Oldest Ringless Players: 2020 Edition

You know how this works: Oldest player on the 40-man roster without a World Series ring. Let's see who this year's lucky candidates to get their first one are.

Atlanta Braves: Darren O'Day (October 22, 1982)
Chicago Cubs: Yu Darvish (August 16, 1986)
Chicago White Sox: Edwin Encarnacion (January 7, 1983)
Cincinnati Reds: Joey Votto (September 10, 1983)
Cleveland Indians: Oliver Perez (August 15, 1981)
Houston Astros: Zack Greinke (October 21, 1983)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Justin Turner (November 23, 1984)
Miami Marlins: Brandon Kintzler (August 1, 1984)
Milwaukee Brewers: Ryan Braun (November 17, 1983)
Minnesota Twins: Rich Hill (March 11, 1980)
New York Yankees: Adam Ottavino (November 22, 1985)
Oakland Athletics: Joakim Soria (May 18, 1984)
San Diego Padres: Craig Stammen (March 9, 1984)
St. Louis Cardinals: Matt Wieters (May 21, 1986)
Tampa Bay Rays: Chaz Roe (October 9, 1986)
Toronto Blue Jays: Matt Shoemaker (September 27, 1986)

Sixteen guys. That's way too many to have to do. In a matter of a few days, this number will be cut in half. So let's go. Let's complete this whirlwind of a postseason.

Oldest Ringless Players and Playoff Predicitons: 2019 Edition

Yes, folks, I'm still alive. I decided to take a break from compulsively updating this blog because it was getting to be too much of a distraction. But I'm back for playoff time, the part we all look forward to each season.

To start out, here's the annual Oldest Ringless Players list:

Atlanta Braves: Darren O'Day (b. October 22, 1982)
Houston Astros: Zack Greinke (b. October 21, 1983)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Rich Hill (b. March 11, 1980)
Milwaukee Brewers: Matt Albers (b. January 20, 1983)
Minnesota Twins: Nelson Cruz (b. July 1, 1980)
New York Yankees: Edwin Encarnacion (b. January 7, 1983)
Oakland Athletics: Joakim Soria (b. May 18, 1984)
St. Louis Cardinals: Matt Wieters (b. May 21, 1986)
Tampa Bay Rays: Eric Sogard (b. May 22, 1986)
Washington Nationals: Fernando Rodney (b. March 18, 1977)

I can still remember when it was rare for any players on this list to have been born in the 1980s. I've been doing this for a long time. Wouldn't it be great if Fernando Rodney, who seems to frequently show up on this blog around this time of year, finally got that ring? Hey, it could happen. The NHL's St. Louis Blues and the NBA's Toronto Raptors both won their first championships this season, so maybe 2019 is the year of franchises' first titles. The Nats would be perfect for that in baseball, and it'd be funny if it happened right after Bryce Harper left town. I can dream.

My preseason predictions actually weren't terribly far off, though obviously I didn't get everything right. For my predictions now that we have the real thing, here we go:

Stupid Wild Card Games That Nobody Wanted

Washington over Milwaukee
Tampa Bay over Oakland

Trying to predict a one-game playoff is a fool's errand, since it's basically a coin flip, but what the heck.

I think Washington is a better team than Milwaukee in terms of actual talent, and they don't have the injury problems the Brewers are facing. Throw in the fact that they're at home and Milwaukee's probably out of gas after going on a late-season tear to clinch a postseason spot, and I give the Nats the edge here. Personally, I'm rooting for them as well.

I pick Tampa Bay to beat Oakland because that's what my gut says. I'm rooting for Oakland, but I get a feeling that Charlie Morton's going to pitch a gem to put the Rays in the real playoffs.

 
National League Division Series

St. Louis over Atlanta
Los Angeles over Washington

I pick the Cardinals to beat the Braves because they're the Cardinals. Old school readers know how much I hate them and believe them to be evil. Mentally, I always give them the upper hand until they lose. The Dodgers have been too much of a powerhouse this year for me to think they'll be upset in the first round. You gotta go with them here.


American League Division Series

Houston over Tampa Bay
New York over Minnesota

While New York's starting rotation is a question mark and I'd love to see the Twins beat them, I just can't bring myself to pick against the Evil Empire in this matchup. The Twins seem jinxed against the Yankees in the playoffs, and until they beat them, I'm going to be pessimistic about their chances. I pick Houston over Tampa Bay because the Astros are simply the best team in baseball this year.

