Pittsburgh Pirates Puerto Rican Outfielder Roberto Clemente



Roberto Clemente


I have been a mathematics professor in the California Community College system since the age of twenty-three. If I retire when I am eighty-three and pass away before my 120th birthday, then I would have spent over half my life as a mathematics professor in the California Community College system. There aren't many deceased individuals who spent over half their life at one job in one system. One example is former SJSU Professor Gus Lease. As an MLB fan, I wondered: are there any deceased individuals who spent over half their life as an MLB player?

According to Baseball Reference, there are 360 players who have played at least eighteen seasons in MLB. All of them spent less than half their lives as MLB players. Several people started playing in the Major Leagues before the age of eighteen. With the exception of Jay Dahl (who died at 19 and played one MLB game) and Ed Clough (who died at 37 and played three MLB seasons), all of them lived past the age of 48. Therefore, no deceased man spent over half his life as an MLB player.

Which player came the closest? Puerto Rican right-fielder Roberto Clemente was an MLB player for eighteen seasons and tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 38. Clemente had an amazing career: More important than being a great baseball player, Clemente was a great man. One can come to that conlusion after watching this interview that aired three months before he died.

Nearly six months after I wrote the initial version of this website, Kobe Bryant died in a plane crash (like Clemente). Bryant was one of only two men who played at least seventeen seasons in the NBA and is no longer alive. He died at the age of 41 and played 20 seasons. The other deceased man was Clifford Robinson, who died two years ago at the age of 53 and played 18 seasons.

Bryant was the third-youngest player to ever play in an NBA game (18 years and 72 days); his teammate Andrew Bynum was the youngest player (18 years and 6 days). Since 20/41 > 16/(16+18), Bryant currently holds the record for the highest percentage of life spent as an NBA player (for all deceased individuals). No deceased man spent over half his life as an NBA player.

Clemente played all eighteen of his seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Bryant played all twenty of his seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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