Best Athletes to Stay on One Team Their Whole Career

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 or foreign league appearances with other franchises.

As of November 2021^[update], 182 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. Buster Posey, who spent 12 seasons with the San Francisco Giants, is the most recent player to complete a career of at least 10 seasons with one team.^[1]

Players [edit]

Only players who are no longer active are listed here.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.

Honorable mention [edit]

• Bug Holliday played 10 seasons for the Cincinnati Reds franchise, from 1889 to 1898, appearing in 930 games.^[148] 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.^[149]

Counts by franchise [edit]

Table last updated November 4, 2021.

Team name	Past name(s)	Player count	Players
Arizona Diamondbacks	—	0	—
Atlanta Braves	Milwaukee Braves Boston Braves Boston Bees	4	Bruce Benedict, Chipper Jones, Biff Pocoroba, Sibby Sisti
Baltimore Orioles	St. Louis Browns Milwaukee Brewers (1901)	6	Rich Dauer, Chris Hoiles, Scott McGregor, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson
Boston Red Sox	Boston Americans	13	Bill Carrigan, Dom DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr, Mike Greenwell, Bob Montgomery, Mel Parnell, Dustin Pedroia, Rico Petrocelli, Jim Rice, Bob Stanley, Jason Varitek, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski
Chicago Cubs	Chicago Orphans Chicago Colts Chicago White Stockings (1870–89)	2	Ernie Banks, Stan Hack
Chicago White Sox	Chicago White Stockings	9	Luke Appling, John Danks, Red Faber, Orval Grove, Ron Karkovice, Ted Lyons, Johnny Mostil, Mike Squires, Lee Tannehill
Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati Red Stockings	6	Johnny Bench, Dave Concepción, Barry Larkin, Bid McPhee, Ron Oester, Mario Soto
Cleveland Guardians	Cleveland Indians Cleveland Naps Cleveland Broncos Cleveland Bluebirds	6	Bob Feller, Jack Graney, Mel Harder, Bob Lemon, Guy Morton, Al Rosen
Colorado Rockies	—	1	Todd Helton
Detroit Tigers	—	15	Tommy Bridges, Gates Brown, Hooks Dauss, Bill Freehan, Charlie Gehringer, Bobby Higginson, John Hiller, Fred Hutchinson, Al Kaline, Pat Mullin, Vic Sorrell, Mickey Stanley, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Larry Woodall
Houston Astros	Houston Colt .45s	3	Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, J. R. Richard
Kansas City Royals	—	6	George Brett, Alex Gordon, Dennis Leonard, Paul Splittorff, John Wathan, Frank White
Los Angeles Angels	California Angels Anaheim Angels Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	3	Gary DiSarcina, Tim Salmon, Scot Shields
Los Angeles Dodgers	Brooklyn Dodgers Brooklyn Robins Brooklyn Superbas	13	Roy Campanella, Don Drysdale, Carl Erskine, Andre Ethier, Carl Furillo, Jim Gilliam, Sandy Koufax, Otto Miller, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Nap Rucker, Bill Russell, Mike Scioscia
Miami Marlins	Florida Marlins	0	—
Milwaukee Brewers	Seattle Pilots	5	Jerry Augustine, Ryan Braun, Jim Gantner, Bill Wegman, Robin Yount
Minnesota Twins	Washington Senators (1901–60)	14	Bob Allison, Ossie Bluege, Randy Bush, Patsy Gharrity, Kent Hrbek, Walter Johnson, Buddy Lewis, Joe Mauer, Clyde Milan, Tony Oliva, Glen Perkins, Kirby Puckett, Brad Radke, Cecil Travis
New York Mets	—	3	Ron Hodges, Ed Kranepool, David Wright
New York Yankees	New York Highlanders Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902)	25	Spud Chandler, Joe Collins, Earle Combs, Frankie Crosetti, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, Jake Gibbs, Ron Guidry, Tommy Henrich, Derek Jeter, Arndt Jorgens, Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly, Gil McDougald, Thurman Munson, Jorge Posada, Bobby Richardson, Mariano Rivera, Phil Rizzuto, Red Rolfe, Mel Stottlemyre, Roy White, Bernie Williams
Oakland Athletics	Oakland A's Kansas City Athletics Philadelphia Athletics	6	Joe Astroth, Dick Fowler, Dick Green, Mike Norris, Eddie Rommel, Pete Suder
Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia Quakers (NL)	5	Larry Christenson, Terry Harmon, Ryan Howard, Bob Miller, Mike Schmidt
Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh Alleghenys	11	Gene Alley, Carson Bigbee, Steve Blass, Roberto Clemente, Ray Kremer, Vern Law, Sam Leever, Bill Mazeroski, Bob Moose, Willie Stargell, Pie Traynor
St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis Perfectos St. Louis Browns (NL)	7	Ray Blades, Al Brazle, Bob Gibson, Pepper Martin, Terry Moore, Stan Musial, Tom Pagnozzi
San Diego Padres	—	2	Tim Flannery, Tony Gwynn
San Francisco Giants	New York Giants	15	Matt Cain, Harry Danning, Jim Davenport, Scott Garrelts, Carl Hubbell, Travis Jackson, Jo-Jo Moore, Mel Ott, Buster Posey, Hal Schumacher, Bill Terry, Robby Thompson, Mike Tiernan, Wes Westrum, Ross Youngs
Seattle Mariners	—	1	Edgar Martínez
Texas Rangers	Washington Senators (1961–71)	0	—
Tampa Bay Rays	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	0	—
Toronto Blue Jays	—	0	—
Washington Nationals	Montreal Expos	1	Steve Rogers

