Mariano Rivera had another great year last year at 41, relying on just a cut fastball. It is difficult to find comparables for Mo. I don’t know of anyone who has ever thrown a cut fastball with nearly as much effectiveness. There are only five relief pitchers in the Hall of Fame. Neither Rollie Fingers nor Bruce Sutter were active in their 40s. Hall of Fame candidate Lee Smith was done at 39. 

The pitcher with a career most comparable to Rivera’s is his N.L. rival: Trevor Hoffman, who was still great at 41. However, Hoffman had a bad year at age 42 in 2010 and subsequently retired. Hoffman threw in the mid 90s during his early years, but it was more of a well-located low 90s pitch after a 1994 injury. Hoffman’s out pitch was a great change-up. 

Did you know Hoffman is the brother of 1980s Boston infielder Glen Hoffman? Trevor isn’t eligible for the Hall of Fame, yet, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t make it considering he has arguably had a more impressive career than any of the relievers who are in the hallowed Hall. 

The career arcs of knuckleball pitchers are not comparable to other types of pitchers. Hall of Fame’s Hoyt Wilhelm was still pitching as well as ever at age 46. Wilhelm’s birthday is in July. During his age 45/46 season, he had a year equal to that of Mariano Rivera’s age 41 season last year – 3.1 Wins Above Replacement (94 innings, 1.73 ERA). At 42/43, Wilhelm had an even better year – the best year (3.5 WAR) by any reliever in their age-41 season or older: 144 innings, 20 saves, 7 wins, 1.81 ERA. 

The other two relievers in the Hall of Fame were still effective in their 40s, but not at the same level as Rivera, Hoffman, and Wilhelm. 

Dennis Eckersley pitched through his age-43 season in 1998, but his last great year was at age 37. At 41 and 42, though, Eck was still above average – and for the 11th year in a row he was Tony LaRussa’s closer. That year, Eck moved with LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, left-handed spot reliever Rick Honeycutt, and utility infielder Mike Gallego from Oakland to St. Louis in 1996. 

As you probably know, Eckersley had a 12-year career as a starting pitcher. He was a Cy Young candidate pitching for Boston at 23 and 24, but after seven years of declining performance and a family video that showed how he behaved while intoxicated, Eck checked himself into a rehab for alcoholism.  He was traded to Oakland that spring of 1987. By the end of the year, he was LaRussa’s closer and on his way to the dominant pitching that earned his entrance into the Hall of Fame. 

During this phase, Eck abandoned his curve, threw mostly fastballs against right-handers and sliders against left-handers, both with pin point control. He was a right-hander who threw three-quarters sidearm. LaRussa’s use of Eckersley is credited as the starting point for the strategy of using a closer for only 9^th-inning leads. That probably helped Eck’s longevity, although with the current rash of injuries to similar closers, you might conclude otherwise. 

Rich "Goose" Gossage is only three years older than Eckersley, but their peak years were from entirely different eras. Goose was a 20-year-old rookie in 1972 and pitched mop-up for the White Sox in his first three years. Despite his so-so performance those years, Chuck Tanner made him his closer in 1975 after Johnny Sain taught Gossage the slider to complement his 96-mph fastball. Gossage responded with a league leading 26 saves, 9 wins, and a 1.84 ERA over 142 innings in 62 appearances. 

The White Sox responded by making Gossage a starter the next year when Paul Richards took over as Chicago’s manager. Gossage did just okay as a starter (3.94 ERA – 91 OPS+). The next year he was traded to Pittsburgh, reuniting him with Tanner, who returned him to the closing role. Gossage returned to dominance: again 26 saves, this time with 11 wins and a 1.62 ERA. That was the Goose’s last year with Tanner, however, as Gossage took advantage of his free agency and the Yankees’ George Steinbrenner’s money. The next eight seasons were his best and he eventually escaped the Bronx Zoo after his six-year contract was up for the sunnier vibes of San Diego. After Gossage lost a little of his devastating velocity, he hung on as a journeyman reliever for another nine years still pitching with a 117 OPS+ in his final season at age 42 in 1994.  

