# Professional athlete competing alongside someone born after they made debut **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 9, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462 "2019-01-09T12:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/41 "2019-01-13T18:32:52Z")
Per wiki, Archie Moore “was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time” and “is the only man to have faced both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali.” The fight against Marciano doesn’t count, but Ali was born in the ‘40s and Moore turned pro in September of ‘35. (Moore also fought Willie Pastrano, who was born in November of ‘35.) ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/42 "2019-01-13T23:19:14Z")
Nolan Ryan pitched until he was 46, and in his last season (1993) about one-third of all the players who appeared in the majors that year weren’t born yet when he made his debut in September 1966. That includes Robin Ventura (b. 1967), meaning that Ryan [had a famous fight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3niGu9d_pY) with someone who wasn’t born yet when he first pitched in the majors. ---
**Author:** ![Maestroh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@Maestroh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maestroh)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/43 "2019-01-14T00:14:48Z")
On September 27, 1987, Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro threw his final major league game at age 48. Knucksie debuted on April 15, 1964. Jeff Blauser (11/8/65) was his shortstop in that game. He had other teammates who were not in that game who were born after he began pitching. These include: Kevin Coffman (1/19/65) Tom Glavine (3/25/66) Pete Smith (2/27/66) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/44 "2019-01-14T10:33:59Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I spent way more time than I’d care to admit trying to find an example of this in Formula 1. Since careers last longer, you might be better off looking at the [British Touring Cars Championship](http://www.btcc.net/). I think they’ve had a couple of father / son combos there, but I’m not sure. BTW if you look at the [British Truck Racing Association](http://btra.co.uk/), you’ll see that Wayne and Joanne Eason - husband and wife - are competitors. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/45 "2019-01-15T17:36:04Z")
Sachin Tendulkar played his first Test match in Nov, 1989. In his [final test](http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/11897/scorecard/676527/india-vs-west-indies-2nd-test-west-indies-tour-of-india-2013-14) against the West Indies, Kieran Powell of the West Indies was born the year after his debut. On his own team, Kumar Singh is a similar age. A lot of the Indian team were only born the year or two before Tendulkar’s debut, including the current captain, Virat Kohli. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/46 "2019-01-15T17:47:02Z")
Not quite the same, but in Sunday’s AFC championship game, one of the starting quarterbacks will be the same age as the other’s mother. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/47 "2019-01-15T18:02:31Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Sachin Tendulkar played his first Test match in Nov, 1989. And, from the other end, Tendulkar played that game against Imran Khan, whose debut in Jun 1971 was 2 years before Tendulkar was born. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/48 "2019-01-15T18:05:19Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not quite the same, but in Sunday’s AFC championship game, one of the starting quarterbacks will be the same age as the other’s mother. Ha, Brady is Mahomes’s daddy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/49 "2019-01-16T00:49:53Z")
I haven’t done any research into it but Jamie Moyer pitched in the major leagues until he was almost 50. I’m sure he had a teammate or two along the way that were born after he made his debut…I’d be very surprised if he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/50 "2019-01-16T03:25:51Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > I haven’t done any research into it but Jamie Moyer pitched in the major leagues until he was almost 50. I’m sure he had a teammate or two along the way that were born after he made his debut…I’d be very surprised if he didn’t. Moyer’s first year in the majors was 1986, his final year was 2012 although he only appeared in 10 games. But he had 13 teammates that year born in 1986 or later. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/51 "2019-01-16T23:55:41Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The list of actors that work with people that were born after they started acting is extremely long. Nice combination of user name and post. But I was about to make the same point (except calling them entertainers). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/52 "2019-01-23T11:16:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not quite the same, but in Sunday’s AFC championship game, one of the starting quarterbacks will be the same age as the other’s mother. So, who won? Mama’s boy, or Mama’s boy toy?:p:D;) > [@Teuton](#): > > And, from the other end, Tendulkar played that game against Imran Khan, whose debut in Jun 1971 was 2 years before Tendulkar was born. Another player called Waqar Younis, born Nov 16 1971, also made his debut for Pakistan in the same game. Of course, this is interesting comparison, since all three men were teenage prodigies. Imras was 18, Waqar was the same age and Sachin was 16! Imran played till he was 40. In his last game, the 1992 WC Final, he played with some young un’s, not sure if they were born after his debut. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/53 "2019-01-24T23:12:28Z")
