The 2009 Red Sox only had four players remaining from the 2004 championship only five years earlier (Youkilis, Ortiz, Varitek, Wakefield). Sixs years later it's possible it will be one (Youkilis).
The 2009 Angels only have two players remaining from the 2002 championship team seven years later (Lackey, Figgins).
How many years did Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey play together? Something like ten?
* Impossible is just a high degree of difficulty *
Posts: 4664 | Location: Mid-Atlantic | Registered: October 29, 2007
It's not limited to whether the players are still with a particular team. Try watching a game on ESPNClassic sometime, a game from not too many years ago. You'll see all sorts of players you realize you knew but haven't seen in quite a while.
I think the saying is, it's hard to get to MLB, and even harder to stay there. There really aren't that many players who stick for more than, say, 5 years.
Posts: 3420 | Location: Virginia | Registered: February 01, 2006
I think the saying is, it's hard to get to MLB, and even harder to stay there. There really aren't that many players who stick for more than, say, 5 years.
You are 100% right! This is where the reality of baseball being a business hits home. You may be good enough to keep around at $25K per year but when you run out of options and start costing teams $550K per year you are quickly let go. There are a lot of players that come up, and bounce back and forth for a year or two and you don't even know their names, because they were not around long enough.
Posts: 1581 | Location: SoCal | Registered: July 24, 2007
I haven't actually looked to run the numbers, but if you figure 30 teams with 25 roster spots at any given time, you probably have 200-250 slots taken by long term MLB guys, and the other 500-550 slots are revolving doors.
Posts: 3420 | Location: Virginia | Registered: February 01, 2006
