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 or foreign league appearances with other franchises. Some listed players had their careers ended by accidents, such as Roberto Clemente, who died in a 1972 airplane crash, and Roy Campanella, who was paralyzed in a 1958 automobile accident.
As of April 2024 [update] , 190 players have completed the feat, of which the New York Yankees have had the most, with 26. The San Francisco Giants have had the most in the National League, with 15. Bid McPhee and Mike Tiernan, both of whom played exclusively in the 19th century, were the first two players to do so. 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. [1] [lower-alpha 1] Mel Ott and Stan Musial share the distinction of the longest tenure with a single team in the National League, having played 22 seasons with the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively. Stephen Strasburg, who played 13 seasons with the Washington Nationals and announced his retirement in April 2024, is the most recent player to complete a career of at least 10 seasons with one team. [2]
Only players who are no longer active are listed here.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 |
The following players died during their careers, after playing nine seasons with the same franchise:
Players who spend 20 or more seasons with a single franchise before ending their career playing for another team (thus disqualifying them from inclusion in the above list) include:
Other examples of long-tenured players who made late-career appearances with a different franchise include:
Table last updated April 6, 2024.
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 | Seasons with listed team |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Joey Votto | Cincinnati Reds | 2007–2023‡ |
2008 | Clayton Kershaw | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2008–present |
2011 | José Altuve | Houston Astros | 2011–present |
Charlie Blackmon | Colorado Rockies | 2011–present | |
Danny Duffy | Kansas City Royals | 2011–2021‡ | |
Salvador Pérez | Kansas City Royals | 2011–2018, 2020–present | |
Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | 2011–present | |
2013 | José Ramírez | Cleveland Indians / Guardians | 2013–present |
2014 | Kyle Hendricks | Chicago Cubs | 2014–present |
2015 | Austin Barnes | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2015–present |
Byron Buxton | Minnesota Twins | 2015–present | |
Max Kepler | Minnesota Twins | 2015–present | |
Aaron Nola | Philadelphia Phillies | 2015–present |
Players are removed from this list (and this article) when they make an appearance with a different MLB team. Players who retire or are inactive for over a year (have not played professional baseball at any level) are moved from this list to the main list.
Paul Leo Molitor, nicknamed "Molly" and "the Ignitor", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. During his 21-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1978–1992), Toronto Blue Jays (1993–1995), and Minnesota Twins (1996–1998). He was known for his exceptional hitting and speed. He made seven All-Star Game appearances, and was the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1993. Molitor currently ranks tenth on the all-time MLB career hits list with 3,319. He is one of only five players in history with 3,000+ hits, a lifetime .300+ batting average, and 500+ career stolen bases.
Roy Campanella, nicknamed "Campy", was an American professional baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor leagues in 1946. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 1948 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, for whom he played until 1957. His playing career ended when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident in January 1958. He is considered one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
Robert Raymond Boone is an American former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who was a four-time All-Star.
Edwin Lee Mathews was an American professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 17 seasons for the Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967–68). Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978, he is the only player to have represented the Braves in the three cities they have called home. He played 1,944 games for the Braves during their 13-season tenure in Milwaukee—the prime of Mathews' career.
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider, nicknamed "the Silver Fox" and "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1947–1962), later playing one season each for the New York Mets (1963) and San Francisco Giants (1964).
William Malcolm Dickey was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in 1946 in his last season as a player.
Donald Newcombe, nicknamed "Newk", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played ten non-consecutive seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his career in the Negro National League and ended it in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Adrian "Addie" Joss, nicknamed "the Human Hairpin", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Cleveland Bronchos of Major League Baseball, later known as the Naps, between 1902 and 1910. Joss, who was 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg), pitched the fourth perfect game in baseball history. His 1.89 career earned run average (ERA) is the second-lowest in MLB history, behind Ed Walsh, while his career WHIP of 0.968 is the lowest of all-time.
Robert Lee Johnson, nicknamed "Indian Bob", was an American professional baseball player. He played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball for three American League teams from 1933 to 1945, primarily the Philadelphia Athletics. His elder brother Roy was a major league outfielder from 1929 to 1938.
David Russell "Gus" Bell Jr. was an American professional baseball player and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1950 to 1964, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, where he was a four-time All-Star and a member of Cincinnati's 1961 National League pennant-winning team. Bell had 100 or more runs batted in four times during his Reds career and batted .292 or better six times.
The 1955 World Series was the championship series to conclude the 1955 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. The Series matched the National League (NL) pennant winner Brooklyn Dodgers against the American League (AL) pennant winner New York Yankees, with the Dodgers winning the Series in seven games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It would be the only Series the Dodgers won while based in Brooklyn, as the team relocated to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. This was the fifth time in nine years that the Yankees and the Dodgers met in the World Series, with the Yankees having won in 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953; the Yankees would also win in the 1956 rematch.
Jeromy Neal Burnitz is an American former professional baseball player. Burnitz was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians (1995–96), Milwaukee Brewers (1996–2001), Los Angeles Dodgers (2003), Colorado Rockies (2004), Chicago Cubs (2005), and Pittsburgh Pirates (2006).
Matthew Thomas Holliday is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2004 to 2018 for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Yankees. A World Series champion in 2011 with the Cardinals, Holliday played a key role in seven postseasons, including the Rockies' first-ever World Series appearance in 2007 and Cardinals' playoff success in the 2010s. His distinctions include a National League (NL) batting championship, the 2007 NL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award, seven All-Star selections, and four Silver Slugger Awards. Other career accomplishments include 300 home runs, more than 2,000 hits, and batting over .300 eight times.
Delmar Wesley Crandall was an American professional baseball player and manager. Crandall played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1966, most prominently as a member of the Boston / Milwaukee Braves where, he was an eleven-time All-Star player and was a member of the 1957 World Series winning team.
Robert Irving Elliott was an American third baseman and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played most of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Braves. He also briefly managed and coached in the Majors. Born in San Francisco, California, the right-handed batting and throwing Elliott stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg).
Carlos Eduardo González, nicknamed "CarGo", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a outfielder from 2008 to 2019, most prominently as a member of the Colorado Rockies where, he was a three-time All-Star player and the 2010 National League (NL) batting champion. González also won three Gold Glove Awards and a two Silver Slugger Awards during his tenure with the Rockies.
Michael James Ryan was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball, before becoming a longtime coach as well as a minor league manager. He played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1964 to 1974. He batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 205 pounds (93 kg). He was a native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he graduated from St. James High School.
In baseball, batting average (BA) is determined by dividing a player's hits by their total at-bats. It is usually rounded to three decimal places and read without the decimal: A player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three-hundred". If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the .001 measurement. In this context, .001 is considered a "point", such that a .235 batter is 5 points higher than a .230 batter.
The 2013 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2013 season. The 109th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals; the Red Sox won, 4 games to 2 to win their eighth championship. The Red Sox had home field advantage for the series, based on the AL's win in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game on July 16. This was the first World Series since 1999 to feature both number one seeds from the AL and NL. The Series started on October 23, 2013, ending with Game 6 on October 30, 2013.
Jackson Matthew Holliday is an American professional baseball infielder in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He was selected first overall by the Orioles in the 2022 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2024. He is the son of former MLB All-Star Matt Holliday.
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)