Oldest Pitcher in an All Star Game
Posted by Raphy on July 5, 2009
It was announced today, that Red Sox veteran Tim Wakefield would be included among the players participating in the All Star Game on July 14. Wakefield, who has never pitched in an All Star Game, will be 18 days shy of his 43rd birthday for the grandiose exhibition game. This would make him the second oldest pitcher in All Star Game history. Here are the oldest pitchers to date :
Cnt AgeY.D Date Tm Lg GmReslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP ERA +----+------+-----------------+-------------+---+--+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+ 1 47.007 Satchel Paige 1953-07-14 SLB AL L 1-5 8-8f 1 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18.00 2 42.342 Roger Clemens 2005-07-12 HOU NL L 5-7 5-5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 3 42.161 Nolan Ryan 1989-07-11 TEX AL W 5-3 2-3 ,W 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 4 41.344 Roger Clemens 2004-07-13 HOU NL L 4-9 GS-1 ,L 1 5 6 3 0 2 2 27 9 9 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27.00 5 41.243 Kenny Rogers 2006-07-11 DET AL W 3-2 GS-2 2 3 1 1 0 1 1 47 8 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.50 6 40.345 Roger Clemens 2003-07-15 NYY AL W 7-6 3-3 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 7 40.307 Randy Johnson 2004-07-13 ARI NL L 4-9 3-3 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 8 40.305 Gaylord Perry 1979-07-17 SDP NL W 7-6 6-6 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 9 40.244 Kenny Rogers 2005-07-12 TEX AL W 7-5 7-7 1 3 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 18.00 10 40.239 Jamie Moyer 2003-07-15 SEA AL W 7-6 4-4 ,H 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 11 40.189 Early Wynn 1960-07-13 CHW AL L 0-6 4-5 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 12 40.079 Warren Spahn 1961-07-11 MLN NL W 5-4 GS-3 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 62 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 13 40.058 Dennis Martinez 1995-07-11 CLE AL L 2-3 5-6 ,H 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.50 14 40.056 Rick Reuschel 1989-07-11 SFG NL L 3-5 GS-1 1 3 2 2 0 0 2 39 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18.00
July 5th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
There are no splits on Paige's 53 season, but did he have an amazing first half then collapse? or was this a "token" appearance?
Don't take the token there for me suggesting that he didn't deserve it for his career, I understand that, but there's seemingly no reason he should have made an all star game that season.
Also, in 52, am I missing some reason he finished 17th with 12 MVP votes?
July 6th, 2009 at 10:07 am
The MVP vote in '52 doesn't look that odd to me. He led the league in games finished, was 2nd in saves, and picked up 22 decisions in just 138 IP. He was no doubt pitching some high leverage relief innings, and pitched them well (albeit for a poor team). His numbers aren't _that_ inferior to those of Jim Konstanty in 1950, who won the MVP. Keep in mind that there were only 8 teams in the league, but still 10 ballot spots. I think almost every season back then you'll find some down-ballot votes which look a little perplexing -- middle infielders with .600 OPS or something.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:24 am
[...] Game at the ripe old age of 42. As you might have heard, if he gets into the game, he’ll be the 12th pitcher and 30th player ever to play in a Midsummer Classic after his 40th [...]
July 15th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Of those players listed, only Satchel Paige and Jamie Moyer were named to their first All-Star game in after their 40th birthday. Paige was a special case, since he was not admitted to the Majors until he was in his 40's. Moyer was just a workhorse pitcher who wasn't consistently good until his mid-30's. Interestingly, he finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting twice (1999 & 2001, at ages 36 & 38) before being named to an All-Star team.
Most of the rest of these guys - Hall of Famers and likely HoF'ers - had been first named to an All-Star team back in their 20's (Clemens, Ryan, Johnson, Perry, Spahn, and non-HoF'er Reuschel). Of the other three, Wynn (HoF'er) and Martinez (non-HoF'er) were first named to an All-Star team in their mid-30's. Curiously, Early Wynn finished in the top 25 in MVP voting five times (in the top 6 twice) before being named to his first All-Star squad. Maybe his Wins didn't come so Early in those seasons. That leaves just Kenny Rogers, who was named to his first All-Star team in 1995 at age 30, but then not again until age 39. (I wonder if that's a record for the longest stretch between All-Star nominations - I suspect not.)