Rave: Professional Athletes Pushing 50 Years Old.

 Tom Brady is now in his age-44 NFL season and has said that he’d like to play until the age of 50.  I would not bet against him especially given today’s rules and style of play.  It’s easier now for quarterbacks to last with all the protections against late hits and the short passing West Coast offense that is now predominant throughout the league.  Nevertheless, I salute Brady for his longevity, and he has long surpassed Joe Montana as the GOAT.  To my knowledge, there is only one player in any of the 4 major sports that managed to stay on a team’s roster over the long haul up until age 50. 

Satchel Paige was still an effective relief pitcher when he retired at age 46.  He did make a cameo at age 58 and incredibly hurled 3 scoreless innings.  Minnie Minoso came up to bat 8 times as a publicity stunt at age 54 and managed 1 soft single.  I do believe that some of the all-time greats could have at least held their own over scattered appearances up until age 50.  However, when taking on the grind of an entire season, their bodies could not hold up.

Let’s take a look at the ones who came the closest to doing it:

George Blanda was a placekicker for the Oakland Raiders until his age 48 season and was also the 3^rd string quarterback.  A look at his stats revealed that he threw only 3 passes in his last season and had only been used sparingly as QB for the last several years.  He did see fairly significant action in his age 43 and 44 seasons.  His numbers were not bad for the era.  He completed over 50 percent of his passes and had as many touchdowns as interceptions.  Good enough to be a starter past 45?  Doubtful. 

Julio Franco was a solid platoon player through his mid-late 40s.  He hit .275 with an .800 OPS at the age of 46.  The latter was slightly better than the league average albeit in a part-time role.  He managed to last 2 more seasons but never again approached that level of production.  He did hit a home run at age 48, which is pretty impressive.  Rumor has it that he may actually have been older than his listed age because that was common among Latin players at the time.  They claimed to be 16 to give the appearance of being a better prospect but were actually 18.  If Franco was 2 years older than his claim, he made it to 50.    

Jamie Moyer could never be considered an all-time great starting pitcher, but he did last until his age 49 season and was actually effective until age 47-48.  Even in his last season, he managed a 2-5 record with an ERA of 5.70.  That’s well below league average but not terrible for Colorado and its thin air.  I was rooting for him to last 1 more season.  I do believe that he could have been a serviceable change of pace relief pitcher.  He had a great changeup and did well especially against young hitters who struggled against off speed stuff.  Unfortunately, because of the 3-batter minimum, specialist relief pitchers are becoming a dying breed.  I do believe Nolan Ryan could have remained effective if his workload was limited to 60-80 innings per year.  Then again, if you’ve had a Hall of Fame career, do you really want to go out like that?  More on that subject later.

The one player that made and stayed on a roster was hockey’s Gordie Howe at the age of 51.  Howe did play hockey as a professional throughout much of his 40s but most of that time was spent in a minor/independent league with his 2 sons.  This was before I was born, so I never got to see him play but according to the stat sheets, he was no pushover.  He appeared in all 80 games and scored 15 goals with 26 assists.  Not bad.  Could this have been done after playing in the NHL for several years prior to this season?  Not so sure.    

 

Of course, everyone wants to be like John Elway and go out on top with a Super Bowl, but those cases are extremely rare.  Most all-time great players who go on much beyond age 40 are below average at the end of their careers.  The most recent exception that I can think of is David Ortiz, who led the league in OPS at age 40.  He wisely went out like that.  I recall Charles Barkley saying something to this effect after signing with a new team late in his career: “I don’t think I am a great player anymore, but I do believe that I am a very good player who can help this team win some games.”  That’s how I would want to go out. 

IMO, Rickey Henderson is an example of what not to do.  He played until age 44 but did not bat above .250 after his age 40 season.  He still drew quite a few walks and remained a threat to steal.  Because of this, he was still a serviceable 4^th outfielder until the end.  Still, if it were me, once I am no longer an above-average starter, I would rather retire than hang on as a shadow of my former self.  I might play one more year beyond that but only if I am on the cusp of a major milestone.   To his credit, Albert Pujols has been decent since being signed by the Dodgers but was below average the last 3 years.  Miguel Cabrera will probably fall just short of 3,000 hits this season.  I hope he plays one more year then retires even though he has another 2 years on his contract.