Some guys are addicted to the game, and it just keeps calling them back. For most players, no matter how badly they want to keep playing, Father Time and Mother Nature eventually do this grand dance which signals the end of an athletic career. There are some special cases, however, where players have defied the limits of aging. The longest playing NBA players are Vince Carter and LeBron James, who have both played a remarkable 22 pro seasons.
In baseball, the longest tenured players in modern history have been pitchers. Not many, but there are a few who have pitched well into their late 40s.
Rich ‘Over The’ Hill Is Oldest Active Player In Baseball at 45
Add Rich Hill to that list. The Kansas City Royals plan to call up a 45-year-old pitcher from the minors for a start against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, marking the left-hander’s 21st season in the majors.
Hill has been hurling at Triple-A Omaha after joining the Royals in an offseason trade. He is 4-4 with a 5.36 ERA in nine starts at Omaha, which apparently was enough for Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro to confirm the club’s plans after Monday night’s 12-4 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
A start on Tuesday will make him the oldest active player in baseball. This will be the 14th team Hill has pitched for. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound lefty has 11 postseason starts during his four years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including two World Series starts in 2017 and another in 2018. He won a career-high 12 games in 2016 and 2017. Overall, the journeyman is 90-74 with a 4.01 ERA in 368 career MLB games. He has pitched 1,409 innings and has struck out 1,428 batters.
Hill is among the oldest active players of this century.
Other MLB Pitchers Have Played Into Late 40s
While 45 is a super seasoned age to be pitching, Hill is not the oldest pitcher in MLB history to make a start.
Leroy “Satchel” Paige is the oldest pitcher to take the mound in an MLB game. The Negro League legend pitched his last game for the Kansas City Athletics at 59 years old. Paige, who pitched at an All-Star level in the Majors in his 50s had an impressive record of 118-80, a 2.70 ERA, and 1,438 strikeouts. He is a 2x All-Star, a World Series champion (1948) and was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame and Cooperstown, in 1971 via the Negro League Committee.
Jamie Moyer is another left-handed pitcher who played forever. Moyer was never dominating, just a consistent innings eater with a high risk and reward. Moyer played his last game for the Colorado Rockies at 49 years old. He had a win-loss record of 269-209, an ERA of 4.25, and 2,441 strikeouts. He also surrendered an all-time high 522 dingers.
Philip Niekro was a right-handed pitcher who mastered the Knuckleball, which is low strain on the arm and allowed him to extend his career. He pitched in his last game for the Atlanta Braves at 48 years old, ending his Hall of Fame career with a record of 318-274, an ERA of 3.35, and 3,342 strikeouts.