Not surprisingly, a high percentage of pitchers who pitched well into their 40s are in the Hall of Fame. I expect Rivera and Hoffman to have their day in Cooperstown as Eck and Goose have. Here are the other Hall of Famers listed chronologically who were still pitching well at 42: 

Denton True "Cy" Young—the pitcher with 23% more career wins than his next closest rival (Walter Johnson)—didn’t become a pitching ace until 1891 when he was 24.  He averaged 31 wins a season for the next six years as a member of the now defunct Cleveland Spiders, primarily relying on his fastball. His most dominant years came in his mid 30s after developed a curveball. Jumping to the American League Boston team in their inaugural season, at 34, Young led the league with 33 wins, 1.62 ERA, 217 ERA+, 158 K, and pitched 371 innings. 

In 1908 at the age of 41, Cy Young was still deserving of an award to be named after him: 299 innings, 21-11, 1.26 ERA (195 ERA+). In Wins Above Replacement that is way above any other pitcher’s season of age 41 or older: a 9.3 WAR season. The next closest is accused steroids user Roger Clemens’ 7.6 WAR season of 2005, followed by Randy Johnson’s 5.5 WAR of the same year. Young’s last season was at age 44, playing first for the American League version of Cleveland, then the National League version of Boston –the opposite of where he played most of his career. 

Eddie Plank owns a career 2.35 ERA. He had a cross-firing pitching motion—stepping sideways instead of forward –which scouts today would probably say leads to an early ruination. His primary pitch was a curveball. Starting at age 25, he was an ace for the Philadelphia Athletics during the first 14 years of the American League. After one year with the Federal League’s St. Louis Terriers, he pitched the next two years of his career with the St. Louis Browns. Citing stomach problems at the age of 42, in 1917 he announced his retirement, despite sporting a 1.79 ERA (147 ERA+) that final season. The Yankees made a huge trade for him hoping to change his mind, but he kept his word. 

Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander’s prime was his first 10 seasons: seven with the Phillies and three with the Cubs. He led the N.L. in innings pitched 7 times, wins 6 times, strikeouts 6 times and ERA (and ERA+) four times. How does his 1915 season of 31-10, 1.22 ERA, 376 innings, and 225 ERA+ strike you? His worse year in that span--other than 1918 when he spent most of the season in The Great War--was 1913: 22-8, 2.79 ERA in 306 innings. That was the only year he didn’t lead the league in a triple crown pitching category. 

Over the next nine seasons, aged 34 to 42, he was consistently outstanding (126 ERA+), although in 1929 at age 42, his innings total dropped to 132 from 244 the year before. Alexander had a killer fastball in his prime, the best curve of his era – what some believe was more of a slider, great control – five times lead the league in lowest BB/9, a sinking fastball, and what is now called a screwball. He was considered a sidearm thrower who grew up husking corn and throwing stones at chickens and objects in Nebraska. Mental and physical damage from WWI led to Alexander’s alcoholism, which led to impoverishment after his playing days. It didn’t prevent Alexander from having one of the 10 best seasons (in B-F’s WAR) by any pitcher in his 40s. 

Red Faber’s 20-year career, spent entirely with the Chicago White Sox (1914-1933), is the 7^th longest stint any pitcher has had with one team.  He led the league in ERA in back-to-back seasons in the early ‘20s aged 32-34. With that came a league-leading 352 innings in 1922. For the next 11 seasons, Faber’s ERA was consistently just average, including the year he retired in 1933 just after reaching 45. Like Jack Quinn, Faber had a long career as a legal "grandfathered" spitball thrower. Equally long, in fact: 14 years. Both pitchers retired the same year. 

Like Pete Alexander, Arthur "Dazzy" Vance was a Nebraska farm boy. His 1915-1935 career was nearly an exact contemporary of Red Faber’s, except it really didn’t take off until he was 31. Up until then – 1922 – seven years after his first Major league shot – he had not won a game in the big leagues. A sore arm kept him down in the minors most of that time. 