Active players [edit]

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.

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.

See also [edit]

• 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 National Football League 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 [edit]

Researched through the Baseball-Reference.com website.

1. ^ "Buster Posey announces retirement". MLB.com . Retrieved November 4, 2021.
2. ^ "Gene Alley".
3. ^ "Bob Allison".
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak} "Most Seasons Played". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 4, 2018. sort by Franchises column
5. ^ "Joe Astroth".
6. ^ "Jerry Augustine".
7. ^ "Jeff Bagwell".
8. ^ "Johnny Bench".
9. ^ "Bruce Benedict".
10. ^ "Carson Bigbee".
11. ^ "Ray Blades".
12. ^ "Steve Blass".
13. ^ "Ryan Braun Stats".
14. ^ "Al Brazle".
15. ^ "Tommy Bridges".
16. ^ "Gates Brown".
17. ^ "Randy Bush".
18. ^ "Matt Cain".
19. ^ "Roy Campanella".
20. ^ "Bill Carrigan".
21. ^ "Spud Chandler".
22. ^ "Larry Christenson".
23. ^ "Joe Collins".
24. ^ "Earle Combs".
25. ^ "Frankie Crosetti".
26. ^ "John Danks".
27. ^ "Harry Danning".
28. ^ "Rich Dauer".
29. ^ "Hooks Dauss".
30. ^ "Jim Davenport".
31. ^ "Bill Dickey".
32. ^ "Dom DiMaggio".
33. ^ "Joe DiMaggio".
34. ^ "Gary Disarcina".
35. ^ "Bobby Doerr".
36. ^ "Don Drysdale".
37. ^ "Carl Erskine".
38. ^ "Andre Ethier".
39. ^ "Tim Flannery".
40. ^ "Whitey Ford".
41. ^ "Dick Fowler".
42. ^ "Bill Freehan".
43. ^ "Carl Furillo".
44. ^ "Jim Gantner".
45. ^ "Scott Garrelts".
46. ^ "Lou Gehrig".
47. ^ "Patsy Gharrity".
48. ^ "Jake Gibbs".
49. ^ "Bob Gibson".
50. ^ "Jim Gilliam".
51. ^ https://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article246049090.html
52. ^ "Jack Graney".
53. ^ "Dick Green".
54. ^ "Mike Greenwell".
55. ^ "Orval Grove".
56. ^ "Ron Guidry".
57. ^ "Stan Hack".
58. ^ "Terry Harmon".
59. ^ "Todd Helton".
60. ^ "Tommy Henrich".
61. ^ "Bobby Higginson".
62. ^ "John Hiller".
63. ^ "Ron Hodges".
64. ^ "Chris Hoiles".
65. ^ "Ryan Howard".
66. ^ "Kent Hrbek".
67. ^ "Carl Hubbell".
68. ^ "Fred Hutchinson".
69. ^ "Travis Jackson".
70. ^ "Arndt Jorgens".
71. ^ "Ron Karkovice".
72. ^ "Sandy Koufax".
73. ^ "Ray Kremer".
74. ^ "Vern Law".
