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Orosco leads revival of baseball's forty-somethings

Jesse Orosco was a teammate of Ed Kranepool, who was once a teammate of Gil Hodges, who once played with Paul Waner. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

By Lonny Krasnow, SI.com

Now that Tim Raines has retired, you can count the number of active major leaguers born during the Eisenhower administration on one hand: Jesse Orosco, Rickey Henderson, Mike Morgan and the two Francos -- John and Julio.

Of the five, only Orosco and Julio Franco likely are assured spots on opening-day rosters.

Orosco, 45, continues to be effective against left-handed hitters. So effective, in fact, that he was the first free agent signed during the offseason. The cost-conscious San Diego Padres couldn't wait to give Orosco a guaranteed one-year, $800,000 contract with a no-trade clause.

Julio Franco, 44, still can get wood on an aspirin. The Atlanta Braves will use his bat off the bench and spot-start him at first base.

Henderson, 44, the all-time leader in stolen bases, runs and walks refuses to retire. He wants to end his career where it started, in Oakland. The A's are not cooperating.

Morgan, 43, who gave up Carl Yastrzemski's 400th home run in 1979, is likely done, although he has yet to announce his retirement after 22 seasons. If you ever want to look him up, he appears in the dictionary under "journeyman."

Still Going Strong Players 40 or older on Opening Day Player, Team    D.O.B.     Age   Jesse Orosco San Diego Padres 4/21/57 45 Julio Franco Atlanta Braves 8/23/58 44 Rickey Henderson Free Agent 12/25/58 44 Mike Morgan Free Agent 10/8/59 43 John Franco New York Mets 9/17/60 42 Andres Galarraga San Francisco Giants 6/18/61 41 Dan Plesac Philadelphia Phillies 2/4/62 41 Roger Clemens New York Yankees 8/4/62 40 Dennis Cook Free Agent 10/4/62 40 Jamie Moyer Seattle Mariners 11/18/62 40 Chuck Finley Free Agent 11/26/62 40 Edgar Martinez Seattle Mariners 1/2/63 40 David Cone New York Mets 1/2/63 40 Jeff Fassero Chicago Cubs 1/5/63 40 Norm Charlton Seattle Mariners 1/6/63 40 Rich Rodriguez Anaheim Angels 3/1/63 40 Terry Mulholland Cleveland Indians 3/9/63 40 Shawon Dunston Free Agent 3/21/63 40

John Franco, 42, did not pitch last season after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery. The New York Mets expect their captain back around the All-Star break.

Only three other active players were 40 last season: Andres Galarraga, Dan Plesac and Roger Clemens.

The San Francisco Giants offered Galarraga a non-guaranteed minor league contract last month and welcome his leadership and big stick off the bench.

The Philadelphia Phillies will pay Plesac $2 million plus incentives to work out of late-inning jams. Plesac's appearances have exceeded his innings in each of the past seven seasons.

Clemens, who re-signed with the New York Yankees for a measly $10.1 million, enters what is likely his final season seven wins shy of 300 wins.

The rest of the forty-somethings celebrated -- or will celebrate -- their 40th birthdays during the offseason. The group includes four lefty relievers, three Seattle Mariners and three free agents (see chart).

And then there's David Cone, who is attempting a comeback with the New York Mets. Who knows who else will come out of the woodwork during spring training? I hear Jim Palmer is working on a knuckleball.

Of the 18 players 40 or older still active, maybe 15 will appear on an opening-day roster. That would represent 2 percent of the player population. Not a bad showing compared to the NBA, NFL and NHL, where only a handful of players play into their 40s.

Now back to Orosco, who shows no signs of slowing entering his 24th major league season. A career reliever, Orosco has an 85-78 record and 142 saves -- and on an October night in 1986 struck out Boston's Marty Barrett to win a World Series title for the Mets.

Orosco has taken on a more specialized role during the latter half of his career. Since 1987, six teams have acquired him primarily to pitch to left-handed batters. The role has enabled Orosco to pitch in a record 1,187 games.

When Orosco turns 46 on April 21, he will join Charlie Hough, Tommy John and Phil Niekro as the only players since 1980 (when Minnie Minoso came out of retirement at age 57) to play in the majors after turning 46.

Other ancient facts about Uncle Jesse:

• Eighteen new ballparks were built during the Orosco Era.

• Orosco is one of 26 major leaguers to have played in at least four decades.

• Orosco is the majors' oldest relief pitcher since Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm pitched for the Dodgers in 1972 at age 48.

• Orosco has held the title of oldest player in the majors since Danny Darwin, Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor retired after the 1998 season.

• Orosco has faced 12 of the top 27 career home-run hitters during his career. Although those 12 have combined for nearly 6,000 homers, Orosco has held them to a .224 batting average with only five homers.

Young at Heart
Jesse Orosco is set to become the 19th player in major league history to continue playing after his 46th birthday. Following are the oldest players to appear in the majors with age at retirement and statistics for final season:
Player	Age	Year	Games	Statistics
Satchel Paige	59	1965	1	0-0, 0.00 ERA
Minnie Minoso	57	1980	2	.000 (0-for-2)
Nick Altrock	56	1933	1	(0-for-1).000
Charley O'Leary	51	1934	1	1.000 (1-for-1)
Jack Quinn	50	1933	14	0-1, 4.02 ERA
Jimmy Austin	49	1929	1	.000 (0-for-1)
Hoyt Wilhelm	49	1972	16	0-1, 4.62 ERA
Hughie Jennings	49	1909	1	.000 (0-for-1)
Arlie Latham	49	1909	4	.000 (0-for-2)
Gabby Street	48	1931	1	.000 (0-for-1)
Phil Niekro	48	1987	26	7-13, 6.30 ERA
Kaiser Wilhelm	47	1921	4	0-0, 3.38 ERA
Hod Lisenbee	46	1945	31	1-3, 5.51 ERA
Nolan Ryan	46	1993	13	5-5, 4.88 ERA
Tommy John	46	1989	10	2-7, 5.80 ERA
Dan Brouthers	46	1904	2	.000 (0-for-5)
Sam Thompson	46	1906	8	.226 (7-for-31), 3 RBIs
Charlie Hough	46	1994	21	5-9, 5.15 ERA