Several players are currently pushing the previously recognized boundaries of how far beyond our youth we can compete at the major league level. I’m talking about Jamie Moyer, Mariano Rivera, and Omar Vizquel while also looking at Derek Jeter. Those are the headliners. </span>
Then I see a guy like Jamey Carroll defy the aging process by being given the best gig of his career at age 38–similar to the way Craig Counsell and Matt Stairs won starting gigs late in their careers. Jose Molina is a starting catcher for the first time. He will be 37 in June.
Moyer and Mo have already gotten most of the "ageless wonder" attention this spring, so let’s look at how remarkable Vizquel, Jeter, and Carroll are. I live in Toronto, subscribe to two of their daily newspapers, and haven’t read a word about the unprecedented extension of Omar Vizquel’s longevity.
Breaking this in two parts, today we’ll concentrate on the ageless middle infielders, then continue in Part II with other non-pitchers.
Middle Infielders with 150 Plate Appearances
I created a list of players since World War II with at least 150 plate appearances and with at least 25% of their games played at either shortstop or second base–who were 37 or older on July 1st. (I would have used 50%, but couldn’t make the Baseball-Reference Play Index recognize "ss and 2b combined.") Dividing those years into six 11-year eras, the average number of qualifying players in each of the 11-year eras from 1946 to 2011 (prorated to thirty teams) is 17.3–a little over 1 ½ per year.  
(Footnote: I multiplied the number of players achieving the 150 PA and 25% second base or shortstop thresholds by the inverse of the proportional number of teams in the two leagues over that era compared to the 30 teams we have now.)
In the most recent 11-year era, we had 42 very old middle infielder seasons of 150 PA – almost four per year. Why the big jump? Assuming steroid use had a lingering effect in the early part of the last 11 years, the 1990-2000 group should have had the most late career booms. It only had 19 such players–far fewer than the most recent era and five fewer than the 1979-1989 group had before it.
No, I think the answer is a) improved conditioning and b) roster construction. Teams today typically carry two or three fewer back-ups than they did in the 1960s and ‘70s. The 1968-1978 era only had nine really old middle infielders of 150 PA and the 1957-1967 group only had three. The further back I looked, the more often I’d see old players with fewer than 150 plate appearances who were on the team all year.
I used the 150 PA threshold to avoid grabbing partial season call-ups (of which there are more now than ever). In the past, old guys were kept around for emergencies. Sometimes they were player-coaches – who don’t compare fairly with a dedicated playing oldtimer like Omar Vizquel. Today, teams need to have players with an ability to fill in at several positions – especially the challenging middle infield positions. And with smaller benches, the players who make the cut are less likely to miss their 150 turns at the plate.
Going back to the beginning of recorded major league baseball, Omar Vizquel is the first middle infielder to have seven seasons of 150+ PA from the age of 37 on – and he’s going on his eighth. He would have had eight already, but he played over 75% of his games at third base in 2010. 43 years old that year, he became the oldest regular player (> 300 PA) whose primary position was third base. There are a couple other players who could be considered the oldest third baseman ever, but we will get to that in Part II.
There is one major leaguer with six middle infield seasons of >150 PA in old age (>=37) who started his career in career in the 19th century: "Honus" John Peter Wagner. Napoleon Lajoie and Osborne Smith had five such seasons. Edward Collins, Lucius Appling, Joe (that’s his real name) Morgan, Barry Larkin, and now Craig Counsell have four each.
Yes, who would have thought a player such as Counsell—who didn’t establish himself as a regular until he was 30—would end up in such select company. At 38, he had over 400 at-bats and an OPS+ above 100 in 2009.
In contrast, Vizquel made three All-Star games despite being a league contemporary of the greatest cluster of great shortstops ever. Think Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, and Miguel Tejada and overlapping earlier in his career with Cal Ripken and Alan Trammell. Counsell was never even a better-than-average starting middle infielder. That age-38 season was his best in terms of Wins Above Replacement—producing a mere 1.9. Counsell has had only two other seasons above 1.0.
Oldest Middle Infielder Ever?
Omar Vizquel could now be considered the oldest middle infielder ever. I say "could" instead of "is," because he has played more games at third base than up the middle in recent years. However, he did play 25 of his 58 games at one middle infield spot or the other last year.
