List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
The following is a list of former Major League Baseball (MLB) players who played in at least 10 MLB seasons and spent their entire MLB playing careers exclusively with one franchise. In most cases, this means the player only appeared with one team; there are also players whose team was relocated (e.g. the Athletics) or had a name change (e.g. the Angels) during their career. Some listed players subsequently went on to coach or manage with other teams, or may have had minor league appearances with other franchises.
As of February 2021, 180 players have accomplished this feat, of which the New York Yankees have had the most, with 25. Bid McPhee and Mike Tiernan, both of whom played exclusively in the 19th century, were the first two players to complete the feat. Brooks Robinson and Carl Yastrzemski share the distinction of the longest tenure with a single team, 23 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox, respectively. Dustin Pedroia, who spent 14 seasons with the Red Sox, is the most recent player to complete a career of at least 10 seasons with one team.[1]
Players
Only players who are no longer active are listed here. This list does not include active players, or free agents who have not yet retired (such players are listed below). A player is considered "inactive" if he has not played baseball for one year or has announced his retirement.
Seasons | Total seasons played |
---|---|
Years | Years played |
Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
Honorable mention
- Bug Holliday played 10 seasons for the Cincinnati Reds franchise, from 1889 to 1898, appearing in 930 games.[146] During the 1885 World Series, one of several pre-modern World Series held from 1884 to 1890, Holliday had played in one game for the Chicago White Stockings of the National League (today's Chicago Cubs). This was Holliday's only major league appearance for a franchise other than Cincinnati. As MLB considers the first World Series to have been the 1903 edition, some baseball sites list Holliday as having only played for a single franchise.[147]
Counts by franchise
Table last updated February 1, 2021.
Active players
The following active players have played at least 10 seasons with only a single MLB franchise, making them potential future additions to the main list above.
Debut year | Player | Team | Years |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Yadier Molina | St. Louis Cardinals | 2004–present |
2005 | Félix Hernández | Seattle Mariners | 2005–2019 |
Adam Wainwright | St. Louis Cardinals | 2005–2010, 2012–present | |
Ryan Zimmerman | Washington Nationals | 2005–present | |
2007 | Ryan Braun | Milwaukee Brewers | 2007–present |
Joey Votto | Cincinnati Reds | 2007–present | |
2008 | Brett Gardner | New York Yankees | 2008–present |
Clayton Kershaw | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2008–present | |
2009 | Elvis Andrus | Texas Rangers | 2009–present |
Carlos Carrasco | Cleveland Indians | 2009–2011, 2013–present | |
Buster Posey | San Francisco Giants | 2009–present | |
2010 | Freddie Freeman | Atlanta Braves | 2010–present |
Kenley Jansen | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2010–present | |
Stephen Strasburg | Washington Nationals | 2010–present | |
2011 | José Altuve | Houston Astros | 2011–present |
Brandon Belt | San Francisco Giants | 2011–present | |
Charlie Blackmon | Colorado Rockies | 2011–present | |
Matt Carpenter | St. Louis Cardinals | 2011–present | |
Brandon Crawford | San Francisco Giants | 2011–present | |
Kyle Seager | Seattle Mariners | 2011–present | |
Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | 2011–present | |
Players are removed from this list only when they retire or make a regular season appearance with a different MLB team.
- Denotes a player who is currently a free agent.
- Denotes a player who is under contract with a different team.
See also
- List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise
- List of NHL players who spent their entire career with one franchise
- List of NFL players who spent their entire career with one franchise
- List of one-club men in association football
- List of one-club men in rugby league
References
Researched through the Baseball-Reference.com website.
- Adler, David (February 1, 2021). "'True Red Sox': Pedroia retires after 14 years". MLB.com. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/A/Palleg101.htm
- https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/A/Pallib103.htm
- "Most Seasons Played". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
sort by Franchises column
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- "Bug Holliday". Retrosheet. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
Further reading
- Leitch, Will (August 12, 2015). "Chase Utley and One-Team Wonders". sportsonearth.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- Mearns, Andrew (February 22, 2018). "Who were the best players to spend their careers with one team?". MLB.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- Newman, Mark (December 23, 2017). "10 active players with longest tenure with 1 club". MLB.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- Simon, Andrew (March 11, 2019). "The longest-tenured player on each MLB team". MLB.com. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
- Smiley, Brett (October 20, 2016). "For Life: The greatest MLB players who spent their entire careers with one team". Fox Sports. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- "Current MLB Lifers". ESPN. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
A lifer is a player who has played with only one team for at least ten years.
(Note: ESPN's list is missing several players)