Fast runners and strong pitchers – you probably think that MLB baseball is a game for those who are young only. But impressively, there are older players in the MLB who still rule the games! Here are three players who seems like they have turned back time and discovered baseball’s fountain of youth. Youthful Vibes is indeed a key for a team to win the MLB cup and for you to win your MLB betting too.
Chipper Jones
More than 20 years following the release of his now famous (but sadly overproduced) 1991 Topps No. 1 draft pick rookie card, Atlanta Braves third basemen Chipper Jones continues to wow baseball fans. As a baseball fan, it has been truly an enjoyable experience to watch Jones excel this season. Coming off of a 2011 campaign in which it looked like Jones was going to hang up his spikes for good, Jones has returned to super-stardom with fury. Saturday’s game versus the Colorado Rockies was case in point. At the tender age of 40, Jones went 3-for-6 with a double. More impressively, Jones tied his career high of five RBI.
While Jones says this is his last season, it would be very hard to walk away from the game of baseball if he had a monster year. As it stands now, this lifetime .300 hitter is just 364 hits shy of 3,000. He is also just 41 home runs short of 500. Jones achieving both feats would catapult this sure-fire Hall of Fame ballplayer into a debate regarding who the best third baseman in baseball history is.
Ichiro Suzuki
At 38 years old Suzuki has thus far seemed to return to his former state. No longer the Mariners' leadoff hitter, Suzuki has thrived in the third spot in the team’s lineup. Currently, Suzuki is hitting .303 in 29 games for the Mariners. He is tied for fifth place in the big leagues with 36 hits. With 2,464 hits, Suzuki is two years younger than Jones, which puts him in much better position to top the 3,000-hits plateau in his career. Should Suzuki achieve this feat, he will have amassed a total of 4,278 hits (blending his time with the Orix Blue Wave and Seattle Mariners). That is 18 hits more than Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose (4,256).
Regardless of which side that fans sit on the Pete Rose versus Ichiro Suzuki aisle, this is a great achievement no matter how one categorizes it.
Derek Jeter
Speaking of achievement, how fun has Derek Jeter been to watch this season? Jeter is the consummate Renaissance man. Currently, the soon to be 38-year-old shortstop is hitting an astounding .390 with a league leading 46 hits. His OPS is 1.010. And with five home runs, 15 RBI and a .585 slugging percentage, Jeter is also on a bit of a power tear. With 3,134 hits, Jeter has his sights set on passing San Diego Padres icon Tony Gwynn (3,141) for 17th place on the all-time big league hits chart. Barring injury, Jeter should also pass Robin Yount (3,142 hits), Paul Waner (3,152), George Brett (3,154) and Cal Ripken Jr. (3,184) this season to climb to 13th place.
Should Jeter stay healthy the next few years, he has a great shot to eventually pass Hank Aaron for third place on the all-time hits list Recent polling suggests that roughly 77 percent of fans think Jeter will eventually break Aaron’s record. This alone feat alone is worth watching Jeter the next three to four years. As a Jeter fan, I hope the baseball gods let this iconic shortstop remain healthy enough to achieve this grand feat.
The New York Yankees is still my favorite team to put my MLB betting and this is for so many reasons including Derek Jeter. Experience plus youthful vibes is the key to success in baseball and luckily Jeter and the rest of the guys in this list, have it. So don’t forget to give their teams extra points on your MLB betting because I know they will help their team come far in this MLB season.
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