Larry Holmes had gone 20-0 when Maurice Harris was born in February of ‘76, and spent a good long stretch as the heavyweight champ before Harris went pro in turn, and ultimately outpunched Harris at Madison Square Garden in July of ‘97. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/54 "2019-01-25T10:36:52Z")
> [@journeyman\_southpaw](#): > > Nolan Ryan pitched until he was 46, and in his last season (1993) about one-third of all the players who appeared in the majors that year weren’t born yet when he made his debut in September 1966. That includes Robin Ventura (b. 1967), meaning that Ryan [had a famous fight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3niGu9d_pY) with someone who wasn’t born yet when he first pitched in the majors. An epic moment. Thanks for the link. Ryan went to town on Ventura and got him but good, first with the beanball and then with 4 punches to Ventura‘s head and a 5th punch to the lip. gImages: — [robin ventura lip fight nolan ryan - Google Search](https://goo.gl/veiw7E), Ryan’s autographed photo of landing punches — [robin ventura lip fight nolan ryan - Google Search](https://goo.gl/CqSts9), ball autographed by both Ryan and Ventura dated 8/4/1993, fight day — [https://goo.gl/Gs1SDd](https://goo.gl/Gs1SDd), Bo Jackson comes to Nolan Ryan’s rescue Said Ryan about Bo Jackson, > [@](#): > > All I remember is that I couldn’t breathe,” says Ryan. “I thought I was going to black out and die, when all of a sudden I see two big arms tossing bodies off of me. It was [Chicago’s] Bo Jackson. He had come to my rescue, and I’m awful glad he did, because I was about to pass out. I called him that night and thanked him. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/55 "2019-01-31T04:48:03Z")
In Wilfred Rhodes’ last Test, teammate Bill Voce was born 10 years after Rhodes’ debut (1899 -\> 1909) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/56 "2019-01-31T05:16:12Z")
Mario Lemieux played his last season with current Penguin captain, Sidney Crosby. (Occassionally on the same line). Lemieux only played 26 games that year though – he retired for the final time due to heart problems. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/57 "2019-01-31T06:40:32Z")
Pretty cool (yesterday!) Bruins rookie Trent Frederic making his NHL debut on a line with his idol David Backes. Link shows a photo of them from twelve years ago. > **[Frederic to make NHL debut with Bruins, extend connection with Backes](https://www.nhl.com/news/trent-frederic-to-make-nhl-debut-with-bruins-extend-connection-with-david-backes/c-304301446)** > > BOSTON - Trent Frederic was 9 when the picture was taken, another kid in a St. Louis Blues jersey and hat waiting for a photo with Blues rookie David Backes before a game. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/58 "2019-01-31T15:56:57Z")
Minnie Miñoso had two games with the White Sox in 1980; of all the playing staff that season, only Wayne Nordhagen and Ed Farmer were alive when he made his MLB debut. If we include the Negro Leagues as “highest level”, Satchel Paige started his career in 1927 and finished three innings in ['65](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KC1/KC1196509250.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/59 "2019-01-31T19:25:07Z")
On October 30, 2006, Julio Franco played third base for the NY Mets. Franco had played his first game on April 23, 1982. Anderson Hernandez played shortstop next to him. He was born October 30, 1982. In addition, the last time Franco had played third base was also before Hernandez was born. Lastings Milledge (born 1985) also appeared in that game. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/60 "2019-02-11T04:22:50Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > It’s common in pro wrestling–Johnny Valentine teamed with his son, Greg Valentine (though Greg was billed as Johnny’s brother so as to kayfabe Johnny’s age). Dusty Rhodes teamed with his son Dustin, Bill Watts was the booker when his son, Eric, worked for WCW, Nick Patrick wrestled as Assassin #3 teaming with his father, Jody Hamilton as Assassin #1, Jake Roberts and Sam Houston both worked under their father, Grizzly Smith in Mid-South, Brian Lawler worked with his dad Jerry Lawler, Fritz Von Erich teamed with various combinations of his sons, Tommy Gilbert teamed with his son Eddie, etc… > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The list of actors that work with people that were born after they started acting is extremely long. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Nice combination of user name and post. But I was about to make the same point (except calling them entertainers). First, I was deciding whether to mention professional wrestlers when I came across the above. Second, while it’s not a real sport, I think it’s insulting to refer to them as anything other then professional athletes. And while they don’t actually compete against each other in the ring, the need to perform at the highest level to keep their position was, until recently, essential. A 40 year old ice skater trying out for “Jurassic Park on Ice” against a 20 year old ice skater is a professional athlete competing against another, just not in a sport. Just my. $0.02 - DESK [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462.md?page=4)