Later today, 44-year-old Philip Rivers will start for the Indianapolis Colts, taking his first NFL snaps since the 2020 season. During that absence, Rivers has coached his son’s high school football team,
become a grandpa after his daughter Halle gave birth, and seen his name as a semi-finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame (although not anymore… back of the line, Rivers).
Anyway. This made me think. Which elderly Yankees (aged 40 or older) put up vintage performances that Rivers can aspire to today in his NFL return? Take heart, Colts fans who are reading this. There are actually some pretty darn good games put together by Yankee members of the 40-Plus Gang. So without further ado, here are three spectacular games from three quadragenarians — plus a few honorable mentions.
3) Andy is Dandy, One Last Time
September 28, 2013
For Yankees fans of the correct age, there’s a good chance Andy Pettittte is your guy. The stare, the pickoff move, the playoff sangfroid.
In late September 2013, Pettitte was 41 years old with one start remaining in his career, in wake of his recent announcement to return to retirement for good. Facing the only MLB team other than the Yanks whose uniform he’d ever worn, all Andy did was dominate. Pettitte dialed back the clock and hurled a 116-pitch five-hitter against the Astros for his 256th and final career win, and his 26th career complete game – his first since 2006.
2) The Raúl Ibañez Show
October 10, 2012 (ALDS Game 3)
We’ve already (metaphorically) put pen to paper on this game before, so I won’t go too far into the weeds. But Ibañez, who’d turned 40 over the summer, put together one of the great postseason performances in recent Yankees history. He entered in the bottom of the ninth, with the Yankees down a run, replacing a quietly hobbled Alex Rodriguez. It was a stunning move from skipper Joe Girardi. But it was the right one. Ibañez took Orioles All-Star closer Jim Johnson deep to tie the game at two.
Three innings later, even with a tough lefty on the bump in Brian Matusz, Raúl unloaded again, winning the game and sending Yankee Stadium into a frenzy.
1) Niekro shuts out Toronto for No. 300
October 6, 1985
Everyone else on this list is a veritable spring chicken compared to this Hall of Famer, who put together a masterpiece performance for the Yankees. Niekro, who turned 46 in April 1985, took the mound against the AL East-winning Toronto Blue Jays sitting on 299 career wins. Nine frames later, nary a Blue Jay crossed the plate. Four hits and three walks were all Toronto could muster, even though Niekro had decided to eschew his famous knuckler until the very last batter.
It was the 45th and final shutout of his illustrious career, and one of 245 complete games. I daresay that if 44-year-old Philip Rivers gives Indy 80 percent of what Niekro gave the Yankees that day 40 years ago, Colts fans will be thrilled.
Honorable Mentions
Johnny Mize’s memorable final bomb
A consistent All-Star and home run champion earlier in his career with the Cardinals and Giants, Johnny Mize spent the last five seasons of his Hall of Fame career as a valued veteran presence for Casey Stengel’s 1949-53 Yankees dynasty. By the time September 1953 rolled around, the 40-year-old was almost exclusively a pinch-hitter, having lost the starting first base job to Joe Collins, but on the 13th, he made some magic. With two runners on in the eighth and the pitcher’s spot up in the order, Stengel sent Mize to the dish. And the slugger unloaded on the first pitch he saw. It was the 359th and final longball of his storied career and it propelled the Yankees to a 6-3 win. For more, check out this SABR Game Recap.
Enos Slaughter’s two-game tear
Speaking of yet another Hall of Famer, Enos Slaughter was winding down his career in 1958, playing for the Yanks in his age-42 season. The erstwhile Cardinals standout had barely been league average at the plate the season before (104 OPS+), but he turned back in the clock in ’58. Two games in mid-July are emblematic. Facing Kansas City, Enos slaughtered Athletics’ pitching. He went 7-for-10 with a triple, a pair of runs scored, and an RBI. His onslaught shot his OPS from .934 to 1.002 in two days. Not bad. (As an added bonus, he also had a two-homer game the next year during his final season at age-43).
Mariano Rivera. Just Mariano Rivera.
There’s no game that we really need to feature here, and we don’t need to compare full seasons to single games. But consider this an appreciative nod of the head toward the incomparable Mariano Rivera, whose performance never really waned as the closer kept steamrolling opponents in his forties from 2010-13. He made three All-Star teams, saved 126 with a 1.95 ERA, and didn’t miss a beat during his 2013 swan song after recovering from a torn ACL in a freak accident in May 2012. Who knows how long Mo could’ve kept going had he decided to stick around? But credit to him for going out on top.
A-Rod’s three-homer game
Why is a three-homer game from Alex Rodriguez stuck in Honorable Mentions? Well, he wasn’t quite old enough to qualify, but he was a mere two days shy of turning 40 so he gets a small salute here. On July 25, 2015, facing the Minnesota Twins, A-Rod emphatically added to what was a resurgent, redemptive 2015 campaign following his season-long suspension in 2014. One of baseball’s most prolific sluggers went yard. Not once. Not twice. But thrice, in an 8-5 Yankees comeback win over the Twinkies. The second bomb cut Minnesota’s lead to 5-3 in the seventh, and the third tied it up on closer Glen Perkins’ first pitch of the ninth. It was the fifth three-homer game of his career.
Oh, and just for good measure, A-Rod went yard on his 40th birthday a couple days later in Texas, too.
