Long Service Field Perfomers

When a major league player closes out his active play around the ages of 35 to 40, where does he turn if he wants to continue his direct contact with the diamond activity? He becomes a coach, a manager, or an umpire. A former player could also become a club executive, a scout, broadcaster, etc., but in those positions he ceases to be a field performer. Our objective in this article is to discuss those persons who had particularly long careers (35 years) by totaling their years as a player, coach, manager, or umpire.

Some baseball figures spent their entire professional careers in one or more of the four different categories. The exaggerated example, of course, is Connie Mack who was a player for II years and a manager for 53 years, including three years when he was player-manager. Of course, he was also the president of the Philadelphia Athletics, the club he managed, and this undoubtedly was the controlling factor in his enormous longevity. He finally gave up the reigns in 1950 when he was 88.

Connie Mack managed 20 years longer than any other manager, with John McGraw next with 33 years. A near parallel was achieved in the coaching ranks by Nick Altrock who served 46 years with the Washington Senators, 1912-1957. During much of this period his good friend, Clark Griffith, headed the club as manager or president. The coach next in line in number of years was George Susce, who served 29 years with six different clubs, winding up with the Texas Rangers in 1972. Frank Crosetti coached for 25 years and Jim Turner 24.

Bill Klem makes the list of long service field performers based on his 36 years as an umpire, the longest of any arbiter. He was not a player, coach or manager. On the other hand, Hank O’Day, an ump for 35 years, was also a player and manager. So was George Moriarty. Eddie Rommel and Charlie Berry served successively as player, coach, and umpire.

Deacon McGuire is credited with 26 years as a player, but he didn’t serve in other capacities long enough to make the list. The same applies to Eddie Collins and Bobby Wallace, who played for 25 years.

Are there any persons on the long-service list who spent time in all four categories of player, coach, manager, and umpire? Technically only one, and that is because Wilbert Robinson served as a fill-in umpire in 1898 when he was a catcher with the Baltimore Orioles. However, this is not significantly different than crediting, for example, Red Schoendienst with a year as a player based on his three at bats with Milwaukee in 1959.

Is the long service field performer a thing of the past? In the first place, it is unlikely that the extreme cases of Mack and Altrock would be duplicated. In the second place, the probability of former major league players moving into the umpire ranks seems to be fading with time. The only former major league player now umpiring in the majors is Bill Kunkel. Having made those two qualifications, we can say that opportunities still exist for long careers for field performers. Several already have long careers in the works: Jim Hegan, 58, coach for the Yankees, is in his 36th season. Red Schoendienst has 35 years at age 55; Eddie Yost 35 years at 52; and Yogi Berra 34 years at 54.

Those persons who had careers of 35 years or more in the four categories of field performance are listed below. The years in each category do not always add to the total because the person may have served in a dual capacity, such as player-manager. The age refers to the person’s age in his last year of diamond activity.

 

Performer	Player	Coach	Manager	Umpire	Period	Years	Age
Connie Mack	11	–	53	–	1886-1950	61	88
Nick Altrock	19	46	–	–	1898-1957	55	81
Jimmy Dykes	22	8	21	–	1918-1964	45	67
John McGraw	16	–	33	–	1891-1932	42	59
Bill McKechflie	11	7	25	–	1907-1953	42	67
Hank O’Day	–	–	2	35	1884-1927	41	64
Casey Stengel	14	2	25	–	1912-1965	41	75
Mel Harder	20	22	–	–	1928-1969	41	59
Honus Wagner	21	19	1	–	1897-1951	40	77
Bill Dinneen	12	–	–	29	1898-1937	40	61
Leo Durocher	17	4	24		1925-1973	40	68
Frank Crosetti	17	25	–	–	1932-1971	40	61
Robert Emslie	3	–	–	35	1883-1924	38	65
Wilbert Robinson	17	3	19	1	1886-1931	38	68
Johnny Cooney	20	21	–	–	1921-1964	38	63
George Moriarty	13	–	2	22	1903-1940	37	56
Eddie Rommel	13	2	–	22	1920-1959	37	62
Bill Klem	–	–	–	36	1905-1940	36	66
Art Fletcher	13	19	5	–	1909-1945	36	60
Charlie Grimm	20	2	19	–	1916-1961	36	62
Chuck Dressen	8	12	16	–	1925-1966	36	67
Al Lopez	19	–	17	–	1928-1969	36	60
Tony Cuccinello	15	21	–	–	1930-1969	36	61
Jim Hegan	17	19	–	–	1941-1979	36	58
Charlie Berry	11	5	–	21	1925-1962	35	59
Eddie Yost	18	17	–	–	1944-1979	35	52
Red Schoendienst	19	4	12	–	1945-1979	35	55