Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Major League Baseball full-career one-team players


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   keep. postdlf (talk) 17:20, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

List of Major League Baseball full-career one-team players

 * – ( View AfD View log  Stats )

Besides being poorly titled, this list doesnt seem all that notable. Why is 10 years the cut off on this? Seems arbitrary and this isnt a criteria that is usually important in baseball coverage outside of a few select individuals who played a really long time. The list article doesnt include any sources other than a link to the baseball reference home page. Spanneraol (talk) 00:07, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Baseball-related deletion discussions. Spanneraol (talk) 00:08, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Sportspeople-related deletion discussions. NorthAmerica1000 00:34, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Lists of people-related deletion discussions. NorthAmerica1000 00:34, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. NorthAmerica1000 03:09, 8 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, if it's kept, the title will have to be improved. I get the reason for creating this page, as in the era of free agency it's far less likely for a player to complete their career with one team. But, the pre- vs. post-free agency divide means that the cases of Jeter and Ripken aren't the same as the older ones, which throws some doubt on this page. Also, the 10 year cutoff is arbitrary. I know sportswriters have written on this subject, so if sources are produced, this could be worth keeping and fixing. Otherwise, I'd vote against keeping. – Muboshgu (talk) 15:39, 8 December 2014 (UTC)


 * I was inspired to start this article because with Derek Jeter's recent retirement after a full career with the New York Yankees (not that I'm a Yankees fan, in fact I'm a Red Sox fan), I got to thinking it would be interesting to find out just how many players have devoted a full Major League career exclusively to one club.

So I went to work and put in a lot of research, mainly through Baseball Reference and with backup from Wikipedia articles on the individual players. And once the list was completed I wanted to share this information with any other parties that would find it of interest (surely there are millions of baseball followers out there), and I figured what better way to do that than to post it on Wikipedia! And by the way, when I didn't have time to put it into the chart format right away, someone else was kind enough to do that for me. My thanks to whoever that is.

Now I admit this is not a topic easily found on the web, or in print, or anywhere else, but think of it this way. This is a feat that not even one player in a hundred throughout all of MLB history has ever accomplished. Fewer players have spent an entire career exclusively with one club (at least long-term) than have, say, hit for the cycle or pitched a no-hitter. This is a feat that not only takes enormous talent and skill for the game, but also a tremendous amount of loyalty and dedication! If someone like Derek Jeter or Carl Yastrzemski was to tell you how proud they were to spend 20 years and more with their respective clubs, are you going to look them in the face and say to them, "That's not notable?" If a list of MLB mascots is considered notable, why not this?

As for the ten-year cutoff, basically I wanted to keep the list within reasonable length. Also, spending an entire career with a single team doesn't mean much if your career was only a few games, or one season, or even three seasons. You have to draw the line somewhere, but If you think ten years is too high a cutoff, or as you say, arbitrary, I'm flexible enough to discuss the matter. Five years might be OK.

As for the way I've titled the article, if it seems a bit awkward, well, I figured it should start with "List of Major League Baseball..." because that is how most of the MLB player lists are titled, and I thought it might be more easily found this way. But again, if anybody can figure out a better title that still conveys the subject matter clearly, I'm very willing to welcome any suggestions they may have.

I do hope everyone involved in this discussion will reconsider. If you do decide to delete the page, I still have the original document I composed on my PC that I used as the basis, and perhaps I'll send a copy of it along to Baseball Reference. I'm sure they would take an interest in this subject.71.174.177.250 (talk) 16:50, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Nobody has decided anything. I certainly haven't decided to vote one way or another. I appreciate the thought and work behind this. For now, I'll point you to LISTN, Wikipedia's policy on notability for stand-alone lists. It says essentially that the grouping has to be discussed in reliable sources. I think this might fit the criteria, but I'm unsure. I did a brief search and found this Sporting News article (although it looks a little click bait-y to me) which says Jeter is "one of 37 players to appear in 2,000 or more games in a career spent entirely with one team". Maybe 2,000 games played is a cut off criteria. I don't know. I do know that this subject needs more research before this AfD closes one way or the other. – Muboshgu (talk) 17:42, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.
 * Keep Worthwhile article. Alex (talk) 20:53, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Natg 19 (talk) 01:14, 16 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep, but change the clunky title to List of Major League Baseball players who played for only one team. The accomplishment has been noted by mlb.com, baseball-reference.com (for active players anyway), bleacherreport.com (50 greatest), and sort of by espn.go.com. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:15, 16 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep. As  notes, this is an accomplishment that receives substantial coverage in reliable sources. --Arxiloxos (talk) 16:37, 16 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep This topic is getting coverage, and overall seems to me to be encyclopedic. I wouldn't oppose changing the title or discussing the cutoffs, but overall it's a keep.Chuy1530 (talk) 19:44, 16 December 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.