One night he banged his arm on a poker table in New Orleans and caused serious pain. A doctor down there did something – Bill James speculates that he removed bone chips—and the next year Vance was pitching pain-free and dominating the Southern League. When the Brooklyn Robins (later Dodgers) recruited Vance’s battery mate Hank DeBerry to be their catcher, DeBerry pleaded that they take Vance, too. Ebbets was skeptical, due to Vance’s previous major league failures, but he relented. For the next seven years aged 31 to 38, Vance led the N.L. in strikeouts. In 1923, he also led in ERA, ERA+, wins, and complete games. Another league lead in wins followed. At 37 and 39 Vance earned two more ERA titles. With Walter Johnson’s career having wound down in 1927, Vance had clearly replaced him as the power pitcher of his era. He led the league in strikeout rate and strikeout-to-walk ratio for the eighth time in 1931 at age 40. His last year as a big leaguer was at the age of 44. 

A co-ace of the White Sox with Faber was "Sunday pitcher" Ted Lyons. He is arguably the longest-lasting starting pitcher with one team (1923-1946). Lyons led the American League in ERA in 1942 at the age of 41. Although, he was old enough to avoid the draft, he enlisted in the Marines to fight in WWII anyway, because he was single. He came back after the war at age 45, pitched five more starts and pitched well, but retired anyway when he was hired to manage the team. Lyons hired Faber to be his pitching coach. 

Lyons is similar to Rivera in that his best pitch was what is now known as a cut fastball. He also used a knuckleball or a slow curve as a change-up. He was most decidedly a control/finesse pitcher. Four times Lyons led his league in the lowest walk rate and he has the lowest strikeout rate of any Hall of Fame pitcher since 1920. During the last nine years of Lyons’ career, he pitched almost exclusively on Sundays – usually the first game of a doubleheader. No doubt that helped him with his streak of 28 consecutive complete games and his longevity. 

Trivia break: Assuming that you don’t lose your seniority with a club if you leave it to fight in a war, but do if you are sent back down to the minors for anything but a rehab assignment, the 16 longest tenured pitchers ever are:  

• ·         Ted Lyons (White Sox ’24-’46)
• ·         John Smoltz (Braves ’88-’08)
• ·         Walter Johnson (Senators ’07-’27)
• ·         Bob Feller (Indians ’36-’56)
• ·         Warren Spahn (Braves ’46-’64)
• ·         Red Faber (White Sox ’14-33)
• ·         Jim Palmer (Orioles ’65-’84)
• ·         Mel Harder (Indians ’29-’47)
• ·         Phil Niekro (Braves ’64-‘83)
• ·         Another late blooming and late retiring knuckleball pitcher who just misses getting mentioned in the next part by not quite pitching in enough games in his age 42 season: Jesse Haines (Cardinals ’20-’37)
• ·         Whitey Ford (Yankees ’50-’67)
• ·         Mariano Rivera (Yankees ’95-...)
• ·         Red Ruffing (Yankees ’30-’46)
• ·         Tim Wakefield (Red Sox ’95-’11)
• ·         Tommy Bridges (Tigers ’30-’46), and
• ·         Tom Glavine (Braves ’87-’02)

Yes, there are four Braves on this list. Three of them were near the top of the list, along with two White Sox, two Indians, and later three Yankees in a row. Tommy Bridges is the tip of the iceberg among Tigers. If I were to go down another 16 names, you’d see Tigers Hooks Daus (’12-’26), Hal Newhouser (’39-’53), Dizzy Trout (’39-’52), Jack Morris (’78-’80), John Hiller (’67-’80), Mickey Lolich (’63-’65), and George Mullen (’02-’13). Five more Detroit pitchers had 10-year incumbencies. Expansion teams get represented in the top 30: Trevor Hoffman (Padres ’94-’08), Paul Splittorff (Royals ’71-’84), and Dave Stieb (Blue Jays ‘’79-’92). 

Red Ruffing came up with the Red Sox as a 19 year old in 1924. He was traded to the Yankees in a 1930 cash grab. He didn’t mature into a star until he was about 27. After that he was a reliably fine pitcher for the Yankees until he went to fight in World War II. He returned at the age of 40 in 1945 and posted a 2.89 ERA. He gave the Yankees eight starts the next year and put up a 1.77 ERA. This bought him nine starts for the White Sox at age 42 his 24^th year as a major leaguer (counting his years lost to the War). Ruffing initially threw mostly fastballs and some curves, but has been credited with inventing the slider. 

