MLB History: Best careers after age of 35

Note: This piece is updated as of the 2023 MLB season

Of the major professional North American sports leagues, baseball offers players the best ability to play and succeed at increasing ages. It’s easy to recognize that the NFL and NBA are ‘young man’ leagues. The elder statesmen of the MLB stick around because of their unique ability to pitch or hit at the highest levels of competition. Sure, with age comes a slight loss of speed and athleticism, but that doesn’t stop baseball players from retiring batters on the mound or smacking baseballs all around the diamond.

In fact, several players throughout MLB history are renowned for playing well past their prime in terms of age, some even remaining in the MLB well into their 40s and 50s. The best example features Leroy “Satchel” Paige, the legendary Hall of Famer and American Negro League star. He’s known as the oldest rookie in MLB history at 42-years-old and played until age 59. Unfortunately, this list is centered only on MLB performance. Paige only spent six official seasons in the MLB but is well-deserving of an honorable mention.

To celebrate this elder generation, Call to the Pen put together a list of the 30 greatest baseball careers in MLB history after the age of 35. Just about every piece of an individual’s on-field performance was considered including WAR, batting average, hits, runs, home runs, RBIs, batting lines, ERA, pitching lines, innings pitched, wins, games finished, saves, and more.

To compile this list, we examined the totality of these careers for players aged 35 or older. A single season of dominance didn’t make the list. These greatest careers required a combination of longevity and elite on-field performance.