Turn-of-the-century (not turn-of-millennium) infielders Bobby Wallace or Arlie Latham murk up the records. Wallace was one of the top defensive wizards of his era. He has a lifetime OPS of .690, which in those days was good enough for a 105 OPS+. His career did last for parts of 25 years, but in many of those years he played very small parts, including his last six years from the age of 39 to 44. During that time, Wallace umpired, coached, and played a little, averaging 24 games per season, 69 plate appearances, and .500 OPS.
His last year, 1918, was impacted by World War I when there was a bit more demand for anyone who could play decent ball. Wallace’s OPS that year against slightly diluted talent was .365 (that’s On-Base Avg. + Slugging Avg.) and he played in 32 games. In 1919 Wallace was mercifully outside of major league foul lines.
Vizquel turns 45 this month (4/24/12) passing Wallace’s last playing-coach age, while making the Blue Jays as their sole backup middle infielder.
Arlie Latham’s claim as the oldest middle infielder ever is dubious, but in the record books. In 1909, he was a 49-year-old coach on John McGraw’s Giants and appeared in two games at second base. He came to the plate two times and did not get a hit. His previous appearance in any game occurred ten years earlier. Latham–known as "The Freshest Man on Earth" for his rude quips, which often lead to fines and brawls–was primarily a third baseman in his playing days with the American Association St. Louis Browns and N.L. Cincinnati Reds from 1883 to 1895.
For a middle infielder to accrue even 150 plate appearances at age 41 is extremely rare. The only others to do it besides Vizquel and Wallace were Chris Biggio (2007), Ozzie Smith (1996), Luke Appling (1948), Rabbit Maranville (1933), Nap Lajoie (1916), Honus Wagner (1915) and two players who had been out of the majors, then returned.
A one-year stint in the Mexican League revived the career of Bert Campaneris (1983) for the Yankees long after his glory years with the A’s had passed. And a Mainer called Candy Nelson had some decent years for the New York Pilgrims of "major league" American Association in the mid 1880s when he was in his mid 30s. Nelson played in the minor International Association in 1888. I don’t know what he did in 1889. He was back in the IA in 1890 when at 41 he was given another shot in the AA with the Brooklyn Gladiators. He was their regular shortstop for most of the season.
At age 42, we have just Vizquel, Appling, Wagner, a rarely used Wallace, and two emergency World War infielders. An infamous smart-aleck, then-coach Germany Schaefer appeared in one game in 1918. And some guy named Jack Saltzgaver played 52 games for the Pirates in 1945. He hadn’t played in the majors since 1937.
Oldest Starting Middle Infielders
Luke Appling was the most productive 42-year-old middle infielder (or third baseman) ever. While Vizquel played in only 62 games at that age, Appling played in 142 games producing a .301 BA, 125 OPS+, .833 OPS and receiving some MVP voting. That bought him another season (1950) with the White Sox – the team he had played for since his major league debut in September 1930.
However, Appling was rarely used that year and it would be his last. He had only 144 plate appearances, but he broke in Chico Carrasquel at shortstop—the third Venezuelan to reach the majors and first to play in 1,000 career games. His Uncle Alex Carrasquel was the majors’ first Venezuelan, who broke in with the Washington Senators in 1939. When I list the pitchers in a yet-to-be-written Part III, I’ll include a list of the milestone-breaking foreigners.
Back to the 42-year-old middle infielders: Honus Wagner still had it in 1916 playing in 123 games with a .721 OPS (120 OPS+ in that dead ball era). Over the next winter Wagner surrendered his bachelorhood, which led to a larger waistline. So, at 43, Wagner was moved to the infield corners and became a part timer. His OPS dropped to .642. That was his final season.
Wagner was born in February, while Appling was born in April, so Wagner edges out Appling by three months as the oldest starting shortstop or middle infielder ever. Since Appling continued at shortstop his last year and Wagner didn’t, Appling was the older shortstop and middle infielder. Considering that shortstop has not been Vizquel’s primary position since 2009 – or even his second most-played position in that time—Luke Appling should be recognized as the oldest shortstop ever. Vizquel lays claim to being the oldest utility infielder ever. Before I look at the oldest second basemen, let’s give Derek Jeter his due (as if he isn’t given enough).
How unique was Detek Jeter’s performance as a 37-year-old middle infielder?