Early Wynn also first appeared in a major league game as a 19-year-old in 1939. His career touched four decades. I had his baseball card along with that of Pete Rose cut from the back of a Sugar Crisps cereal box. Wynn’s first outstanding year came much younger than Ruffing’s at age 23, but he didn’t become consistently good on a year-to-year basis until he reached age 30 in 1950. A season earlier, Wynn had been traded to Cleveland in a clever deal by owner Bill Veeck, who had acquired Washington owner Clark Griffith’s son-in-law and packaged him in a deal that also netted Vic Power. The Indians had Mel Harder around to teach Wynn a curve, slider, and knuckleball to compliment his fastball, and that year he led the league in ERA. 

Wynn led the league in innings in ’51. He won 23 games in ’52. In 1954 he led in wins, innings, and joined teammates Mike Garcia and Bob Lemon among the league’s top five ERAs. In 1959 at age 39, Wynn again led the league in wins (22-10) and innings (256), posting a 3.17 ERA (120 ERA+). He continued to keep his ERA in the mid-threes for another two years. At age 43, he was still around to pitch 55 innings of 2.28 ERA. He retired in 1963 on that pleasant note. 

Hey! Pete Rose’s first year was 1963, his last was 1986, which was Jamie Moyer’s first year. Jimmy Dykes last played in 1939 and started his Major league career in 1918. Bobby Wallace played, at least, a few games each year in the 19-teens, then his career stretched back as a regular to 1897. That happens to be Cap Anson’s last year.  Anson debuted for Rockford Forest Citys in the inaugural National Association season of 1871. So, in just six overlapping long careers–Anson to Wallace to Dykes to Wynn to Rose to Moyer—we cover the entire history of the top professional leagues in baseball. It will be interesting to see how far Mike Trout or Bryce Harper or someone else takes the seventh generation into the 21^st century. 

Warren Spahn was trained by his dad to throw fastballs and curves with pinpoint control while using a fluid big-kick wind-up. He reached the Boston Braves as a 21-year-old in 1941, but when he refused to throw a brushback pitch at Pee Wee Reese, his manager Casey Stengel told him "After your shower, pick up your railroad ticket to Hartford." (That story and many of the others here are found in the SABR Biographies linked in Baseball-Reference.) 

Spahn spent the next three years in military service. He fought at the Battle of the Bulge and helped secure the bridges at Remegen. Wounded in battle, Warren Spahn and Hoyt Wilhelm were the only major league players to receive the Purple Heart. Only Spahn received the Bronze Star for his bravery and valor. Spahn began his methodical march to the Hall of Fame immediately after the war. When he lost his fastball, he perfected the screwball (today some speculate it was actually a circle-change). Later Spahn developed a slider. His ability to adapt enabled him to have thirteen 20-win seasons. 

In the first three years of his 40s (’61-’63), Spahn averaged 21-11, 2.89 ERA, and 264 innings—leading the league in complete games each year. His age-41 season in 1962 produced the fourth highest WAR of any player in history as old. Spahn suddenly struggled during his last two seasons and retired at 44. Spahn’s struggles in his last year may have had something to do with having the hapless New York Mets behind him. Coincidently, his manager was Casey Stengel. 

There were a cluster of excellent pitchers born in the decade between November 1935 and October 1945. Gaylord Perry was a contemporary of Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. Koufax retired in his prime in 1966. Gibson retired in 1975 – he made it to age 39. Perry and Juan Marichal were co-aces of the ‘60s Giants. Marichal was only 11 months older, but far more dominant than Perry in their heyday. He retired the same year as Gibson—eight years before Perry. Fergie Jenkins is four years younger than Perry, but he retired the same year: 1983. 

See Phil Niekro from the first part of the previous article. Perry was about the same age as Niekro, who was the oldest regular starting pitcher ever until this year’s Jamie Moyer. Coincidently, both Perry and Niekro had brothers who also had impressive careers as starting pitchers (Jim Perry and Joe Niekro). Phil Niekro made a living off of his knuckleball. Gaylord Perry was feared for his spitball – illegal, though, it was. Coincidently, the two oldest regular relievers ever were a knuckleballer, Hoyt Wilhelm, and a spitballer, Jack Quinn. 

