Talk:List of Major League Baseball players who played in four decades

Elmer Valo
There should be a footnote and/or cross-reference to the Elmer Valo article. Officially his debut was in 1940, but there is some speculation that he made a 1939 appearance that slipped through the statistical cracks.

An alternate, widely-accepred definition of "decade" reconginzes a zero-year as the ending rather than the starting point: i.e., the "sixties" were 1961-70 and not 1960-69. Valo (1940-61) qualifies under this viewpoint, as do a few others. Also, the players who retired in a "zero" year drop off the alternate list.

Of course, you can argue that 1963-1972 (for example) quite reasonably constitutes a decade, so that if you play fast and loose with the boundaries, anybody who plays slightly more than 20 years automatically touches four decades. WHPratt (talk) 14:03, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

Zero Year Fallacy

 * The widely-accepred (sic) zero year fallacy regularly pops up as a topic of heated debate whenever a century changes. Logic dictates that the zero year concludes the group of ten, rather than commences that group. Otherwise why do most people commence counting to ten with 1? If the widely-accepred (sic) method of counting is correct, then the entire population of earth has the wrong understanding of how to count to ten. Because the common calendar starts with year 1, its first full decade is the years 1 to 10, the second decade from 11 to 20, and so on.[5] So although the "1960s" comprises the years 1960 to 1969, the "197th decade" spans 1961 to 1970. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decade) Note the following;

--Nick Altrock-- -- played in five decades (to date -- the only man to do so)

--Mickey Vernon-- -- played for 22 years across parts of three decades (the 30s, 40s, and 50s). He finished his career in 1960 -- the last year of the 50th decade of the 20th Century

--Ted Williams-- -- played for 22 years across parts of three decades (the 30s, 40s, and 50s). He finished his career in 1960 -- the last year of the 50th decade of the 20th Century

--Minnie Miñoso-- -- is touted as having played in five decades, but his career spanned 32 years across four decades (40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s)

--Tim McCarver-- -- played for 22 years across parts of three decades (the 50s, 60s, and 70s). He finished his career in 1980 -- the last year of the 70th decade of the 20th Century

--Willie McCovey-- -- played for 22 years across parts of three decades (the 50s, 60s, and 70s). He finished his career in 1980 -- the last year of the 70th decade of the 20th Century

--Bill Buckner-- -- played for 22 years across parts of three decades (the 60s, 70s, and 80s). He finished his career in 1990 -- the last year of the 80th decade of the 20th Century

--Jerry Reuss-- -- played for 22 years across parts of three decades (the 60s, 70s, and 80s). He finished his career in 1990 -- the last year of the 80th decade of the 20th Century

--Ken Griffey, Jr.-- -- played for 22 years across parts of three decades (the 80s, 90s, and 00s). He finished his career in 2010 -- the last year of the first decade of the 21st Century

This is baseball. Getting the stats correct is part of the game. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 110.74.195.250 (talk) 00:33, 3 March 2015 (UTC)


 * We're talking popular usage here. Most people would say that a year in "the forties" ought to have a "forty" somewhere in its name, and wouldn't accept the idea that 1950 (nineteen-fifty) was part of "the forties." You can find fault with that logically, but few will listen. None of these guys were playing in A.D. 1, so nobody cares if the "first decade" is a bit short. I'd say that all the fussing about Y2K probably cements the popular view: The rollover from 1999 to 2000 had all the excitement; the transition from 2000 to 2001 was anti-climactic. WHPratt (talk) 06:46, 12 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Noone here is organizing decades by ordinate starting at xxx1. You can make a decade out of ANY consecutive 10-year period. As long as the decades are defined, as they are in this article, then there's no need to look beyond it. Just because the 1900s aren't one and the same as the 20th century doesn't prevent that century from being defined as what it is - the 1900s. The same goes for decades. AJC3fromS2K (talk) 02:09, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

The list below might be more useful if it included the player's age, projected to (say) April 2030. WHPratt (talk) 02:49, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

Four-decade watch (2030s)

 * 1) Albert Pujols (2001): Retired 2022
 * 2) Oliver Perez (2002): Announced retirement Feb 2022, official as of Feb 2023 according to mlb.com
 * 3) Miguel Cabrera (2003): Retired 2023
 * 4) Zack Greinke (2004): Finished 2023 with Royals, "intends to pitch in 2024", free agent
 * 5) Yadier Molina (2004): Retired 2022
 * 6) Robinson Canó (2005): Free agent playing in Mexico in 2024
 * 7) Justin Verlander (2005): Under contract with Houston through 2025
 * 8) Nelson Cruz (2005): Retired 2023
 * 9) Rich Hill (2005): Finished 2023 with Padres, "plans to pitch in 2024"
 * 10) Adam Wainwright (2005): Retired 2023
 * 11) Aníbal Sanchez (2006): Retired May 2023
 * 12) Tyler Clippard (2007): Retired Sep 2023
 * 13) Ross Detwiler (2007): DFA by Reds in 2022, didn't appear in 2023, free agent
 * 14) Ian Kennedy (2007): Retired 2023
 * 15) Joe Smith (2007): Retired 2023
 * 16) Kurt Suzuki (2007): Retired 2022
 * 17) Justin Upton (2007): DFA by Mariners in 2022, didn't appear in 2023, free agent
 * 18) Joey Votto (2007): Finished 2023 with Reds, "not retired quite yet", free agent
 * 19) Jesse Chavez (2008): Signed with Braves for 2024
 * 20) Johnny Cueto (2008): Club option declined by Marlins, "plans to pitch in 2024"
 * 21) Alcides Escobar (2008): DFA by Nationals in 2022, playing in Mexico
 * 22) Tommy Hunter (2008): Retired 2023
 * 23) Clayton Kershaw (2008): Signed with Dodgers for 2024
 * 24) Evan Longoria (2008): Finished 2023 with Diamondbacks, free agent
 * 25) Jed Lowrie (2008): Retired 2023
 * 26) Charlie Morton (2008): Under contract with Braves for 2024
 * 27) Darren O'Day (2008): Retired 2023
 * 28) David Price (2008): Retired 2022
 * 29) David Robertson (2008): Signed with Rangers for 2024
 * 30) Sergio Romo (2008): Retired 2023
 * 31) Max Scherzer (2008): Under contract with Rangers through 2024
 * 32) Elvis Andrus (2009): Signed minor league deal with Diamondbacks for 2024
 * 33) Daniel Bard (2009): Under contract with Rockies through 2024
 * 34) Michael Brantley (2009): Retired 2024
 * 35) Madison Bumgarner (2009): DFA by Diamondbacks in 2023, "contemplating a potential return"
 * 36) Carlos Carrasco (2009): Signed minor league deal with Guardians for 2024
 * 37) Jhoulys Chacin (2009): DFA by Rockies in 2022, didn't appear in 2023, free agent, playing in Venezuela
 * 38) Daniel Hudson (2009): Under contract with Dodgers through 2024
 * 39) Andrew McCutchen (2009): Re-signed with Pirates for 2024
 * 40) Mark Melancon (2009): 2024 option declined by Diamondbacks, free agent
 * 41) Craig Stammen (2009): Retired 2023
 * 42) Justin Turner (2009): Signed with Blue Jays for 2024

Chi Sigma (talk) 02:00, 18 November 2022 (UTC)