 
National League Championship Series

Los Angeles over St. Louis

The Cardinals might be evil, but the Dodgers are so good that I think it would be a huge upset for the Cardinals to beat them. Nothing's impossible in a short series, of course, but I'm still not convinced that the Cardinals haven't played above their heads this year. I pick L.A. to win its third straight pennant.

 
American League Championship Series

New York over Houston

Yes, Houston is the better team and they'll have home field advantage, but as I said at the beginning of the season, do you really think we're going to get out of this decade without seeing the Yankees win a pennant? Just when you think they're down, they come back to break your heart. That's the kind of franchise they are. Besides that, they're out for revenge after the Astros beat them in 2017, so this would seem the time to exact it.

 
World Series

New York over Los Angeles

Oh wow, look at this classic matchup. Why, it harkens back to the good old days of the 1950s when no one outside of New York ever won anything in October. It's also reminiscent of the battles between Lasorda's men and the Bronx Zoo pinstripers from the '70s and '80s. It doesn't get any better for baseball than this big-market matchup, does it? So who wins? Eh, let's go with the Yankees, because what could be more fitting? It would be terribly wrong if CC Sabathia couldn't close out his career with one more World Series ring and Brett Gardner retired hitless in World Series play. It's gotta happen. It's just gotta.

Oldest Ringless Players: 2018 Edition

And then there were ten! With the elimination of the Cardinals this afternoon, we now know who our ten postseason teams are, and we can check out this year's edition of the Oldest Ringless Players!

Atlanta Braves: Peter Moylan (b. December 2, 1978)
Boston Red Sox: Brandon Phillips (b. June 28, 1981)
Chicago Cubs: Jorge De La Rosa (b. April 5, 1981)
Cleveland Indians: Rajai Davis (b. October 19, 1980)
Colorado Rockies: Chris Iannetta (b. April 8, 1983)
Houston Astros: Martin Maldonado (b. August 16, 1986)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Rich Hill (b. March 11, 1980)
Milwaukee Brewers: Curtis Granderson (b. March 16, 1981)
New York Yankees: Neil Walker (b. September 10, 1985)
Oakland Athletics: Fernando Rodney (b. March 18, 1977)

This crew feels different than most past editions. Fernando Rodney seems like he's shown up here a lot, but the others, not so much. The Rockies deserve an asterisk, since Seunghwan Oh is older than Iannetta and has never won a Major League World Series, but he's won several Korean Series, so I don't think he should count.

I'll be back with my predictions for the playoffs once we have all the races settled.

Oldest Ringless Players & Playoff Predictions: 2017 Edition

Yes, it's that time of year again. We're here to look at the soon-to-start postseason and the players who've been waiting the longest for that elusive championship ring. Here we are with the postseason teams (including the stupid second Wild Card that nobody wanted) and their oldest bare-fingered roster occupant:

Arizona Diamondbacks: Fernando Rodney (March 18, 1977)
Boston Red Sox: Rajai Davis (October 19, 1980)
Chicago Cubs: Brian Duensing (February 22, 1983)
Cleveland Indians: Edwin Encarnacion (January 7, 1983)
Colorado Rockies: Ryan Hanigan (August 16, 1980)
Houston Astros: Carlos Beltran (April 24, 1977)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Rich Hill (March 11, 1980)
Minnesota Twins: Bartolo Colon (May 24, 1973)
New York Yankees: Chase Headley (May 9, 1984)
Washington Nationals: Ryan Raburn (April 17, 1981)

Not a bad list. Several names that have showed up here before. Bartolo Colon and Carlos Beltran are two of the three still-active 1990s players (Adrian Beltre is the third), and neither one has managed to add a World Series title to his resume in all that time. If you needed another reason to root against the Yankees (as if there were a shortage of those), there's the fact that their oldest ringless player is the youngest of the bunch.

Now let's shift gears and head to the prediction portion. How do I predict these playoffs will play out? Here you go:

Wild Card Round

Diamondbacks over Rockies
Yankees over Twins

Predicting the outcome of a single game is like predicting the outcome of a coin flip, but since I think both home teams are significantly better than the road teams, the odds would favor them. While it'd be funny to see an upset, since I don't particularly like either top Wild Card, it would also go against my anti-second Wild Card principles, so the fact that both second Wild Cards are more interesting and likable can't be allowed to sway my rooting interest too strongly.

