David Ortiz Leads A Pack of Aging Stars Who Are Dominating Baseball

At forty years of age, Boston’s David Ortiz is outslugging even the players almost half his age. The designated hitter for the first place Red Sox leads the Major Leagues in slugging percentage at .695, almost one hundred points higher than any other player.

He also leads all of baseball with thirty doubles, is second in hitting with a .339 batting average, second in runs batted in, and is third in home runs with nineteen. All of these stats seem staggering, especially from a guy who made his big league debut nineteen years ago.

Ortiz, although he is the oldest, is not the lone representative of players near forty who are having exceptional seasons in 2016. In fact there are no fewer than five players among the league leaders who made their Major League debut back in the twentieth century.

Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers is 37, and he is currently fourth in the American League in batting with a .318 average. He made his debut for the Cleveland Indians, spending his early years as a catcher. He made his first All-Star game in 2004.

The New York Yankees have been led by thirty nine year old outfielder Carlos Beltran, who debuted in 1998 and won Rookie of the Year honors with the Kansas City Royals one year later. Beltran is currently second in the A.L. in home runs, having mashed nineteen dingers so far in 2016.

Adrian Beltre, who began his big league career in 1998 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, continues to be one of the most feared sluggers in baseball. Not only is he among the top fifteen leaders in hits and several other offensive categories, but the thirty seven year old third baseman of the first place Texas Rangers is fourth in the entire league in defensive Wins Against Replacement (WAR).

Baseball’s 2016 Fountain of Youth has not been limited to offense and defense, but has also been located on the pitcher’s mound as well. Bartolo Colon of the New York Mets is tied for second with games started and is fourth best in bases on balls allowed.

In addition, the forty two year old became the oldest player to hit his first Major League home run this year, when he went deep against All-Star lefty James Shields at Petco Park on May 7. He had not hit a home run in all of his years at the Major League level, which dates all the way back to 1997.

Colon spent the last three years of the century with the Cleveland Indians, where he won 75 games and made his first All-Star appearance. Then Cleveland traded him in 2002, and his next destination illustrates just how long Colon has been around.

His next ten wins would come with his new team, the Montreal Expos.

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