75. ^ "Sam Leever".
76. ^ "Bob Lemon".
77. ^ "Dennis Leonard".
78. ^ "Buddy Lewis".
79. ^ "Pepper Martin".
80. ^ "Don Mattingly".
81. ^ "Twins' Joe Mauer on retirement: 'Risk of concussion is always there'". ESPN. November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
82. ^ "Bill Mazeroski".
83. ^ "Gil McDougald".
84. ^ "Scott McGregor".
85. ^ "Clyde Milan".
86. ^ "Bob Miller".
87. ^ "Otto Miller".
88. ^ "Bob Montgomery".
89. ^ "Jo-Jo Moore".
90. ^ "Terry Moore".
91. ^ "Bob Moose".
92. ^ "Guy Morton".
93. ^ "Johnny Mostil".
94. ^ "Pat Mullin".
95. ^ "Thurman Munson".
96. ^ "Mike Norris".
97. ^ "Ron Oester".
98. ^ "Tony Oliva".
99. ^ "Tom Pagnozzi".
100. ^ "Mel Parnell".
101. ^ "Dustin Pedroia Stats".
102. ^ "Glen Perkins".
103. ^ "Rico Petrocelli".
104. ^ "Biff Pocoroba".
105. ^ "Jorge Posada".
106. ^ "Buster Posey".
107. ^ "Kirby Puckett".
108. ^ "Brad Radke".
109. ^ "Pee Wee Reese".
110. ^ "Jim Rice".
111. ^ "J.R. Richard".
112. ^ "Bobby Richardson".
113. ^ "Phil Rizzuto".
114. ^ "Jackie Robinson".
115. ^ "Steve Rogers".
116. ^ "Red Rolfe".
117. ^ "Eddie Rommel".
118. ^ "Al Rosen".
119. ^ "Nap Rucker".
120. ^ "Tim Salmon".
121. ^ "Hal Schumacher".
122. ^ "Mike Scioscia".
123. ^ "Scot Shields".
124. ^ "Sibby Sisti".
125. ^ "Vic Sorrell".
126. ^ "Mario Soto".
127. ^ "Paul Splittorff".
128. ^ "Mike Squires".
129. ^ "Bob Stanley".
130. ^ "Mickey Stanley".
131. ^ "Mel Stottlemyre".
132. ^ "Pete Suder".
133. ^ "Lee Tannehill".
134. ^ "Bill Terry".
135. ^ "Robby Thompson".
136. ^ "Mike Tiernan".
137. ^ "Cecil Travis".
138. ^ "Pie Traynor".
139. ^ "Jason Varitek".
140. ^ "John Wathan".
141. ^ "Bill Wegman".
142. ^ "Wes Westrum".
143. ^ "Roy White".
144. ^ "Bernie Williams".
145. ^ "Larry Woodall".
146. ^ "David Wright".
147. ^ "Ross Youngs".
148. ^ "Bug Holliday Stats". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved May 26, 2019.
149. ^ "Bug Holliday". Retrosheet . Retrieved May 26, 2019.

Further reading [edit]

• 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)

Best Athletes to Stay on One Team Their Whole Career

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_who_spent_their_entire_career_with_one_franchise

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