Division Series

Dodgers over Diamondbacks
Cubs over Nationals
Indians over Yankees
Red Sox over Astros

The Dodgers have been up-and-down over the course of the season, so it's hard to know how much confidence to place in them. I'll say they get hot in October though, because they righted the ship at the end.

While I personally love both the Cubs and the Nationals, I feel like Washington is one of those franchises that's snakebitten in October, and it's hard for me to predict them winning a playoff series until I see it. I think the Cubs are confident after last year's run, so they'll take this series for a rematch of last year's NLCS.

I love the Indians too, so it makes me a little nervous to see them facing the up-and-coming Yankees. When October rolls around, there's always that fear that the more favorable media team will get the wind to its back and ride it to an undeserved deep playoff run. I think these Indians are legit though, so they're definitely capable of putting them back in their place. But on that note...

Both the Yankees AND the Red Sox losing in the first round? I won't push my luck that I could ever be so fortunate. Yes, it happened in 2005, but that was 12 years ago. As great a season as the Astros have had, and as great a narrative as it would be to win in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, I think it's inevitable that some fanbase's heart is going to get broken big time. The Astros deserve so much better than this, but it is what it is.

League Championship Series

Dodgers over Cubs
Indians over Red Sox

I think the Dodgers and Indians are simply the best in their respective leagues this year, and they have what it takes to win their respective pennants, and the respective respect of their respective competition.

World Series

Indians over Dodgers

In 2004, the Red Sox exorcised the Curse of the Bambino. In 2005, it was the White Sox getting the 88-year monkey off their back. In 2010, the Giants won for the first time since Willie Mays was a youngster manning center field in the Big Apple. And perhaps most memorably, the Cubs in 2016 put to bed any talk of goats, black cats, inopportune fan interferences, or Merkle's Boners. That leaves one franchise with a drought going back to the pre-expansion era, namely the Cleveland Indians, whose fans have been waiting for another since 1948. Is this the year they finally get that one more run that Terry Pluto says they always need? Well, let's just say that they have as good a chance as any Indian club in the past 69 years, and personally, I'm hoping they get it. Good luck, Tribe. Let this be the year.

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?

Oldest Ringless Players: 2015

Another postseason is here, which means it's time to look at the Oldest Ringless Player for each championship contender. You know the drill. 40-man roster, oldest player without a championship ring. Here we go:

Chicago Cubs: Fernando Rodney (March 18, 1977)
Houston Astros:Chad Qualls (August 17, 1978)
Kansas City Royals: Jeremy Guthrie (April 8, 1979)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Joel Peralta (March 23, 1976)
New York Mets: Bartolo Colon (May 24, 1973)
New York Yankees:Carlos Beltran (April 24, 1977)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Aramis Ramirez (June 25, 1978)
St. Louis Cardinals: Matt Belisle (June 6, 1980)
Texas Rangers: Adrian Beltre (April 7, 1979)
Toronto Blue Jays: LaTroy Hawkins (December 21, 1972)

Funny how these lists often end up being full of journeyman relief pitchers. It really takes the fun out of making them.

Oldest Ringless Players: 2014

After a final day of the season where a few tiebreakers were avoided, it's officially that time of year again! Time to look at each postseason team's roster and determine who the oldest guy without a World Series ring is! I still don't approve of the Wild Card game, but I'm still technically counting it.

If you've been reading my blog all these years (as you surely have), you know the rules: The player here must be on the 40-man roster at the end of the season, and to throw in a new rule, he must have played for the team this season, for reasons discussed below. Any older players who might be in line to get a ring aren't mentioned. So here we go!

Baltimore Orioles: Nelson Cruz (July 1, 1980)
Detroit Tigers: Joe Nathan (November 22, 1974)
Kansas City Royals: Raul Ibanez (June 2, 1972)
Los Angeles Angels: Jason Grilli (November 11, 1976)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Jamey Wright (December 24, 1974)
Oakland Athletics: Adam Dunn (November 9, 1979)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Clint Barmes (March 6, 1979)
San Francisco Giants: Tim Hudson (July 14, 1975)
St. Louis Cardinals: Mark Ellis (June 6, 1977)
Washington Nationals: Adam LaRoche (November 6, 1979)

Johan Santana (born March 13, 1979) is on the Orioles' 40-man, but since he hasn't played this year, I didn't think it right to count him. Would he even get a ring if the Orioles won the World Series? I didn't actually realize how relatively young the Orioles were until I looked just now.

