... take a look at who's playing 3B for the White Sox- Omar Vizquel. Vizquel turned 43 years old back in April, yes, forty-three years old, and is in his 22nd year in Major League Baseball. In his 22 years in MLB he has played with Seattle (5 years), Cleveland, (11 years), San Francisco (4 years), Texas (1 year), and Chicago this year. He has played in 2,830 games, which gives him an average of 129 games per year. If you take away his 6 lowest years, that average shoots up to 148 games per year. His primary position over those years has been shortstop. He has played a handful of games at 2B, but this year the White Sox have moved him over to the hot corner for most of his games so far, where he is sporting a .985 fielding percentage, with only 2 errors this year. He has won 11 Gold Glove awards. After reading his bio, you can see that he is one of the truly great class ball players in the league.
While it currently looks as if this year may be the last for 36 year old third baseman Mike Lowell turned first baseman, I still maintain that 36 years of age does not mean you are washed up! (At 36 y.o., I was still riding my mountain bike 30 mile round trips with a 2800' elevation gain, and skiing down double black diamond trails.) If not for the injured hip, he might still be hitting .290 or better, while playing in 150 games a year.
Mike Lowell is one of the class acts of MLB. Should he heal up all his aching joints and bones, and not hang up his cleats at the end of this season, here's hoping that he finds that full time playing position. (Beltre wants too much money, Lowell heals up and swaps positions with Youk? I suppose it could happen.)
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