Five more excellent pitchers from the 1935-1945 cohorts had great careers and did last a long time, although Hall of Famer Steve Carlton wasn’t very effective in his 40s. At age 40, he had a good ERA, but was undone by his team going 1-8. He continued to pitch the next three years for any team that would take him – five different teams--without finishing the season with an ERA+ above 85 or an ERA under 5.10. Tom Seaver was born in 1944 – the same year as Carlton and McLain. He had a tremendous year at age 40 in 1985: 16-11, 239 innings, 3.17 ERA (136 ERA+), then after a merely decent year at 41, his playing days were over. Seaver’s second banana o, the Miracle ’69 Mets, Jerry Koosman, had long career and retired a year after he produced a 3.25 ERA in 224 innings. He was 42 his last year. Tommy John was born in 1943 and pitched just past his 46^th birthday (see Oldest Pitchers ever.) Jim Kaat’s story is coming up in the next article. 

See Nolan Ryan in the previous article – oldest ever.

Don Sutton took about five years to reach the Hall of Fame once he became eligible, despite posting 324 wins and 3,574 strikeouts in his career. He was a Cy Young candidate five years in a row from age 27 to 31, led the N.L. in ERA at age 35 and led the league in WHIP that year and the next. At age 37, Sutton was 17-9 with 250 innings and a 3.06 ERA in a season in which he was traded to Milwaukee at the trading deadline. He then became an average pitcher or slightly better for the next six years, pitching until age 43. 

Sutton’s career World Series record is 1-3. He never did win a Cy Young award and only won 20 games once. Old school baseball analysts in the BWAA held those missing high notes against Sutton’s rapid entry into the Hall of Fame. Sutton was best known for a knuckle curve and for "defacing and cutting the ball" (umpire Tom Gorman as told to Jerome Holtzman in Three and Two! as reported in Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers. The Guide also quotes Walter Alston – Sutton’s manager in his early years--"I don’t think too many pitchers have mastered as many pitches as he has.") 

Presumptive Hall of Famer Randy Johnson was 16-4 with a dominant 2.60 ERA in 246 innings at age 40 – the best season by any 40-something-year-old pitcher going back to Cy Young in 1908.  The next year, he slipped to 3.79 for 226 innings (17-8), which is still better than any season by a 41-year-old who hasn’t been accused of taking steroids or pitched in the 19^th century. 

Johnson certainly had a career arc that peaked far later than most pitchers. For a sure Hall of Famer, Johnson’s 1989 rookie season came relatively late at age 25. His first Cy Young consideration came during his age-29 season. His best season came at age 38: 24-5, 2.32 ERA in 2002 – a hitter’s year in a hitter’s park (197 ERA+), and he also pitched 260 innings – all league-leading stats as were his eight complete games and 334 strikeouts. All of that came after a dominant World Series performance the previous October. Johnson continued to pitch until he was 46. According to the Neyer/James Guide, during Johnson’s latter years, he simply worked with his 95-97 mph fastball, a slider, and a two seam 91-93 mph fastball. The two-seamer was his change-up and the slider was his two-strike pitch. 

Although, his pitching record is tainted with steroid accusations, Roger Clemens racked up the most impressive pitching records in modern times – and I would be shocked if he doesn’t make the Hall of Fame in my lifetime. In 2005, the year Clemens produced a league leading 1.87 ERA over 211 innings for the Astros and finished third in Cy Young voting, he had turned 43 in August. By then, Clemens had already won seven Cy Young awards – including one from the year before. Of course, that is the most awarded to any pitcher and he is also the oldest pitcher to be awarded the Cy. At the end of that season, Clemens retired. Just as he retired two years earlier, his retirement did not last, but 2005 was his last full season before he started pitching 2^nd halves of seasons. That continued for two years. Clemens had the same repertoire as Johnson’s only his fastballs were not quite as fast, his slider not quite as devastating. But Clemens had a split fingered fastball as his best trick pitch – and would occasionally throw a curve or change-up. (Thanks again, Neyer & James.) 

Greg Maddux, who is about four years younger than Big Unit and Roger Rocket, peaked earlier, but was still around league-average for 194 innings in his final season at 42. That was in 2008. Maddux threw a large assortment of pitches with incredible accuracy and won four Cy Young Awards in a row at the ages of 26-29. His best pitches were his two-seam fastball, a cut fastball, and a circle change.