2014: Year of the Graybeard

Because this is an internet baseball column in the year 2014, Derek Jeter was its original subject. The world doesn’t really need another Jeter column, especially one that smugly notes the uncanny similarities between Jeter’s season as a 40-year old shortstop and the 2007 season of Omar Vizquel, the last man to qualify for the batting title as a quadragenarian in the middle of the diamond.

Nobody needs to read that column. The Jeter farewell tour is almost over, and those who want it go to away will be happy and those who appreciate the generation of superlative play Jeter provided will be sad. My opinion on the matter doesn’t really matter. The exercise did bear fruit in one way, however. Looking that the Yankee Captain’s age-40 season (poor, even by 40-year old infielder standards) got me thinking about Jeter’s age-35 season, which was truly one for the ages.

It was 2009 and the Yankees won the World Series, thanks to Jeter’s heroics and a host of very pricey teammates all contributing in significant ways. But Jeter was incredible that year, posting a 130 wRC+ and just under 7 WAR* – it works out to be one of the ten best age-35 seasons since World War II.

*It’s worth noting that while his 2009 WAR benefits from six runs saved by UZR — a single, positive outlier among a career canyon of negative values — it did come after Jeter put a concerted effort into his agility and defense during the offseason, so perhaps it isn’t all small sample noise. Mostly, but not all.

Jeter’s great campaign at 35 caused me to create this leaderboard, and from that leaderboard leapt the name Adrian Beltre. As it turns out, Beltre is in the midst of a great age-35 season in his own right. His numbers are very similar to those produced by Jeter in that fateful 2009 season.

	PA	HR	SB	BB%	K%	ISO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	wRC+	WAR
Derek Jeter	716	18	30	10.1 %	12.6 %	.131	.334	.406	.465	.385	130	6.8
Adrian Beltre	586	18	1	9.4 %	11.6 %	.168	.325	.389	.493	.381	141	5.6

Beltre continues adding to his Hall of Fame resume, seemingly unfazed by the the rigors of such a long career. The Rangers third baseman still produces at an elite level, boasting the best wRC+ among third baseman this season, sitting sixth with his 18 home runs and third by fWAR. By Baseball Reference’s WAR model, he’s closer to 7 wins than 6 this season, putting him into rare company indeed.

Battling injury sapped some of his power and almost 20% of his walks are intentional, but Beltre gets it done, even at the ripe old age of 35. And he isn’t alone this year. There are seven different players of this vintage who claim 3 WAR seasons in 2014, most ever according to Baseball Reference’s Play Index.

After Beltre, Victor Martinez deserves all the attention his incredible season garners. The Tigers’ DH is one of the most dangerous hitters in the game right now, showing power unlike ever before to go with his superlative ability to put the bat on the ball.

Jayson Werth is doing his best to make his once-regrettable contract look sane. The Nats outfielder followed up a great 2013 with another 4 WAR year, one that looks even better when we value his timely hitting. Juan Uribe’s defense and 80-grade teammate skills are invaluable to the Dodgers, though he’s played just 99 games this season, he contributed again at an above-average level.

Then there are the Phillies. The worst part of Ruben Amaro’s grand plan is how much went right for their last-place club. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Carlos Ruiz all put up nice numbers in their age-35 seasons, worth three wins each. Ruiz missed time with a concussion but the aging Phillies core played about as well as one could possibly hope. Rollins probably won’t get the chance to be, like Jeter, an everyday shortstop at 40; but at 35, he provided league-average offense and defense about which nobody can rightly complain.

This isn’t to suggest that people born in the last half of 1978 are God’s Own Children (though I’m not NOT saying that), it’s just that this season has been particularly strong for players of this age. During an era when years of control are prized above all else and many older players feel squeezed out early, 2014 might be the best year ever for 35-year old players. Be it late starts or superior conditioning, these old dog managed to stand out when most players are long into their declines.

The obvious selection bias points to a group of players, Beltre and Utley specifically, who were among the best in baseball at their peak. They are given more opportunities to succeed and fall from a higher perch. Some of the other names on this list  were never superstars. They could be classed as late bloomers or the kind of players enjoying a second act to their baseball lives.

Derek Jeter didn’t enjoy a renaissance at 40, his storybook career already yielding so many great moments and returns to form. This year, we saw some of the best age-35 seasons of all time, a cohort of better than average players making contributions well passed their “prime.” Will any of them stick around to play into their 40s? How many will even recreate the 3 WAR year Jeter did at 38? Following in The Captain’s footsteps isn’t easy. If more people could do it, they would have already.