The One-Team Players

When Brooks Robinson closed out his active career with the 1977 season, it gave him a record 23 years with one club. Furthermore, the Baltimore Orioles were the only major league team he played for in a career that stretched from 1955 to 1977.

Previously he had shared the record with four other players who had long service with only one club. One, Cap Anson, dates back to the beginning of the National League in 1876. Anson played with the Chicago NL team we know as the Cubs until 1897.  The others with 22 years with only one team include Mel Ott with the New York Giants  1926-47; Stan Musial with the St. Louis Cardinals 1941-44; 1946-63; and Al Kaline with the Detroit Tigers 1953-74.

There have been ten players who have seen service of 20 or more seasons with only one team. The list includes three with the Chicago White Sox – Ted Lyons, Red Faber, and Luke Appling.  The list of one-team players expands to 34 when you lower the number of seasons to 15. There also are five additional players currently active who are still with their original team after 15 or more years of play. They include Carl Yastrzemski, 18 years with the Boston Red Sox; Willie Stargell, 17 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Ed Kranepool, 17 with the New York Mets; Pete Rose, 16 with the Reds; and Mickey Stanley, 15 with the Tigers.

It is premature to assume that all these players will conclude their careers with the same clubs.  There have been too many cases of “career” players with one team having a brief, final fling in another location. Two prime examples are Christy Mathewson, who, after 17 years with the Giants, pitched one game with the Reds; and Yogi Berra, who after 18 seasons with the Yankees and one year of retirement, came back for four games with the Mets. Or the disruption could happen at the start of a career. Babe Adams pitched one game for the Cardinals in 1906 and then 18 years with the Pirates. Similarly, Jesse Haines pitched one game with the Reds in 1918 and then 18 years with the Cardinals.

What club has had the most long-service, one-city, one-team players? The Tigers have had six, including Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Tommy Bridges, George Dauss, Bill Freehan, and Mickey Stanley, still active. The Yankees have had five, and the Pirates five including Stargell, still active. Two of the Pirates, Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski, spent 17 consecutive years together, 1956-72.  Walter Johnson and Clyde Milan spent 16 years together with the Washington Senators, 1907-22; and Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell were together on the Giants 1928-43.

The list of one-team players is not particularly long when you consider that it covers a century of play. The surprising feature is the number of veterans of the recent era. Several factors dictating against one-team players in recent years include the shifting of franchises and the proliferation of teams, interleague trading and playing out of options. Nevertheless, in the last seven years there have been eight long-service players who have retired with theft original club. This includes two with the longest service – Robinson with 23 years and Kaline with 22.

There follows the list of players who have spent 15 or more seasons with only one club and one city in the majors. The list is not “diluted” by players involved in franchise shifts, such as Pee Wee Reese of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, or Phil Niekro of the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, or even Biddy McPhee, who stayed in Cincinnati but shifted from the American Association to the National League in 1890. The asterisk indicates a player still active.

 

Years	Player and Team	Period
23	Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles	1955-1977
22	Cap Anson, Chicago Cubs (Colts)	1876-1897
22	Melvin Ott, New York Giants	1926-1947
22	Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals	1941-44; 1946-63
22	Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers	1953-1974
21	Walter Johnson, Washington Senators	1907-1927
21	Ted Lyons, Chicago White Sox	1923-42; 1946
20	Red Faber, Chicago White Sox	1914-1933
20	Mel Harder, Cleveland Indians	1928-1947
20	Luke Appling, Chicago White Sox	1931-1950
19	Charlie Gehringer, Detroit Tigers	1924-1942
19	Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox	1939-42; 1946-60
19	Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs	1953-1971
18	Ossie Bluege, Washington Senators	1922-1939
18	Bob Feller, Cleveland Indians	1936-41; 1945-56
18	Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees	1951 -1968
18	Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates	1955-1972
18*	Carl Yastrzemski, Boston Red Sox	1961-1978*
17	Pie Traynor, Pittsburgh Pirates	1920-35; 1937
17	Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees	1923-1939
17	Bill Dickey, New York Yankees	1928-43; 1946
17	Frank Crosetti, New York Yankees	1932-1948
17	Bill Mazeroski, Pittsburgh Pirates	1956-1972
17	Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals	1959-1975
17*	Ed Kranepool, New York Mets	1962-1978*
17*	Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates	1962-1978*
16	Clyde Milan, Washington Senators	1907-1922
16	Carl Hubbell, New York Giants	1928-1943
16	Tommy Bridges, Detroit Tigers	1930-43; 1945-46
16	Stanley Hack, Chicago Cubs	1932-1947
16	Wliitey Ford, New York Yankees	1950; 1953-67
16	Vern Law, Pittsburgh Pirates	1950-51; 1954-67
16*	Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds	1963-1978*
15	George Dauss, Detroit Tigers	1912-1926
15	Travis Jackson, New York Giants	1922-1936
15	Bob Lemon, Cleveland Indians	1941-42; 1946-58
15	Bill Freehan, Detroit Tigers	1961; 1963-76
15	Tony Oliva, Minnesota Twins	1962-1976
15*	Mickey Stanley, Detroit Tigers	1964-1978*