Baseball players seem to hang around a lot longer these days. The average age of the historic 1927 New York Yankees was, fittingly, 27 years old. By the time Mickey Mantle arrived at Yankee Stadium in 1951, the average Yankee was now 28.5 years old. On the night Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in one World Series game, the team's mean age had surpassed 29. Today, the Bronx Bombers average a very ripe 31.1 years. But along with players getting older, baseball has also seen players get better. Some of that has to do with these guys. They are the players who soldiered on through their late 30s playing their boyhood game, and now that they are finally on the other side of 40, it is time to honor them properly.
Catcher: Craig Biggio, Houston Astros (41). Sure, Biggio hasn't been a regular catcher since 1991, but there were no other decent plus-40 backstops who were still hitting their weight, so for purposes of this All-Star team, Craig is being moved back to his first major league position; a position that the diverse Biggio can probably still play pretty well.
First Base: Jeff Conine, Cincinnati Reds (41). Conine has quietly put together a very nice Major League career over the past seventeen seasons. His lifetime average is .286, he's hit 212 home runs and he has driven in 1,056 runs. Conine is also just 48 hits away from 2,000. This season, even at the advanced age of 41, he is showing that he can still hit. The Reds' first-sacker is batting .292 with 4 homers and 22 RBI in just 44 games.
Second Base: Jeff Kent, Los Angeles Dodgers (40). This future Hall of Famer has certainly slowed down a bit from his best years between 1997 and 2005, when he drove in 100 or more runs eight out of nine years. But don't count Jeff Kent out just yet; the man still has some powder left in his cannon. This year, he is batting .265 with 9 home runs and 33 RBI. Not too bad for a 40-year old middle infielder.
Shortstop: Omar Vizquel, San Francisco Giants (40). If Vizquel makes the Hall of Fame, it won't be for his bat. It will be on the strength of his eleven Gold Gloves. Now 40 years old, Vizquel's offensive skills have diminished quite drastically over the past few years, but his glove is still as gold as any shortstop in the National League. He'll be a fine defensive stopper up the middle for this team of dinosaurs.
Third Base: Julio Franco, New York Mets (48). Sure, Franco has only played 2 games at third base this season, but that's good enough to find a spot on this team. The Ageless One turns 49 in August, and the only question, it seems, is will he play past 50? Franco makes the team on the strength of his remarkable career statistics: a .298 Batting Average, 2,595 Hits, 404 Doubles, 1,186 RBI and 281 steals. Most impressively, over his long career, Franco has played every position except pitcher and catcher. He'll make a great utility man for this ancient crew.
Left Field: Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants (42). The man approaching Hank Aaron's all-time home run record started off the 2007 season like it was 2001 all over again. Recently, however, his ailing body and the cold hand of reality have slowed the Blaster down over the past month. Even with his recent slump, Bonds is still the Babe Ruth of the Giants. He is hitting .276 with 12 home runs and 28 RBI, and has a .484 on-base percentage, which is best in the Major Leagues.
Center Field: Kenny Lofton, Texas Rangers (41). This speedster may not be the same guy he was back in the mid-1990s, when he regularly hit over .300 and stole in the neighborhood of sixty to seventy bases per year. Nevertheless, Lofton is still a fine leadoff man. This year, he's hitting just .268, but his on-base percentage is a very respectable .356. He's also stolen 16 bases, which is fifth best in the American League, and Lofton has scored 38 runs.
Right Field: Moises Alou, New York Mets (40). Like his father, Moises Alou can still play at an advanced age. This season, before he went down with a strained left quadricep muscle, Alou was batting .318 with 2 homers and 13 RBI in just 25 games. The Mets and this All-Star team desperately await the return of this lifetime .301 hitter who has already clubbed 321 dingers and collected 1,242 RBI in his Major League career.
Righty Starting Pitcher: Roger Clemens, New York Yankees (44). Does this choice need any explanation?
Lefty Starting Pitcher: Randy Johnson (42). Does this one?
Relief Pitcher: John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves (40). Why not? Smoltz has already proven that he can be one of the best closers in the game. From 2002 through 2004, he saved 55, 45 and 44 games, respectively. He should do just fine closing games for this team of baseball fossils.
Honorable mention: Jaime Moyer (44), Greg Maddux (41), Tom Glavine (41), El Duque Hernandez (45?, 50?, who knows?), David Wells (44), Kenny Rogers (42), Curt Schilling (40).
