Baseball Is Weird
We almost had 47-year-old Barack Obama throwing out the first pitch at the Nationals’ home opener this week, minutes before 46-year-old Jamie Moyer threw out the real first pitch for the Phillies. So it got us to wondering about this momentous matter of vital national interest:
When was the last time any pitcher started a game who was older than the president of the U.S. of A?
The easy guess is during the John F. Kennedy administration, but sorry. That would be incorrect. The actual answer:
When he was 59 years old, Satchel Paige started one game for the old Kansas City A’s on Sept. 25, 1965. Was it a gimmick? Absolutely. But Paige was still 2 years, 1 month and 20 days older than President Lyndon B. Johnson at the time. So a note’s a note.
And that, according to our research, is the only time this has ever happened. In fact, the only other really close call came in 1993, during the Bill Clinton administration. Nolan Ryan and Clinton were both 46 years old for most of that season — but Ryan was 5 months and 12 days younger than the president. Oh, well.