In fact, it's amazing how much youth there is on this list even compared to last year's. Last year the youngest player was Carlos Beltran (born April 24, 1977). This year there are five players younger than that. It looks like a lot of veterans from last year ended up on bad teams this year or retired.

With no Yankees or Red Sox in the playoffs for the first time since I've been a fan, the AL is looking interesting. The Cardinals and Giants still lurk in the NL to ruin it though, so we'll see how that turns out. I'll do a separate post for my playoff predictions.

Oldest Ringless Players: 2013

It's time for the annual list of Oldest Ringless Players! Which combat-tested veteran will finally get his championship ring this year? I know the Playoffs technically haven't started yet, but since tonight's tiebreaker is taking place after Game #162, we can just throw in both participants for fun.

Even though I have a hard time considering this "Wild Card game" a true postseason game, I technically have to count it. The first time I did this list there were only eight teams, and now there are eleven. Come on, MLB. You're killing me.

As usual, I'm only counting players who were on their teams' 40-man rosters at season's end, though there might have been older players who played earlier in the season that are in line for a ring.

Atlanta Braves: Tim Hudson (July 14, 1975)
Boston Red Sox: John McDonald (September 24, 1974)
Cincinnati Reds: Corky Miller (March 18, 1976)
Cleveland Indians: Jason Giambi (January 8, 1971)
Detroit Tigers: Torii Hunter (July 18, 1975) 
Los Angeles Dodgers: Michael Young (October 19, 1976)
Oakland Athletics: Bartolo Colon (May 24, 1973)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Kyle Farnsworth (April 14, 1976)
St. Louis Cardinals: Carlos Beltran (April 24, 1977)
Tampa Bay Rays: Jamey Wright (December 24, 1974)
Texas Rangers: Joe Nathan (November 22, 1974)

As you can see, the Cardinals have the youngest player on this list, and are also the most recent champions, so if the story of the 2013 season is going to have a happy ending, the Cardinals provide very little to advance that interest.

The Pirates have been exciting to follow all year, so if they end up one-and-done against the Reds, I will condemn the Wild Card game to my death.

After we have the results of the tiebreaker tonight, I'll probably chime in with my playoff predictions. As usual, I'll expect the worst and hope to be wrong. It's the only way I can deal with this game.

Oldest Ringless Players: 2012

Welcome back to another edition of Oldest Ringless Players. No longer do I have to list eight teams here. No, we're up to ten now, thanks to that moronic new second wild card! Regardless, I'm here to report the data, and if ten I must report, ten I shall.

The same rules as always apply: I view anyone who was on the 40-man roster at the end of the year as in line for a ring, so who is the oldest eligible player for each team?

Atlanta Braves: Tim Hudson (July 14, 1975)
Baltimore Orioles: Jim Thome (August 27, 1970)
Cincinnati Reds: Miguel Cairo (May 4, 1974)
Detroit Tigers: Joaquin Benoit (July 26, 1977)
New York Yankees: Raul Ibanez (June 2, 1972)
Oakland Athletics: Bartolo Colon (May 24, 1973)
San Francisco Giants: Marco Scutaro (October 30, 1975)
St. Louis Cardinals: Brian Fuentes (August 9, 1975)
Texas Rangers: Joe Nathan (November 22, 1974)
Washington Nationals: Mike Gonzalez (May 23, 1978)

• Two of these guys, Colon and Fuentes, are currently on the restricted list, so they might not be participating in the celebration if their teams go on to win the World Series (heaven forbid, in the latter case). If you don't think they should count, the next in line would be Brandon Inge (May 19, 1977) for Oakland and Carlos Beltran (April 24, 1977) for St. Louis.
  
• The Orioles have the oldest player here, and the Nationals the youngest. I wouldn't mind seeing Thome get a ring, and despite the youth of the Nats, I want them to represent the National League in the World Series.
  
• Despite the Yankees having the second-oldest player, there's no way I'm pulling for them even a little. It's just Raul Ibanez, for crying out loud.
  
• The team I want to win it all, the Rangers, has a pretty good ORP in Joe Nathan. He's been around a while and I've never had any reason to dislike him.

