15 years on their ballot.  This is his 5th time being considered by committees and like Allen he missed enshrinement by only 1 vote  in 2015.  Unlike Allen, Tony Oliva who turned 83 earlier this year may still be alive if Cooperstown does finally come calling.  

Billy Pierce Years Played 1945-1964) Teams Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, 

Pierce is among  5 former White Sox players being considered for the HOF by the committee this year.  While he neither began or finished his illustrious career with the Sox, he hurled 13 seasons for the pale hose and had his # 19  was retired by the club back in 1987. Pierce was a 7 time all star and was the AL pitcher of the Year in 1955 with an  era of 1.97.  Pierce was on the veterans ballot for the first time in 2015.  Billy Pierce died in 2015 at the age of 88.  

Maury Wills Years Played:1959:1972 Teams Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos.

Wills was a 7 time all star with back to back gold gloves at shortstop in 1961 and 1962. In 1962 Wills was the NL MVP as well as the All Star MVP.  He played in 4 World Series for the Dodgers winning the championship 3 times. This is Wills 4th time being considered by the veterans committee  receiving 9 of the minimum 12 votes needed for enshrinement back in 2015.  Maury Wills turned 89 this past October.  

Fun Fact: Wills, Pierce and Hodges all played in the 1959,  World Series.  This does not include Minnie Minoso  who  played for the White Sox   in all but 2 seasons between 1950 and 1961.  Alas, one of those season was 1959, otherwise 4 of the 10 players on this years ballot would have been in that  series.  

Analysis:



This is a very deserving class and itis more than a little mind numbing that some of these players were not enshrined long ago.  I have a well earned reputation as a Sox homer so it should not be surprising that I think I can make a good argument for inclusion into the HOF for 4 of these former southsiders. That being said, I think the two most logical candidates for enshrinement this time out are the two players (Dick Allen and Tony Oliva) who missed it by one vote in 2015.  This would allow for my first  White Sox hero to achieve in death what I think he most certainly earned in life and to have Oliva avoid the same speedbump on his eventual road to Cooperstown. 





If there are more than these 2 enshrined look to Kaat, Wills and Minoso as the logical candidates. The rest of the field are also quite deserving and have 1 two time MVP in Maris and 1 MVP in Boyer not to take anything away from Pierce, Hodges or Murtaugh.  I guess we will have to wait until December 5th to find out if any of these fine baseballers are Cooperstown bound.  We've been waiting  so long for some of them, what's another 10 days?

Thursday, September 9, 2021

79 Years Ago in baseball history

Today is September 9th 2021. Seventy-nine years ago today, Eddie Robinson made his major league debut for the Cleveland Indians. Eddie, is currently the oldest living former magor league. In addition to the Indians Robinson also played the majority of his career for the White Sox, Yankees, Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics and Washington Senators. He also saw limited service with the Detroit Tigers and Baltiomor Orioles in his final year of baseball in 1957. Robinson turned 100 on December 15th of last year

Thursday, August 5, 2021

50 left from Twenties

The Online Version of the Baseball Almanac has a very nice feature that shows you the current 500 oldest living people who played major league baseball.  Since November 30, 2018 the title of oldest living player has gone to a former Chicago White Sox.  Tom Jordan held the distinction until his death on 8/26/19, 10 days before his 100th birthday.  Val Helm took over the title upon Jordan's death and held hit 17 days past his 99th birthday on Nember 4th 1919.  Eddie Robinson who I featured in my A to Z challenge on White Sox Homerun hitters has held the record since Helm's death. Robinson  turned 100 on 12/15/2020 and hopes to hold the record for a while.  The nperson in 2nd who turned 100 earlier this year has a fitting name  for the distinction if he outlive Robinson, George Elder.
There are currently 50  former players alive who were born in the 1920's.  As the time passes I hope to give updates on the 50 players on the chart below with further information on the last 50 MLB players who were alive in the 1920's.





