# Whats the oldest sports Rookie there ever was. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 11, 2005, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728 "2005-10-11T09:41:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/21 "2005-10-13T01:55:46Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > Well, Satchel Paige played baseball at the highest level available to him as well so I don’t know that we could consider his MLB debut to be a “rookie” season. Satchel Paige, under today’s rules, could have been voted Rookie of the Year in his league (in 1948, there was just one award for both leagues), but Paige didn’t receive any votes (somewhat ironically, Alvin Dark of the Braves won). However, the difference between Paige’s situation and Patrick’s is that Paige was kept out of the ostensibly highest level of professional baseball. The Negro Leagues were very good, but they still weren’t the majors. With Lester Patrick, he didn’t play in the NHL when he was younger because there was no NHL. There were other pro leagues for Lester Patrick to play in. And he was considered an excellent player. Were all the players who played in the National League in 1876 “rookies” because that was the first league that it existed. Nearly all of the players had played in pro leagues, most notably the National Association, that existed prior to the establishment of the National League. ---
**Author:** ![DESERTER1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f17d59/32.png) [@DESERTER1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DESERTER1)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/22 "2017-12-12T16:49:52Z")
In Indoor/Arena Professional football, Fred Whistle was a 51 year old rookie kicker for the Springfield Wolfpack in the AFPL in 2009. [http://websportsradio.com/Audio/0910/WPIA050209.mp3](http://websportsradio.com/Audio/0910/WPIA050209.mp3) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/23 "2017-12-12T16:54:36Z")
Reported as possible spam. ( **DESERTER1** ) In case it isn’t, where, in that 2 and a half hour audio clip, is the relevant portion? ---
**Author:** ![DESERTER1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f17d59/32.png) [@DESERTER1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DESERTER1)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/24 "2017-12-12T16:59:19Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Reported as possible spam. ( **DESERTER1** ) > In case it isn’t, where, in that 2 and a half hour audio clip, is the relevant portion? First few minutes of broadcast Opening kickoff ---
**Author:** ![DESERTER1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f17d59/32.png) [@DESERTER1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DESERTER1)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/25 "2017-12-12T18:08:47Z")
RUNNING COACH send me a PM with an email address and I will have a short video clip of Fred Whistle being inducted into the Minor League Football Hall of Fame in 2015 which describes his being a 51 year old rookie in 2009 emailed to you. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/26 "2017-12-12T21:36:18Z")
> [@fishquail](#): > > What is the age of the oldest rookie? On 30th November 1928 Bert Oldmonger, aged 46y 237 (born 7th April 1882) became the oldest Australian to make his Test debut in the 1st Test vs England at Brisbane. His record lasted barely two weeks before Don Blackie was chosen in the 2nd Test at Sydney on 14th December 1928 to make his debut aged 46y 253 days (born 5th April 1882). Ironmonger also played in that fixture making them arguably the oldest and least experienced pair of bowlers in Test history. Almost a century on and Blackie & Ironmonger remain as Australia’s oldest Test cricketers on debut. The oldest cricket player on Test debut was England’s James Southerton 49y 119d in the first ever Test played in 1877. He also has the record as being the first Test cricketer to die. Second ranking is Pakistan’s Miran Bakhsh for Pakistan aged 47y 284d v India in 1955 Blackie & Ironmonger are 3rd and 4th respectively. Curiously enough, all four were bowlers and renowned batting bunnies. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/27 "2017-12-12T22:29:14Z")
Wasn’t there an NBA player who retired and then went to play professional baseball? Was it Magic? I can’t find it now,but that must have been an older rookie moment. . . ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/28 "2017-12-12T22:33:41Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Wasn’t there an NBA player who retired and then went to play professional baseball? Was it Magic? I can’t find it now,but that must have been an older rookie moment. . . Michael Jordan. He only played at the minor league level. And wasn’t exactly Rookie of the Year material even at that level. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/29 "2017-12-12T22:55:55Z")
Yes, this is a zombie thread, but I’m surprised there’s no mention of [Jim Morris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Morris), who made his MLB debut at 36. He gets a lot of attention because there was a movie made about his short career, but he wasn’t close to being the oldest rookie. But here is an article covering all of the oldest players to make their rookie appearance in the Majors - [The oldest players to make their debut in the major leagues: Satchel Paige and the rest | The J.G. Preston Experience](https://prestonjg.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/the-oldest-players-to-make-their-debut-in-the-major-leagues-satchel-paige-and-the-rest/) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/30 "2017-12-12T23:02:55Z")
Moved to the Game Room. Note this thread was started in 2005. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/31 "2017-12-12T23:37:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Note this thread was started in 2005. _“Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.”_ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/32 "2017-12-13T16:19:23Z")