There are eleven post-War middle infielders who played as many games as Derek Jeter at Jeter’s age (or older) last year and posted an OPS over .700. Jeter’s was .743. He has generally been a below-average defensive shortstop by any known fielding metric, so I allowed a lower OPS for comparisons. I found five more comparable shortstops from earlier in the 20th century. Three of those 11 post-War shortstops had two Jeter-esque seasons and one had four of them. Just last year, Jamey Carroll did the trick for the Dodgers at 37 and will try again with the Minnesota Twins this year. Carroll is four months older than Jeter. He is less of a Jeter, though, than a Craig Counsell–a late blooming utility star. Carroll didn’t reach the majors until the September after he turned 28. Only once has he played any one position in more than half of the games in a season. Now at 38, he’s being asked to be an everyday shortstop.
At 38 in 2009, Craig Counsell fell one game short of Jeter’s 131 games, while outhitting what Jeter did last year with an OPS of .766 – the only time Counsell has come close to outhitting Jeter in any same-age comparison. No team yet has picked up Counsell for his age-41 season here in 2012. ;
Jeff Kent–a player much more comparable to Jeter than Carroll or Counsell—had an OPS of .889 and .875 at ages 37 and 39 (’05, ’07)–much greater than Jeter’s. However, at 38 and 40, he didn’t play in at least 131 games.
Vizquel also reached the Jeter threshold at 37 and 39 (.741 in ’04 and .749 in ’06).
Chris Biggio reached it at 39 and 40 (.791/’05, .727/’06), but was an outfielder at ages 37 and 38.
Ryne Sandberg just barely met the criteria in his last year 1997 at 37.
Tony Phillips–possibly the greatest utility player ever–hit .783 in 141 games as a 38-year-old in 1997. The only utility player comparably outstanding was Jimmy Dykes, who played in the pre-integration 1920s and 1930s. It could be that Dykes was relatively the better fielder earlier in his career, but Phillips could still clearly play the more demanding infield positions later in his career. Similarly on offense: Dykes peaked earlier—between ages 27 and 33—while Phillips hit best from 32 to 36, then continued very strongly with his bat until he retired at 40.
Perhaps, the greatest shortstop of all-time–at least, defensively: The Wizard of Oz Smith—just reached the Jeter criteria hitting .708 as a 37-year-old in 1992, but fell just short of a .700 OPS the next year at .693.
Davey Lopes was a late bloomer who didn’t have a shot at a major league job until his after his 28th year. As a 37-year-old, he was still hitting .764 in 147 games as the Athletics’ primary second baseman in 1983. Lopes was moved off second base during the next season, but he was still a productive hitter in his 40’s before retiring at age 42.
Joe Morgan was still productive at age 38 in 1982, but his game totals fell short of our threshold at ages 37, 39, and 40.
Why are the old infielders missing so many games?
Pardon this interruption, but there are a couple of obvious answers to this. 1) It is a well known that our bodies get less elastic as we get older and take longer to heal. It is a generally accepted maxim that much older players get hurt more often–and take longer to recover from a similar injury than a younger player would.
I’m sure there is plenty of data to back that up, right? Even recovering from a normal day’s tumbles requires more recovery time for a player in his late 30s or 40s, so he needs more rest. 2) Old players need to be replaced, so teams may phase in a younger player while the old veteran is around to show them all his tricks and proper dedication–even if he is slightly past his usefulness era.
More Jeters
It took World War II for Eddie Mayo to get a chance as a major league regular. He was 33 in 1943 when the Phillies made him their third baseman. He did not hit well, but Detroit took him in the Rule V draft and converted him to second base, where he suddenly blossomed. He helped Detroit win the 1945 Championship and was the league’s runner-up MVP at age 35. Two years later—at Jeter’s 2011 age, with war veterans returning and baseball beginning to integrate—Mayo was still a solid player, hitting .717.
Luke Appling is still the man to beat for postwar starting middle infielders. The shortstop with the longest incumbency for one team (White Sox’ Appling) had four seasons as good or better than Jeter’s most recent at an even older age. From ages 39 to 42 during the years 1946-1949, Appling produced OPS results of .762, .797, .777, and .833. He had served in the U.S. Army during his age-37 season and most of his age-38 season–when he was discharged from the Army for being old.
The number of middle infielders playing regularly in their late 30s decreases in the years before WWII. And I agree that it isn’t fair to compare these players with modern players–especially those from the 1870s. However, I find early baseball history fascinating, so let’s keep going: There are five other shortstops who equaled or bettered Derek Jeter’s year last year.
Charlie Gehringer (.875 OPS) was still great enough in 1940 as a 37-year-old, helping Detroit win their third pennant in his era.
The reputedly brilliant defensive shortstop Rabbit Maranville managed to hit a little over .700 as a 37- and 38-year-old in 1929 and 1930.