Rank


Player


Games Played/Teams With


DOB


Age
OldestEddie Robinson 1315 games – 7 Teams:( Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles.)12/15/1920100
2nd OldestGeorge Elder41 games St. Louis Browns3/10/1921100
3rd OldestEddie Basinski203 Games 2 Teams ( Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates)11/4/192298
4th OldestTim Thompson187 Games 3 Teams (Brooklyn Dodgers, Kansas City Athletics, and Detroit Tigers)03/01/192497
5th OldestArt Schallock58 Games (New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles)4/25/192497
6th OldestBill Greason3 games St. Louis Cardinals9/3/192496
7th OldestLarry Miggins43 games St. Louis Cardinals8/20/192595
8th OldestPaul Hindrichs4 games Boston Red Sox8/31/192595
9th OldestBobby Shantz578 games – 6 teams ( Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Colt 45’s, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies)9/26/192595
10th OldestChris Haughey1 game Brooklyn Dodgers10/3/192595
11th OldestFrank Saucier18 games: St. Louis Browns5/28/192695
12th OldestBobby Morgan671 games: 4 teams (Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs )6/29/192695
13th OldestJohnny Groth1,248 games: 5 teams ( Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, and Kansas City Athletics )7/23/192695
14th OldestEd Mickelson18 games: 3 teams  (St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Browns, and Chicago Cubs )9/9/192694
15th OldestCarl Erskine360 games: Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers12/13/192694
16th OldestJim Willis27 games: Chicago Cubs3/20/192794
17th Oldest
Charlie Maxwell1133 games 4 (Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox)4/8/192794
18th OldestBilly Gardner1,034 games:  6 Teams (New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox)7/19/192794
19th OldestCloyd Boyer113 games: 2 teams ( St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Athletics )9/1/192793
20th OldestDave Hillman197 games: 4 teams ( Chicago Cubs, Boston Red SoxCincinnati Reds, and New York Mets )9/14/192793
21st OldestBill Harington58 games: Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics10/3/192793
22nd OldestBob Kelly123 games: 3 teams (Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians )10/4/192793
23rd OldestTommy Brown494 games:  3 teams (Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs )12/6/192793
24th OldestBob Oldis135 games: 3 teams (Washington Senators, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies) 1/5/192893
25th OldestFelipe Montemayor64 games: Pittsburgh Pirates2/7/192893
26th OldestRoy Face853 games:3 teams ( Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, and Montreal Expos)
 
2/20/192893
27th OldestBilly Hunter630 games: 5 teams (St. Louis Browns, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, and Cleveland Indians)6/4/192893
28th OldestJohn Glenn
32 games: St. Louis Cardinals
 29
6/10192893
29th OldestVito Valentinetti
108 games: 5 teams ( Chicago White SoxChicago CubsCleveland IndiansDetroit Tigers, and Washington Senators)
9/16/192892
30th OldestFred Marolewski1 game: St. Louis Cardinals10/6/192892
31st OldestGail Henley14 games: Pittsburgh Pirates
 
10/15/192892
32nd OldestMickey Micelotta17 games Philadelphia Phillies10/20/192892
33rd OldestBob Ross20 games 2 teams Washington Senators and Philadelphia Phillies11/2/192892
34th OldestBill Wilson224 games 2 teams (Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia & Kansas City Athletics)11/6/192892
35th OldestMoe Savransky16 Games Cincinatti Reds1/13/192992
36th OldestGale Wade19 games: Chicago Cubs
 37
1/20/192992
37th OldestBobby Kline77 games Washington Senators1/27/192992
38th OldestAl Worthington602 games 5 teams (New York & San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins).2/5/192992
39th OldestMel Held4 games Baltimore Orioles4/12/192992
40th OldestEd Winceniak32 games Chicago Cubs4/16/192992
41st OldestCurt Simmons609 games:  4 teams (Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and California Angels)5/19/192992
42nd OldestHank Foiles608 games 7 teams (Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels)6/10/192992
43rd OldestFrank Thomas1756 games 7 teams (Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros)6/11/192992
44th OldestDon Ferrarese184 games 5 teams ( Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals)6/19/192992
45th OldestHector Lopez1450 games 2 teams (Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees)7/8/192992
46th OldestJerry Snyder266 games Washington Senators7/21/192992
47th OldestJoe Pignatano307 games 4 teams (Brooklyn & L.A. Dodgers, Kansas City Atletics, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets)8/4/192992
48th OldestIke Delock329 games 2 teams (Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles)11/11/192991
49th OldestCarl Linhart3 games Detroit Tigers12/14/192991
50th OldestRay Herbert408 games 4 teams (Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies)12/15/192991

A to Z 2023 Road Trip

#AtoZChallenge 2023 RoadTrip