Left-handed pitchers stick around for a long time
Posted by Andy on August 13, 2011
Bruce Chen threw a nice game for the Royals last night, and it got me to wondering which lefties have been around the longest.
Here are left-handed pitchers marked as active who have pitched the most seasons in the majors:
| Rk | Yrs | From | To | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Rhodes | 20 | 1991 | 2011 | 21-41 | Ind. Seasons |
| 2 | Darren Oliver | 18 | 1993 | 2011 | 22-40 | Ind. Seasons |
| 3 | Dennys Reyes | 15 | 1997 | 2011 | 20-34 | Ind. Seasons |
| 4 | Ron Mahay | 14 | 1997 | 2010 | 26-39 | Ind. Seasons |
| 5 | Randy Wolf | 13 | 1999 | 2011 | 22-34 | Ind. Seasons |
| 6 | J.C. Romero | 13 | 1999 | 2011 | 23-35 | Ind. Seasons |
| 7 | Ted Lilly | 13 | 1999 | 2011 | 23-35 | Ind. Seasons |
| 8 | Doug Davis | 13 | 1999 | 2011 | 23-35 | Ind. Seasons |
| 9 | Bruce Chen | 13 | 1998 | 2011 | 21-34 | Ind. Seasons |
| 10 | Trever Miller | 13 | 1996 | 2011 | 23-38 | Ind. Seasons |
Rhodes and Oliver take the cake. While those two were teammates on the Rangers this year, I wonder where they ranked in terms of oldest pair of relievers on a team.
Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley were on the 1996 and 1997 Cardinals together. In the latter year they were 43 and 42, respectively. Any other old combos?
August 13th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Wakefield (42) and Smoltz (42) were on the 2009 Red Sox.
August 13th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
1987 Indians. Niekro (48) and Carlton (42). Who even knew either one of them pitched for the Indians?
August 13th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
In 1990, Eck had an ERA+ of 610. lol
August 13th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Jue Niekro and Steve Carlton were both 43 year olds with Minnesota in 1988. Joe Niekro started 2 games and relieved 3. Steve Carlton started 1 game and relieved 3. On April 23, in his last game, Carlton pitched 5 innings and Niekro the last 4. Niekro pitched his last game on April 29.
August 13th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Fitting stat to post on August 13th, which is also International Lefthanders' Day. Was it a coincidence or intentional?
August 13th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
In # 10 of your first list, Trevor Miller is in the middle of a record breaking season.
Does anyone know what he is on pace to accomplish?
PS
The record in question, is also being broken by a National Leaguer (Randy Choate), though Miller is doing it at a greater %.
Any guesses?
August 13th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
#5, coincidence, I had no idea.
August 13th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Duke, I presume it's what was mentioned in this thread:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/13128
August 13th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Well, this isn't an old combo, per se, but Hoyt Wilhelm pitched for the Dodgers in '71 and '72, his age 48 and 49 years. One of his teammates, less than half his age at the time, eventually pitched to age 46 - Charlie Hough.
Incidentally I saw one of Hough's last games in '94. He gave up two homers to Kevin Mitchell of the Reds, one of which probably crossed the Gulf of Mexico and landed somewhere in Galveston. To add to the indignity, Hough also bounced into a double-play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second.
August 13th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
2001-2002 Dodgers, Orosco (44-45) and Mulholland (38-39)?
August 13th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
@ Andy,
No, this is a semi-recent phenomenon, related to pitcher use, bullpen use and specialty pitching.
August 13th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
In the meantime, we've got Jesse Orosco. When he pitched with the Yankees for a bit in 2003, he was 46, and had for teammates 40-year old David Wells, 40-year old Roger Clemens, 37-year old Chris Hammond, and 36-year old Jeff Nelson. Then Orosco moved to the Twins for September, where he pitched with relative whippersnappers Mike Fetters, Kenny Rogers, and Rick Reed (all 38).
August 13th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
@Duke: Miller currently has 18 innings pitched in 43 appearances. Perhaps he has the most one batter appearances?
August 13th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
I mentioned in another post yesterday that I had read that today is International Lefthanders Day, although I posted it incorrectly as National Lefthanders Day. Since I am righthanded, this would not normally have meant much to might, but the word "lefthanders" always makes me think of baseball. When I saw this topic here today, I thought it may have been due to International Lefthanders Day, either because of my reminder or Andy finding it out from another source.
Jamie Moyer also may consider himself to still be active.
August 13th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Don Mossi was 36 when he pitched for the Athletics in 1965; but he was 22 years YOUNGER than Satchel Paige -- who also started a game for Charlie Finley that year.
Anybody beat a 94-year combo yet?
