# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/61 "2019-02-11T04:54:00Z")
Brooks Robinson played for the Baltimore Orioles for 23 years (1955 - 1977), still the longest career for a single team in the MLB. Looking at a [list of the youngest players in each league](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/Youngest_leagues.shtml) shows that, from 1973 through 1977, six out of eight of the youngest players in each league were born after he broke into the MLB. Granted, the Orioles did not play any regular season games against the NL in that time, but he did play against Robin Yount (b. Sept 1955) and Alan Trammell (b. Feb 1960). I’m sure there are others, but those two are probably the best known of the group. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/62 "2019-03-30T02:18:28Z")
It doesn’t quite fit the thread, but I figured [this](https://www.atptour.com/en/news/federer-playing-goalie-isner-miami-final-2019) rated a bump anyway: > [@](#): > > The Swiss moved into his fifth Miami final with ease on Friday night, beating #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4. Federer hasn’t dropped a set since his tournament opener against Moldovan Radu Albot. But the 37-year-old’s semi-final against the 18-year-old Shapovalov wasn’t just any other match, Federer admitted. He feels a bit more amped when facing members of the #NextGenATP. > > “I told my daughters before I walked out tonight that he wasn’t even born yet when I actually played on the pro tour already,” said Federer, who turned pro in 1998, one year before Shapovalov was, in fact, born. “So they’re like, ‘What? Hold on a second.’ They did the calculations. ‘So this guy’s really young?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m really old.’ But it’s all good. It definitely gives me an extra pep. No doubt about it.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/63 "2019-03-30T02:53:03Z")
I think Al Oerter must have qualified. He won his first Olympic gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne Australia. He continued to compete, eventually earning 4 gold medal in consecutive Olympic Games, and tried out for the 1980 US Olympic team, finishing 4th. The bronze medal that year was won by a Cuban born in 1957. It’s highly likely Oerter competed against others in the Olympic trials who were born after his 1956 gold medal. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/64 "2019-03-30T03:04:31Z")
> [@betterlifethroughchemistry](#): > > Brooks Robinson played for the Baltimore Orioles for 23 years (1955 - 1977), still the longest career for a single team in the MLB. Looking at a [list of the youngest players in each league](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/Youngest_leagues.shtml) shows that, from 1973 through 1977, six out of eight of the youngest players in each league were born after he broke into the MLB. Granted, the Orioles did not play any regular season games against the NL in that time, but he did play against Robin Yount (b. Sept 1955) and Alan Trammell (b. Feb 1960). I’m sure there are others, but those two are probably the best known of the group. Trammell was actually born in 1958. A brief look at Retrosheet indicates that Robinson’s career was in fact over in August '77 before Trammell made his debut in September, so they never played against (let alone alongside) one another. Oh well. Robinson and Yount did appear in the same game on 7-25-77, and likely in other games before that…Unfortunately, and you can’t make this stuff up, Yount was born on September 16, 1955, the day BEFORE Robinson made his big league debut on the seventeenth. One lousy day– ---
**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:** [March 30, 2019, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/65 "2019-03-30T11:15:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think Al Oerter must have qualified. He won his first Olympic gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne Australia. He continued to compete, eventually earning 4 gold medal in consecutive Olympic Games, and tried out for the 1980 US Olympic team, finishing 4th. The bronze medal that year was won by a Cuban born in 1957. It’s highly likely Oerter competed against others in the Olympic trials who were born after his 1956 gold medal. For Olympians named “Al”, Aladár Gerevich got a team gold medal in Los Angeles in ‘32 and another in Berlin in ‘36 (when he got his first _individual_ medal); and, after WWII, he got another team gold in London in ‘48 (when he won individual gold) and another team gold in Helsinki in ‘52 (when he got an individual silver), and another team gold in Melbourne in ‘56 and another in Rome in ‘60. And in Rome in ‘60, he defeated various Olympians who were born after he got his first team medal; but also Michael D’Asaro and Emeric Arus and Ion Santo, each of whom was born _after_ Gerevich had fenced his way to an individual medal. (And the individual silver in ‘60 went to young Zoltán Horváth, who was born in ‘37 and beat his teammate Gerevich 5-4 in the semi-finals.) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/66 "2019-04-01T07:20:38Z")
Football must have so many of these that I can’t even be bothered to look. Keepers often play into their late 30’s and it is not unusual to start a first-team career at 17 or 18. ---
**Author:** ![upend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@upend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/upend)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/67 "2019-04-01T11:57:01Z")
Eidur Gudjohnsen came on as a sub for his 1st Iceland cap, replacing his dad, Arnor, in 1996. not quite fulfilling the request in the OP but interesting, kinda 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/68 "2019-04-01T12:57:25Z")
