6 Degrees

[priceyeah]

Does any know a current list of players linked by active playing time that spans the entire existance of Major League Baseball, 1876-Current? You know, the old "he played while his guy played, who played while this guy played", and so on. I remember seeing one when the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon thing was all the rage.

[Scoops]

It's not six degrees, but I also didn't try very hard. I started with Carlton Fisk, merely because I had just read that he was the last active position player from the 60s, and I knew that he'd played with Frank Thomas. Then I just worked back, taking (one of) the oldest guy on each team and finding the (one of) the youngest corresponding guys, etc.

1. Frank Thomas -2008 Blue Jays
2. Carlton Fisk - 1993 White Sox w/ Thomas
3. Dick Schofield - 1969 Red Sox w/ Fisk
4. Enos Slaughter - 1953 St. Louis Cardinals w/ Schofield
5. Joe Stripp - 1938 St. Louis Cardinals w/ Slaughter
6. Eppa Rixey - 1928 Cincinnati Reds w/ Stripp
7. Sherry Magee - 1912 Philadelphia Phillies w/ Rixey
8. Kid Gleason - 1904 Philadelphia Phillies w/ Magee
9. Arthur Irwin - 1888 Philadelphia Quakers w/ Gleason
10. Tricky Nichols -1880 Worcester Ruby Legs w/ Irwin, and 1875 New Haven Elm Citys (or 1876 Boston Red Caps, if you prefer)

[parlo]

If you go to BaseballReference.com, there is a feature called the ORACLE.
Enter two names, and it will link them through teammates.
Sometimes it only takes a few players to link large blocks of time.
For example, Ricky Henderson played with Phil Neikro. Neikro played with Spahn.
We are already back to the 1940s.

[Scoops]

Nice... using that, I got to seven with Tom Glavine and Cap Anson:

Tom Glavine played with Phil Niekro for the 1987 Atlanta Braves
Phil Niekro played with Warren Spahn for the 1964 Milwaukee Braves
Warren Spahn played with Si Johnson for the 1946 Boston Braves
Si Johnson played with Edd Roush for the 1931 Cincinnati Reds
Edd Roush played with Nixey Callahan for the 1913 Chicago White Sox
Nixey Callahan played with Cap Anson for the 1897 Chicago Colts

Thank God for rubber armed pitchers, I guess.

[Erik Bedard]

I got eight links from Randor Bierd (debut 2008) to Joe Start (debut pre-1871. Bierd played with Chad Bradford played with Harold Baines played with Minnie Minoso played with Charlie Grimm played with Harry Davis played with Denny Lyons played with Joe Start.

[bob]

I decided to go the same way (2008 down to 1876) and got:
1. Julio Franco (1982 PHI) - Currently still a free agent, so he might as well count. If not my whole list is ruined, so i'd be quite upset as it took me a while.
2. Pete Rose (1963 CIN) - 2 players down, 45 years covered, going good so far!
3. Joe Nuxhall (1944 CIN) - Yes, he was 15 and yes he only pitched 0.7 innings, but he played in a proper MLB game on the same team as Rose, so im counting him!
4. Estel Crabtree (1929 CIN) - This guy only had a single PA in 1929, but again, im counting it damnit!
5. Ivey Wingo (1911 STL) - Finally after a 52 year stretch with the reds we're back on the road with the brilliantly named Ivey Wingo!
6. Roger Bresnahan (1897 WHS) - That 1911 Cards team was a young one, only 3 over 30 players in their entire roster! Luckily this guy had some experience.
7. Duke Farrell (1888 CHC) - Again, those 1897 senators were far too youthful for my liking. They had older guys, but they played in the AA and UA, so i didnt count them.
8. Mr Cap Anson (1876 - CHC) - In fact he goes way back to 1871, for bonus points.


So, can anyway beat my 8 links? I think i pretty much maxed out up to 1911, but maybe some room for improvement from then onwards. I dont know for sure if Nuxhall and crabtree played the same game as their linking player, but they were all on the same roster in the same year.

[bob]

Chad Bradford played with Harold Baines

Not according to baseball reference. Bradford debuted for the 1998 White Sox, but Baines signed with the the Orioles in the winter of 97 and played there all through 98.
Nice idea of linking through Minoso though. That guy was designed for this sort of thread!

[parlo]

Not according to baseball reference. Bradford debuted for the 1998 White Sox, but Baines signed with the the Orioles in the winter of 97 and played there all through 98.
Nice idea of linking through Minoso though. That guy was designed for this sort of thread!

Minosa works well. Sometimes though, a long career doesnt help that much. Nolan Ryan gets you back to 1966, but then you will have trouble getting back to the mid 1950s. He missed playing with Mays in 72, and by 1966 the old Dodgers and Giants were gone from the Mets.
Glavine to Niekro to Spahn is pretty tough to beat.
Ivan Rodriguez to Walter Johnson is interesting though.

[parlo]

There is a glitch in the system.
Sometimes players both played for the same team that season, but they were never teammates. One player was traded away in April, while the other player arrived in June. Sometimes the ORACLE lists them as teammates. For example, Bobby Valentine came to the Mets on June 15, 1977 for Dave Kingman. Tom Seaver was traded away on June 15, 1977 in a separate trade. ORACLE lists them as both being members of the 77 Mets. Yet they were never in the dugout at the same time. The problem doesnt seem to exist with players who were involved in the same trade.

[Scoops]

Here's eight players, with no pitchers:

Frank Thomas played with Carlton Fisk for the 1991 Chicago White Sox
Carlton Fisk played with Joe Azcue for the 1969 Boston Red Sox
Joe Azcue played with Granny Hamner for the 1962 Kansas City Athletics
Granny Hamner played with Jimmie Foxx for the 1945 Philadelphia Phillies
Jimmie Foxx played with Zack Wheat for the 1927 Philadelphia Athletics
Zack Wheat played with Bill Dahlen for the 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers
Bill Dahlen played with Cap Anson for the 1897 Chicago Colts

Also: Granny Hamner is almost as awesome a name as Urban Shocker.

[priceyeah]

Great lists! Could we get down to 6 if we use players that weren't necessarily teammates but were active major leaguers at the same time?

[Victory Faust]

Donald Honig in his wonderful book "Baseball America" points out an interesting managerial thread:

Ned Hanlon to John McGraw to Casey Stengel to Billy Martin. I would add Lou Pinella, and you've got baseball from 1880-present covered in 5 people...of course, they're managers, not players (although each also played).

[bob]

Great lists! Could we get down to 6 if we use players that weren't necessarily teammates but were active major leaguers at the same time?

1. Jamie Moyer (1986 NL>NL)
2. Nolan Ryan (1976 AL>NL) (starting in 66, but this was the first year he and minoso played together in the same league)
3. Minnie Minoso (1949 AL>AL)
4. Luke Appling (1930 AL>AL)
5. Nick Altrock (1898 NL>AL)
6. Jim O'Rourke (1876 NL)
So its possible with "played in the same year as...", but i dont think "played on the same team as...".
This list also works with players in the same league in the same year incredibly.

[Erik Bedard]

Not according to baseball reference. Bradford debuted for the 1998 White Sox, but Baines signed with the the Orioles in the winter of 97 and played there all through 98.
Nice idea of linking through Minoso though. That guy was designed for this sort of thread!

Both were on the 2000 White Sox.

And Minoso has got to be the best player to use in this. A 32-year bridge. Incredible.

[Victory Faust]

I bet if you used Satchel Paige as the fulcrum, you could yield some interesting results in both the majors and black baseball. I'm sure you could find a path from modern times back to Bud Fowler, whose career started in 1878.