August 13th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
@15 I can't beat your 94-year combo, but I can come close. Eppa Rixey of the 1933 Reds turned 42 on May 3. His teammate, Jack Quinn, turned 50 on July 1 and was released on July 13. For a couple of weeks, Cincinnati had pitchers who were a combined 92 years old.
August 13th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
@Frank/15 - that will be a tough one. I've got Hough and Nolan Ryan on the Rangers at a combined 85, and the Orosco combos are at 86.
Charles, at #4 above, almost scored a 90, but was off by one year and one brother. PHIL Niekro (48) and Steve Carlton (42) were in the 1987 Indians rotation together.
The '33 Reds had Eppa Rixey (42) and Jack Quinn (49) for a 91; the year before that, Quinn was a Dodger with Dazzy Vance (41) for an 89.
August 13th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
The 2007 Mets had 48 year old Julio Franco, 41 year old Tom Glavine, 41 year old Orlando Hernandez, 41 year old Jeff Conine, and 41 year old Sandy Alomar. That's a lot of 41 year olds.
August 13th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Man, and I thought that Oliver was washed up in 2002 when he pitched for the Red Sox.
August 13th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Jeff Fassero had a quote relating to this: "If you're left-handed and you have a heartbeat, you can stick around forever."
August 13th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Duke, see post #12 here:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/13128
That's what I was referring to.
August 13th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
The oldest combo for two players from the same team in a game Charley O' Leary (58) and Grover Hartley (45) on Oct. 1, 1933.
August 13th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
@22
The O'Leary-Hartley game took place on 9/30/34. On 10/1/33 Nick Altrock (57) and Sam Rice (43) were teammates. For O'Leary, Hartley and Altrock it was a last game of the year shenanigan.
August 13th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
This is a somewhat the opposite...when Minnie Minoso played in two games for the White Sox in 1980, he was 54. The second oldest player to play for the White Sox that year was Wayne Nordhagen who was only 31. Meaning there was a 23 year gap between the oldest and second oldest player on the team!
The White Sox also used a 19 year old that year - Ricky Seilheimer. If he overlapped at all with Minnie, there would be a 35 year gap betweem teammates!
August 13th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
@20:
That's an awesome quote because it puts into words exactly what I thought about Fassero. He was a horrible, horrible pitcher and it was incredible that he lasted past age 40.
August 13th, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Jeez...I remember having Fassero on my fantasy team during some of his great Montreal seasons. His career did have a much longer tail than I remembered. I also didn't remember he was lefty. Depending on who you root for, I can definitely see why you thought he was horrible. He wasn't always!
August 13th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
One measure of the extremity of Choate's usage, even compared to the others on that prior list -- none of them averaged less than two batters faced per appearance. Choate is at 102 BF over 53 G, so he may become the first to "accomplish" this "feat".
August 13th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
You have Jamie Moyer who in 2008 at 45 pitched along side Tom Gordon (40) and 2007 at 44 pitched with Jose Mesa (41)
August 13th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
one more.. in 2007 David Wells (44) pitched with Greg Maddux (41) and Doug Brocail (40) before being traded to LAD where he pitched with Roberto Hernandez (42),
While, in 2007, the aforementioned Jose Mesa (41) stared win Cleveland with Kenny Rodgers (42) and Todd Jones (39) before old-grading by heading to Phils to toss with Moyer (44)
August 13th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
ron villone
.......sucked
August 14th, 2011 at 1:00 am
I was looking at that Nick Altrock game. It was the last game of the season, apparently, and the Senators had clinched the flag, so they let Altrock, one of their coaches, make an appearance. Interestingly, he was a pitcher by trade (and a lefty to boot) but he didn't take the mound, he pinch-hit. According to his game log he walked, and then was caught stealing... whoever can find the details, please post!
I found this link about him. Heck of a career. He pitched in the 19th century for Louisville, won a World Series with the Hitless Wonder Chisox in 1906, and was spry enough to hit a triple at age 48 for Washington in 1924.
August 14th, 2011 at 1:16 am
@31
Go to baseballlibrary.com, type in Nick Altrock in the search box, then click on Chronology and scroll to 10/1/33, then 10/6/29 and then 9/30/24. Those appearances were all end-of-season shenanigans.
August 14th, 2011 at 2:56 am
@32.
The 9/30/24 Altrock game might have been a shenanigan, but he did pitch 2 innings effectively (8 batters faced, 1 unearned run) and smacked the triple Nightfly mentioned @31.
So, it was more than just a ceremonial appearance.
August 14th, 2011 at 2:58 am
It seemed like Rheal Cormier would show up in a box score just when I started thinking, "Whatever happened to...?"