Surely Cal Ripken Jr must qualify - started in the minors in 1978 out of high school, finished in 2001. Looking at the 2001 Orioles roster, Tim Raines was born in 1979. ETA: Bah - just remembered the “highest level” qualifier. Ripken didn’t hit the majors until 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/69 "2019-04-01T13:18:24Z")
Rodger Federer is 37 years old, and he was in the top ten by the age of 19, I believe. He just played in and won the Miami Open yesterday and, in that tournament, was an up and coming 18-year old named Felix Auger Aliassime who is already ranked 33rd in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/70 "2019-04-01T20:34:04Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Rodger Federer is 37 years old, and he was in the top ten by the age of 19, I believe. He just played in and won the Miami Open yesterday and, in that tournament, was an up and coming 18-year old named Felix Auger Aliassime who is already ranked 33rd in the world. Actually no, he wasn’t top ten until he was nearly 21 I think. A late starter. Murray, Djokovic and Nadal all broke the top ten at an earlier age. But yes, he was playing pro tennis before Allassime was born ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/71 "2019-04-01T23:13:38Z")
> [@upend](#): > > Eidur Gudjohnsen came on as a sub for his 1st Iceland cap, replacing his dad, Arnor, in 1996. > > not quite fulfilling the request in the OP but interesting, kinda 🙂 Wait, his name was “Gudjohnsen”, but his dad’s name was “Arnor”? Shouldn’t his last name have been “Arnorsson”? I thought Icelandic names were true patronyms. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/72 "2019-04-02T05:56:37Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Wait, his name was “Gudjohnsen”, but his dad’s name was “Arnor”? Shouldn’t his last name have been “Arnorsson”? I thought Icelandic names were true patronyms. In general yes, but there seem to be a few family names that stick around. Also note that it ends in “sen” instead of “son”. I’m sure I heard the reason for this at some point, but I don’t remember anymore. Verstuurd vanaf mijn moto g(6) met Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/73 "2019-04-02T15:30:31Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Rodger Federer is 37 years old, and he was in the top ten by the age of 19, I believe. He just played in and won the Miami Open yesterday and, in that tournament, was an up and coming 18-year old named Felix Auger Aliassime who is already ranked 33rd in the world. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Actually no, he wasn’t top ten until he was nearly 21 I think. A late starter. Murray, Djokovic and Nadal all broke the top ten at an earlier age. But yes, he was playing pro tennis before Allassime was born More in keeping with the original post, Federer played against Denis Shapovalov (Currently ranked 20) in the semis, who is 19. He also played against Stefanos Tsitsipas (Currently ranked 8) earlier in the year, who was born the same year Federer began playing as a pro. Given that he continues to be mum about retiring, this is something that will continue to happen. //i\ ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/74 "2019-04-02T18:46:33Z")
> [@D.E.S.K.Top668](#): > > 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 A 50 year old professional wrestler is absolutely not competing with a 20 year old on how competently they can perform the physical acts. Name recognition and their brand is 90% of it or more. Unless you want to tell me that Vince McMahon technically and athletically outperforms NCAA athletes that are looking for a post college career. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/75 "2019-04-02T23:46:20Z")
Dara Torres earned her first Olympic gold medal in 1984, and in 2008 got a silver by outswimming bronze medalist Cate Campbell (who was born in 1992). ---
**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:** [April 3, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/76 "2019-04-03T03:02:23Z")
Some of the guys who played alongside Chris Chelios in the 2008 Stanley Cup were born the year he entered the league. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/77 "2019-04-03T06:51:48Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > American sports would be an actual appearance in NFL, MLB, NBA game etc. Whacha got against the Japanese baseball major leagues? Ichiro played his first NPB game in 1992 and his last two games (also in Japan, coincidently) this year. I bet at least half his teammates in those two games were born after he started playing. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/78 "2019-04-05T14:13:17Z")
To my surprise, despite playing more NBA games than anyone else Robert “the Chief” Parish did not play with anyone born after his pro debut (if wikipedia’s rosters are accurate). He may have played against one, but I didn’t check that since the OP was about teammates. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/79 "2019-04-08T01:08:41Z")
So close… Toronto Maple Leafs center Patrick Marleau made his debut on October 1st, 1997. His teammate Auston Matthews was born just two weeks before that. As far as opponents, that’s easy. Montreal Canadiens’ 18-year-old rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi made his NHL debut against Marleau at the beginning of this season. Marleau had logged three full sessions before Kotkaniemi was born. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462/80 "2019-04-08T01:20:46Z")
Roger Federer has been pro since 1998. Certainly there are pro players he has played born after that. The current #3 in the world was born in 1997. Alexander Zverev. Dude literally only remembers Federer being ranked top 10 and now he’s up there with him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-athlete-competing-alongside-someone-born-after-they-made-debut/827462.md?page=5)