I'm always a bit pessimistic about the chances of seeing a team I like win the World Series, but what is baseball without hope? As long as the possibility exists, I'll be pulling for a likable team to take the title. After last year's heartbreaking ending, I sure could use a good one this year.

Oldest Ringless Players: 2011

Last year you might have seen my post about the Oldest Ringless Players for each of the eight playoff participants. Of that octet, the one who became ineligible for any future ORP lists was Giants reliever Guillermo Mota. After one of the wildest yet greatest days in MLB history (which I can only hope gives Selig and his cronies pause about expanding the playoffs), we have our Elite Eight for 2011.

As I did last time, I'll consider any player who was on the 40-Man Roster at the end of the season and played at the Major League level for the team as being ring-worthy. The ORP's this time around are (with date of birth in parentheses):

Arizona Diamondbacks: Henry Blanco (August 29, 1971)
Detroit Tigers: Magglio Ordonez (January 28, 1974)
Milwaukee Brewers: Takashi Saito (February 14, 1970)
New York Yankees: Bartolo Colon (May 24, 1973)
Philadelphia Phillies: Raul Ibanez (June 2, 1972)
St. Louis Cardinals: Arthur Rhodes (October 24, 1969)
Tampa Bay Rays: Joel Peralta (March 23, 1976)
Texas Rangers: Darren Oliver (October 6, 1970)

Notes:

• Ibanez, Oliver, Rhodes and Saito are all making their second consecutive appearances on this list, though Rhodes and Saito appeared with different teams last year.
• As I noted last year, it might not be fair to include Saito, as he won the Japan Series in 1998. If you take him out of the equation, the Brewers' ORP is LaTroy Hawkins (December 21, 1972).
• Rhodes appeared for Texas earlier in the year, which means he could be in line for a ring if the Rangers win the World Series.
• As they did last year, the Rays have the youngest ORP. Previously it was Joaquin Benoit, who now plays for the Tigers.
• Rhodes is the oldest player on this list for the second year in a row.
• Four of these players are relief pitchers, and the rest are a starting pitcher, a left fielder, a right fielder and a catcher.

Personally, I'd be happy for any of these guys to get rings as individuals, but as members of a team, I can't say I'm rooting too hard for Blanco, Colon, Ibanez or Rhodes. All play for franchises that have won the World Series since I've been a baseball fan, and I love watching new teams get in on the glory.

Oldest Ringless Players: 2010

The ring. It's the thing every ballplayer strives for, a symbol of solidarity with a group that's been to the top. Every year there are several players who get their first one, sometimes veterans who've been waiting for a long time. With today being the first day of the Playoffs (I'm watching Texas-Tampa Bay as I write this) I thought it was time to figure out each team's oldest player in line for his first piece of championship jewelry.

I'm not sure what the exact criteria for receiving a ring are (I've heard they differ from team to team), but I think it's a safe assumption that a guy who's on the 40-Man Roster at the end of the season and has played at the Major League level for the organization is going to get one. Using those standards, here are the oldest players on each team without a World Series ring (birth date in parentheses):

Atlanta Braves: Takashi Saito (February 14, 1970)
Cincinnati Reds: Arthur Rhodes (October 24, 1969)
Minnesota Twins: Jim Thome (August 27, 1970)
New York Yankees: Lance Berkman (February 10, 1976)
Philadelphia Phillies: Raul Ibanez (June 2, 1972)
San Francisco Giants: Guillermo Mota (July 25, 1973)
Tampa Bay Rays: Joaquin Benoit (July 26, 1977)
Texas Rangers: Darren Oliver (October 6, 1970)

Notes:

• Saito won a Japan Series in 1998. If you think he shouldn't count, the second-oldest ringless player on the Braves is Billy Wagner, who's about a year younger.
• The Reds' Russ Springer is older than Rhodes and has never played in a World Series for the winning side, but I counted him as having a ring because he was on the 2001 Diamondbacks' injured list.
• Darren Oliver's 40th birthday is today! His Rangers are currently up 5-1, so perhaps his gift will be a playoff win.
• The Yankees and Rays both have an O.R.P. under 35, which I'd call a strike against both their backabilities this postseason. Of course, there are so many more strikes against the Yankees' backability that I don't have time to list them all here.
• Five of these guys are relief pitchers.

Knowing that one of these eight will join the Adorned Finger Club this year is pretty cool. Whoever wins the World Series, this list gives you a good idea of which guy you can be happiest for.