August 14th, 2011 at 3:08 am
40+ reliever tandems.
Besides Oliver and Rhodes, only other tandem with both guys left-handed and relieving in 80% of appearances was Rheal Cormier and Mike Stanton for the 2007 Reds.
Other reliever tandems, not limited to left-handers.
- 2010 NL Cincinnati Reds, Arthur Rhodes / Russ Springer
- 2009 AL Tampa Bay Rays, Brian Shouse / Russ Springer
- 1997 NL St. Louis Cardinals. Dennis Eckersley / Rick Honeycutt
- 1996 NL St. Louis Cardinals, Dennis Eckersley / Rick Honeycutt
- 1995 AL Oakland Athletics, Dennis Eckersley / Rick Honeycutt
- 1968 NL Pittsburgh Pirates, Roy Face / Bill Henry
- 1946 NL Brooklyn Dodgers, Curt Davis / Art Herring
- 1945 NL Cincinnati Reds, Guy Bush / Hod Lisenbee
- 1945 AL New York Yankees, Paul Schreiber / Jim Turner
- 1934 NL St. Louis Cardinals, Burleigh Grimes / Jesse Haines
Interesting that the '96 Cardinals would go out and acquire two 40-something pitchers in the same off-season.
August 14th, 2011 at 3:37 am
@32.
Richard, Thanks for the baseballlibrary.com link.
Their entry for the 1934 Altrock game notes that he became the oldest player (48) to hit a triple. However, the account also notes that the hit came with the bases empty in the 8th inning of a game Boston was leading 12-0, and that the Red Sox outfield didn't exactly hustle to get to the ball and get it back into the infield. Altrock would score the Senators only run of the game on a single by the following batter, Nemo Leibold (definitely a contender for the all-name team). Possibly, the Red Sox were also not bearing down too much when they hit against Altrock for the two innings he pitched.
August 14th, 2011 at 3:47 am
@36.
Make that Altrock's 1924 game, NOT 1934.
An indication of the tenor of this game may also be found in this stat. Despite featuring 14 runs and 25 hits, the game took only 75 minutes to play!
August 14th, 2011 at 3:58 am
@36 and old guys getting triples.
Omar Vizquel has a triple this year, becoming the 8th player (including Altrock) to triple in their age 44 season or later.
Julio Franco has 6 triples in that season or later, and Pete Rose has 4. Nobody else has more than one. Rickey Henderson is NOT on the list.
August 14th, 2011 at 6:29 am
In 1924, the Senators also brought in John Martina, a pitcher, during the game to play shortstop and Curly Ogden, a pitcher, pinch-hit for Martina. Altrock was placed on the World Series eligible list and was awarded a full WS share of the winnings, almost $6,000 for his morale leadership. Curly Ogden, a right hander, started the 7th game of the WS and faced 2 batters. Interesting story behind that one.
In 1933 Washington had clinched the pennant.
In the 1933 game, Washington was batting in the bottom of the 11th, trailing 3-0, two outs. Altrock was called in to pinch hit.
He rushed to the plate carrying eleven bats, called all the Philadelphia outfielders into the infield, and arranged the infielders around the pitcher's box. At that they didn't tag Altrock out. With Madjeski catching Walberg bare-handed, Nick finally bounced one to the Philadelphia pitcher but ran into the clubhouse with Walberg chasing him.
Washington started 6 of the regulars, but Goslin was the only one who played the entire game. The pitcher Prim held the Athletics scoreless for 10 innings, making his first career start. Walberg pitched a complete game SHO.
August 14th, 2011 at 6:38 am
Doug @35,
That was LaRussa bringing members of the A's over to the Cardinals with him. Former A's he brought over to St. Louis included Honeycutt, Eckersley, Mike Gallego, Mark McGwire, and Willie McGee (if you want to get very strict with the definition...)
How did you generate your list in #35?
August 14th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
The '34 Cardinals are a pretty interesting case: one of only two teams with three 40+ relievers*--Jesse Haines, Dazzy Vance and Burleigh Grimes. Three Hall of Fame starting pitchers, but all three pitched mainly in relief that year.
*The other is the '58 Yankees, but that's with counting Sal Maglie (four relief appearances, three starts) and Murry Dickson (four relief appearances, two starts) as relievers.
August 14th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
@41
Virgil Trucks was the other reliever with the 1958 Yankees.
August 14th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Bye guys. I'm off this for a week.
August 14th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
@40.
To generate the list @35, I ran this query,
- Season Finders, Player Pitching
- Select "Find Teams With Players Matching Criteria"
- Select desired age range
- Select Throws Right or Left or Any
- Select Pitcher's Role, Reliever or Starter
- Click Get Report