Some consider Columbia grad Eddie Collins the greatest second baseman of all-time. In career WAR (Baseball-Reference version for non-pitchers), he ranks 13th among all players with 126.7. That is just a fraction behind Rogers Hornsby (127.8) and well above Nap Lajoie (104.2) and Joe Morgan (103.5). </p>
Collins hit .896 as a 37-year-old in 1924 and for the second year in a row was the runner-up MVP despite the White Sox’ last-place finish. Collins’ playing time gradually diminished, but he was still hitting .880 as a 40-year-old in 95 games of 1927. The next three years, Collins was used primarily a coach and occasional pinch hitter. After turning 41 in 1928, Collins played only two games at second base—the last of his career.
Most fans probably consider Honus Wagner the greatest shortstop of all-time. He ranks eighth all-time in career WAR with 134.5, well ahead of shortstops Alex Rodriguez (104.6), George Davis (90.3), and Cal Ripken (89.9). The Flying Dutchman played 130 games in 1911 as a 37-year-old and led the league in OPS, hitting .930. Of course, they paid more attention to batting average in those days. He led in that, too.
Wagner was the runner-up MVP at 38 and also received some MVP votes at age 39, although he played in only 114 of Pittsburgh’s 149 games. He was back up to 150 games at age 40, but had an off year, hitting only .634 OPS. The next year, his hitting was back up to .747 at 41 (126 OPS+) and he played every game. He was still hitting 20% better than the league at age 42, but didn’t quite make the Jeter threshold in games–just 123 of their 154. That is certainly the most outstanding run of seasons from any middle infielder or third baseman 37 years old and older.
Nap Lajoie played in only 117 games for the Indians in his age-37 year, but he was an MVP candidate at 38 in 1918: 137 games, .335 BA, .398 on-base percentage, .802 OPS. That was his last year over 130 games and his last year with an OPS greater than .700. </p>
Career Utility Infielders
Was Craig Counsell the oldest career utility infielder ever? Not quite. Jimmy Dykes played all the infield positions over a 22-year career, predominantly third base toward the end, second base early in his career, but usually some of both plus a bit of shortstop and first base. He primarily played shortstop at age 32 when his 1929 Philadelphia Athletics won 104 regular season games and the World Series.
Despite the fact that Dykes could still hit pretty well for a utility infielder in his 40s and that he was his own manager, he gave himself fewer than 100 plate appearances at ages 40 and 41, then appeared in only two games at third base at age 42.
Tony Phillips had a better year at age 40 than either Counsell or Dykes, although as an April baby, he was a younger 40. In 1999, Phillips played 66 games at second base, 62 in the outfield, two at third base, and one at shortstop. His OPS was just under .800 (.362 OBP / 108 OPS+) and he also swiped 11 out of 14 bases. That was his last season–ending where he began his major league career: the Athletics.
Specifically Second Basemen
Of course, Wagner and Appling were shortstops. So was Vizquel. For the record, there have been three 41-year-old starting second basemen. Lajoie was one. Walter James Vincent (Rabbit) Maranville shifted to second base in 1932 after a long career as a shortstop. He continued as a keystone another year as a 41 year old playing almost every game. Maranville injured himself sliding home in a spring training game in 1934. He did come back briefly as a 43 year old in ’35, but he wasn’t the nearly same and played in only 23 more games.
Craig Biggio was a month younger in 2007 than Maranville was in 1933. Biggio was primarily a second baseman in 14 of his 20 Major league seasons – all with Houston. He started off as a catcher, had a couple of years in the outfield – a centerfielder at 37 and a leftfielder at 38, then returned to second base for his last three seasons. Biggio played in over 140 games in each of his final seasons and, in fact, every season except the year of his call-up, his first full season, the strike year, and one other. So, while Maranville beats out Biggio by a month in age as the oldest starting second baseman ever, Biggio is the oldest starting second baseman who played most of his career there.
Traits to look for in a player who will last into his 40s
One of the traits these everlasting players had in common was that they didn’t get many injuries–especially in the latter halves of their careers.
Also, there are many short guys on our list. Vizquel is 5’9", Phillips 5’10", Lopes 5’9", Morgan 5’7", Appling was 5’ 10", Maranville 5’5", Dykes 5’8", Collins 5’9", Wallace 5’8", and Nelson 5’6". The rest are or were between 5’11" and 6’1".
Next up: Ageless Wonders in Other Positions. Stay tuned.