OPS+ of 150 in 35-year-old season
Chipper Jones and Jorge Posada just completed excellent seasons, both being 35 years old.
Here are all seasons since 1901 for 35-year-olds with OPS+ of 150 or better, minimum 500 PA:
Cnt Player **OPS+** PA Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +—-+—————–+——–+—+—-+—+—+–+—+—+—+—+–+–+–+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+–+—–+—–+—–+—–+———+ 1 Babe Ruth 211 676 1930 35 NYY AL 145 518 150 186 28 9 49 153 136 0 61 1 21 0 0 10 10 .359 .493 .732 1.225 *97/1 2 Ted Williams 201 526 1954 35 BOS AL 117 386 93 133 23 1 29 89 136 0 32 1 0 3 10 0 0 .345 .513 .635 1.148 *7 3 Nap Lajoie 199 677 1910 35 CLE AL 159 591 94 227 51 7 4 76 60 0 0 5 21 0 0 26 0 .384 .445 .514 .959 *43 4 Barry Bonds 188 607 2000 35 SFG NL 143 480 129 147 28 4 49 106 117 22 77 3 0 7 6 11 3 .306 .440 .688 1.128 *7 5 Tris Speaker 182 693 1923 35 CLE AL 150 574 133 218 59 11 17 130 93 0 15 4 22 0 0 8 9 .380 .469 .610 1.079 *8 6 Mark McGwire 177 661 1999 35 STL NL 153 521 118 145 21 1 65 147 133 21 141 2 0 5 12 0 0 .278 .424 .697 1.121 *3 7 Hank Aaron 177 639 1969 35 ATL NL 147 547 100 164 30 3 44 97 87 19 47 2 0 3 14 9 10 .300 .396 .607 1.003 *9/3 8 Honus Wagner 176 591 1909 35 PIT NL 137 495 92 168 39 10 5 100 66 0 0 3 27 0 0 35 0 .339 .420 .489 .909 *6/7 9 Ty Cobb 170 612 1922 35 DET AL 137 526 99 211 42 16 4 99 55 0 24 4 27 0 0 9 13 .401 .462 .565 1.027 *8/9 10 Chipper Jones 166 600 2007 35 ATL NL 134 513 108 173 42 4 29 102 82 10 75 0 0 5 21 5 1 .337 .425 .604 1.029 *5/D6 11 Hank Greenberg 163 604 1946 35 DET AL 142 523 91 145 29 5 44 127 80 0 88 0 1 0 17 5 1 .277 .373 .604 .977 *3 12 Lefty O’Doul 163 657 1932 35 BRO NL 148 595 120 219 32 8 21 90 50 0 20 7 5 0 0 11 0 .368 .423 .555 .978 *7 13 Jack Fournier 161 649 1925 35 BRO NL 145 545 99 191 21 16 22 130 86 0 39 8 10 0 0 4 6 .350 .446 .569 1.015 *3 14 Edgar Martinez 158 672 1998 35 SEA AL 154 556 86 179 46 1 29 102 106 4 96 3 0 7 13 1 1 .322 .429 .565 .994 *D/3 15 Dwight Evans 156 657 1987 35 BOS AL 154 541 109 165 37 2 34 123 106 6 98 3 0 7 10 4 6 .305 .417 .569 .986 *3*9/D 16 Johnny Mize 156 658 1948 35 NYG NL 152 560 110 162 26 4 40 125 94 0 37 4 0 0 7 4 0 .289 .395 .564 .959 *3 17 Jim Thome 155 610 2006 35 CHW AL 143 490 108 141 26 0 42 109 107 12 147 6 0 7 4 0 0 .288 .416 .598 1.014 *D/3 18 Jorge Posada 154 589 2007 35 NYY AL 144 506 91 171 42 1 20 90 74 7 98 6 0 3 18 2 0 .338 .426 .543 .969 *2/D3 19 Frank Robinson 153 545 1971 35 BAL AL 133 455 82 128 16 2 28 99 72 11 62 9 1 8 21 3 0 .281 .384 .510 .894 *93/7 20 Joe DiMaggio 151 606 1950 35 NYY AL 139 525 114 158 33 10 32 122 80 0 33 1 0 0 14 0 0 .301 .394 .585 .979 *8/3 21 Tommy Henrich 151 673 1948 35 NYY AL 146 588 138 181 42 14 25 100 76 0 42 4 5 0 14 2 3 .308 .391 .554 .945 *93/78 22 Larry Walker 150 553 2002 35 COL NL 136 477 95 161 40 4 26 104 65 6 73 7 0 4 8 6 5 .338 .421 .602 1.023 *9/D 23 Al Oliver 150 687 1982 35 MON NL 160 617 90 204 43 2 22 109 61 15 59 4 1 4 11 5 2 .331 .392 .514 .906 *3 24 Mickey Mantle 150 553 1967 35 NYY AL 144 440 63 108 17 0 22 55 107 7 113 1 0 5 9 1 1 .245 .391 .434 .825 *3
Chipper is 10th all time and Posada is 18th. Here’s the interesting thing I noticed: if you check out the positions, 15 out of the 24 played at least a game at first base. However, Chipper is the only guy to play even a single game at third base, and Jorge is the only guy to play even a single game at catcher.
And The Babe is the only guy on the list to play a single game at pitcher. A complete game win in which (I just saw) he had 4 assists and 2 double plays. That’s a game I would have loved to have seen.
Comment by kingturtle — November 30, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
Wow, they’re all first basemen and outfielders except this year’s two exceptions and Nap Lajoie.
Comment by David in Toledo — December 1, 2007 @ 8:27 pm