> [@Mullinator](#): > > Technically, he was 42, having had his birthday 2 days prior to his debut. He is indeed the player who was the oldest as of his major league debut (thanks to the Lahman database). Of course, all of this is assuming Paige’s listed birthday is correct, which is probably not a safe bet. Paige’s birthday was a bit fuzzy when he was younger, but Cleveland physically verified the original copy of his birth certificate when he was signed and he was indeed born in 1906. There’s no reason to think the certificate was not authentic, and it fits perfectly with other events in his early life. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/33 "2017-12-13T16:26:11Z")
> [@Mullinator](#): > > Technically, he was 42, having had his birthday 2 days prior to his debut. He is indeed the player who was the oldest as of his major league debut (thanks to the Lahman database). Of course, all of this is assuming Paige’s listed birthday is correct, which is probably not a safe bet. Paige’s birthday was a bit fuzzy when he was younger, but Cleveland physically verified the original copy of his birth certificate when he was signed and he was indeed born in 1906. There’s no reason to think the certificate was not authentic, and it fits perfectly with other events in his early life. Paige continued to sometimes allude to the notion that he didn’t know how old he was, but quite honestly I think he was just toying with people and playing up his image as the grandfather of pitching. He was an intelligent man, and it’s hard to believe he would not have remembered his own age, but easy to believe he’d have known the marketing value of a good story. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/34 "2017-12-13T18:59:44Z")
Right, and it was sad that Paige still thought he needed to play the shuffling darkie even after he had been a major star athlete for decades. You can’t read [“How to Keep Young”](http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/lipaig.shtml) without feeling a little embarrassed for him. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/35 "2017-12-14T02:29:40Z")
I’ll put this in for an oddball. There was a baseball player named Ollie Carnegie, born circa 1899, who played minor league baseball briefly in 1921. He left because he wanted to live in his home town of Pittsburgh, PA so he got a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad and played semi pro ball. In 1931 he lost his job because of the Great Depression and became a fulltime minor league player, primarily the Buffalo Bisons of the International League at the highest level of minor league ball. He was pretty good as a power hitting outfielder but no major league team would acquire him because of his age. > **[Ollie Carnegie](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollie_Carnegie)** > > Oliver Angelo Carnegie (June 29, 1899 \[or 1898\] – October 4, 1976) was an Italian American professional baseball player whose playing career spanned 15 seasons. Over that time, Carnegie played in the minor leagues with the Class-B Flint Vehicles (1922) of the Michigan–Ontario League; the Class-B Hazleton Mountaineers (1931) of the New York–Penn League; the Double-A Buffalo Bisons (1931–1941, 1945) of the International League; and the Class-D Lockport White Sox (1942) and the Class-D Jamestown Fal... ---
**Author:** ![Andrew\_21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Andrew\_21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andrew_21)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/36 "2017-12-14T14:24:58Z")
Dewey Bozella made his pro boxing debut in 2011 at age 52. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/37 "2017-12-18T02:38:31Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Paige’s birthday was a bit fuzzy when he was younger, but Cleveland physically verified the original copy of his birth certificate when he was signed and he was indeed born in 1906. . But was it the long form? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/38 "2017-12-18T05:14:22Z")
I’m surprised no one’s brought up Manute Bol. [If the stories about him are true](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/ex-coach-says-he-made-up-manute-bols-birthday-he-couldve-been-40-or-50-in-nba/), he was actually 17 years older than he really was thereby making him around 39 when played his rookie season in the NBA. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/39 "2017-12-24T16:37:17Z")
Rookie at 37 NHL goalie, he played because of a last minute injury to a goalie > **[Jorge Alves (ice hockey)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Alves_(ice_hockey))** > > Jorge Alves (pronounced George Ahlves; born January 30, 1979) is an American equipment manager for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is best known for playing goaltender for the Hurricanes at the very end of one game during the 2016–17 season. With a total career playing time of 7.6 seconds, Alves' career is the shortest in NHL history. > Alves was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, a twin brother in a Portuguese-American family. He began playing ice hockey at 14 or... ---
**Author:** ![SteevR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@SteevR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteevR)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728/40 "2018-05-05T15:03:37Z")
> [@fishquail](#): > > Has any player ever entered a pro sport (football, Hockey, basket, base) at a very old age (for a player) > What is the age of the oldest rookie? I will be playing professional jai alai at the Fort Pierce, Florida and the Miami, Florida frontons, beginning June 1st. I was born in December 1955. I began playing jai alai as an amateur in 1980, at the age of 25. I have worked in the industry in several roles, including ball boy, announcer, on-court judge, promotions coordinator, assistant player manager, and current player manager. I will play my first game of full scale jai alai - with a ball that can break bulletproof glass, often thrown at speeds in excess of 150 mph (last season, one of our players set a new Guinness record of 190 mph) on a 180-foot long court - as a paid (very well paid) member of the roster at the age of 62! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-sports-rookie-there-ever-was/325728.md?page=3)