The following contains a list of Major League Baseball players who lived to the age of 100. For other baseball players and others associated with baseball who were centenarians, see List of centenarians (sportspeople). For other lists of centenarians, see lists of centenarians.
A study by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company that assessed the vital statistics of more than 10,000 baseball players and general mortality rates in the United States concluded that players whose careers began between 1876 and experienced only 97% expected mortality, those who debuted between and had only 64% expected mortality, and those who debuted between and 1973 experienced only 55% of expected deaths. As early as the 1930s, big league players were exhibiting either a healthy worker effect or the health benefits of the rigorous fitness regimens of professional athletes, or both. However, in this study, vital data on baseball players were limited to those available in the Baseball Encyclopedia.[1] Other smaller studies have shown similar results for players who debuted between and [2] and between 1900 and .[3]
One large study examining major league ballplayers with debuts from 1902 and 2004 found that their expected lifespan was almost five years longer than average 20-year-old American males, and that career length was inversely associated with the risk of death, probably because those who play ball longer gained additional income, physical fitness, and training.[4]
| Name | Born < | -- location names mess up sorting --> | Died < | -- location names mess up sorting --> | Age | Team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | March 15, 1873 Cincinnati, Ohio | May 7, 1973 Cincinnati, Ohio | [5] [6] | ||||
| scope=row | April 5, 1875 Cincinnati, Ohio | October 2, 1975 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Louisville Colonels (1896) | [7] | |||
| scope=row | May 25, 1887 Du Bois, Pennsylvania | August 31, 1988 Mansfield, Ohio | St. Louis Browns (1912) | [8] | |||
| scope=row | December 24, 1889 Scituate, Massachusetts | December 15, 1990 Duluth, Minnesota | New York Highlanders (1912) | [9] [10] | |||
| scope=row | December 13, 1891 Decatur County, Indiana | July 30, 1993 Carmichael, California | Chicago Cubs (1915) | [11] | |||
| scope=row | August 7, 1895 Somerville, Massachusetts | October 10, 1995 Brockton, Massachusetts | Washington Senators (1919) | [12] | |||
| scope=row | January 27, 1896 Ridgefield Park, New Jersey | April 26, 1996 Barnstable, Massachusetts | [13] [14] [15] | ||||
| scope=row | May 8, 1891 Ossining, New York | September 17, 1998 Daytona Beach, Florida | [16] [17] [18] | ||||
| scope=row | December 17, 1900 North Henderson, Illinois | April 3, 2002 Rock Island, Illinois | Chicago White Sox (1928–1929) | [19] | |||
| scope=row | June 25, 1902 Dubois, Idaho | June 27, 2002 Chandler, Arizona | Pittsburgh Pirates (1929–1930) | [20] | |||
| scope=row | January 17, 1905 Mesquite, Texas | July 30, 2005 Pearland, Texas | St. Louis Cardinals (1931–1932) | [21] | |||
| scope=row | April 10, 1906 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | July 15, 2006 Vero Beach, Florida | Pittsburgh Pirates (1930–1932) | [22] [23] | |||
| scope=row | October 14, 1895 Middletown, Delaware | October 29, 2006 St. Petersburg, Florida | Lincoln Giants (1926) | [24] [25] | |||
| scope=row | November 17, 1906 Ratcliff, Arkansas | July 22, 2007 St. Louis, Missouri | St. Louis Browns (1930–1931, 1933) | [26] | |||
| scope=row | June 20, 1908 Berwyn Heights, Maryland | January 22, 2009 Charlotte, North Carolina | [27] [28] [29] | ||||
| scope=row | October 7, 1909 Collinsville, Illinois | February 8, 2011 Oxnard, California | Brooklyn Dodgers (1937) | [30] | |||
| scope=row | September 26, 1905 Patillas, Puerto Rico | Cuban Stars (East) (1928–1929) | [31] | ||||
| scope=row | May 17, 1912 Portsmouth, Virginia | November 6, 2013 Portsmouth, Virginia | Philadelphia Athletics (1937–1938) | [32] [33] | |||
| scope=row | April 23, 2014 Havana, Cuba | Washington Senators (1950–1954) | [34] [35] | ||||
| scope=row | October 17, 1915 Old Greenwich, Connecticut | [36] [37] | |||||
| scope=row | October 21, 1916 Springfield, Missouri | November 4, 2016 Ringling, Oklahoma | [38] [39] | ||||
| scope=row | October 22, 1918 West Hickory, Pennsylvania | November 30, 2018 Charlotte, North Carolina | Philadelphia Athletics (1941–1942) | [40] [41] | |||
| scope=row | December 15, 1920 Paris, Texas | October 4, 2021 Bastrop, Texas | [42] [43] [44] | ||||
| scope=row | July 7, 2022 Fruita, Colorado | St. Louis Browns (1949) | [45] [46] [47] | ||||
| scope=row | Living | [48] [49] [50] |