# Most teams played for by Cooperstown inductee **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 5, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556 "2011-08-05T05:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/1 "2011-08-05T05:56:39Z")
Couldn’t find this at baseball-reference, BTW. Is there a place where the HoF are ranked by teams played for? ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/2 "2011-08-05T13:32:03Z")
[List of hall of famers.](http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_batting.shtml) Rickey Henderson will be hard to beat, as it looks like he was on 9 different teams. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/3 "2011-08-05T13:39:35Z")
My first thought was Gaylord Perry, but it looks like he’s one short of Henderson. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/4 "2011-08-05T13:40:59Z")
Rickey must be the leader for MLB teams, although I’d wager that some of the Negro League Hall of Famers who were unfairly shut out of MLB probably played for more than 9 teams. Just to be silly, the recently-retired Matt Stairs is a shoe-in for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and he’ll shatter their record with 12 teams played for! \*Edited to add: apparently he only played for 12 of the 17 teams he was on… ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/5 "2011-08-05T14:38:08Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Rickey must be the leader for MLB teams, although I’d wager that some of the Negro League Hall of Famers who were unfairly shut out of MLB probably played for more than 9 teams. To be clear for other readers, there is no such thing as a “Negro League Hall of Fame.” There is a Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, but they want the great figures of black baseball honored in Cooperstown, not still segregated. I believe **Duke** here is speaking of black players who _are_ enshrined in Cooperstown, but not principally for careers in the “white” major leagues. And yes, I think this is likely correct. One likely candidate is Satchel Paige, who by my count played for eleven different teams on _top-level_ professional circuits (the definition of this can be a little difficult)–if minor, winter, semi-pro or tournament teams are included (and certainly some of these were very significant) the total would be _much_ higher. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/6 "2011-08-05T15:42:55Z")
Looks like [Dan Brouthers](http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/broutda01.shtml) has Rickey beat, with 10 franchises. Including one - the Boston Bees - that played in two different leagues. There may be another 19th century HOFers that has this beat, but I couldn’t find one. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/7 "2011-08-05T15:49:48Z")
Goose Gossage also played for nine franchises. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/8 "2011-08-05T16:10:47Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Including one - the Boston Bees - that played in two different leagues. I think you mean the Boston Reds, 1890-'91? “Boston Bees” I know only as a later name for the Beaneaters/Braves franchise–who Brouthers _also_ played for, in 1889. Also, what’s up with that 1904 show with the Giants? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/9 "2011-08-05T16:22:15Z")
He was buddies with John McGraw. If you check his minors stats you’ll see he came back and played for a few years. McGraw brought him up just for the hell of it, basically, although he was killing the ball in the minors. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/10 "2011-08-05T18:37:25Z")
Deion Sanders played for 9 different teams as well. Of course, he’s going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame tomorrow, not Cooperstown, and 5 of the teams he played for were in the NFL, but still that’s pretty good. 😃 NFL: Falcons, Cowboys, 49ers, Redskins & Ravens MLB: Yankees, Braves, Reds & Giants. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/11 "2011-08-05T18:54:08Z")
spark240: > [@](#): > > but they want the great figures of black baseball honored in Cooperstown, not still segregated. Say what? The Negro Leaguers in Cooperstown aren’t segregated. Their plaques are in the same gallery as the white players (and non-players), interspersed amongst them, not in a separate corner or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/12 "2011-08-05T22:40:25Z")
Huh. Joe Morgan only played for five teams; I thought it was more. Ditto Don Sutton. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-teams-played-for-by-cooperstown-inductee/591556/13 "2011-08-10T09:44:07Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > He was buddies with John McGraw. If you check his minors stats you’ll see he came back and played for a few years. McGraw brought him up just for the hell of it, basically, although he was killing the ball in the minors. Besides, Brouthers the Giants also used 53 year old Orator Jim O’Rourke for one game as catcher. Perhaps there were injuries to the two regular catchers but 1904 was also the first pennant the Giants had won in 15 years.While Brouthers wasn’t part of the late 1880s Giants, O’Rourke was and in those days of looser standards, a manager could pull a stunt like bring back some old heroes for the faithful fans. Plus the Giants had suffered in the 1890s under a horrible owner named Andrew Freedman so they had a “good times are here again” mentality.