Sunday, October 2, 2016

Oldest Ringless Players: 2016

With the 2016 regular season in the books, we at long last have our playoff picture! While I remain strongly opposed to the Wild Card Game, this year I got what I wanted and both leagues' Wild Cards finished tied, which would've led to a tiebreaker game being played anyway under the old system.

So who is the oldest player without a World Series ring on each playoff team's current 40-man roster?

Baltimore Orioles: J.J. Hardy (August 19, 1982)
Boston Red Sox: Brad Ziegler (October 10, 1979)
Chicago Cubs: Munenori Kawasaki (June 3, 1981)
Cleveland Indians: Marlon Byrd (August 30, 1977)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Rich Hill (March 11, 1980)
New York Mets: Bartolo Colon (May 24, 1973)
San Francisco Giants: Joe Nathan (November 22, 1974)
Texas Rangers: Carlos Beltran (April 24, 1977)
Toronto Blue Jays: R.A. Dickey (October 29, 1974)
Washington Nationals: Matt Belisle (June 6, 1980)

Players born in the 1970s are becoming an increasing rarity, but we've got several still hanging around the majors looking for that championship. In fact, just three years ago, every player on this list was born in the '70s. And six out of these ten are pitchers.

Nothing personal, Brad Ziegler or Joe Nathan, but I'm not going to be very happy if you get a ring this year, since you two play for the only franchises in the mix that I've seen win a World Series. The guy on this list I most hope gets a ring this year is Munenori Kawasaki, despite the fact that he's an MLB journeyman who had a more substantial career in Japan. Why? Well, just look at what team he plays for. How can you not want to see the Cubs finally win it?