Career Lengths in the 40s & 50s

[pwdennis]

The Duke Snider HOF thread brought up the issue of relatively short careers for players during the this period. I think two factors were at work here:

A) Interruptions for WW2 and The Korean War
B) Integration of MLB starting in 1947

In the Duke Sniker thread, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella are cited as being among the stars who had fairly short carrers in MLB. It should be noted that Jackie Robinson was already 28 years old when he got his shot at the big time. Campy, a catcher, was suspected of being older than his given age, and was alrading fading badly at the time of his tragic accident . Many other black stars such as Minoso got a very late start.

Many black athletes of the period falsified their ages in order to enhance their attractiveness to MLB. Hence the appearence of a relatively young career fade.

MLB teams integrated over a period of time (I think that the Yankees and Red Sox were among the last to integrate) and were very wary of adding too many black players. A black athlete really had to dazzle in order to be given a decent chance of a place on a MLB roster. Those that did get an opportunity often had a relatively short shelf life (Larry Doby, George Crowe) for the reasons above.

[Max Power]

I think the fact that there were fewer teams and more competition (as well as cheaper competition) for jobs also had something to do with it.

Guys like Shawon Dunstion today would never be able to hang around in the 1940's and 1950's, I think.

Why paid a fading or faded star when you have some young buck waiting in the wings?

[poorme]

Originally posted by Max Power

Guys like Shawon Dunstion today would never be able to hang around in the 1940's and 1950's, I think.

There's a chance he'd be an all-star in the 40's and 50's. That is, if he were allowed to play.

[KCBOOMER]

I would say that the wars, integration, and tougher competition, plus the absolute dominance of the owners were the primary reasons.

Also guys didn't make as much money playing then which probably made mediocre players more willing to retire and get on with their lives.

[SmedIndy]

One thing, though, that in the 40's and the beginning of the 50's, you could play in an independent minor league still and be treated like a king and make good money.

In the past, a lot of guys who lost a ML job spent 8 to 10 years in the PCL or the Gulf States League, wherever they could get a steady gig.

[LeGrandOrange]

Originally posted by poorme


There's a chance he'd be an all-star in the 40's and 50's. That is, if he were allowed to play.

Shawon was an all-star twice in the 80's anyway. (Don't start with the 1990 debate) If he plays enough defense, he gets to the all-star game in any era the way he plays. But in the 40's and 50's, his career would certainly be much shorter, and he'd be managing in the minor leagues by now. (Yes, I see him managing)

[Max Power]

This thread is not about Shawon Dunston. Thanks.

[Craig S.]

In that era, you had to keep proving yourself year after year, far more than do current players. If not, there was someone waiting to take your spot. A lot of those guys in the minors obviously were major-league caliber, but simply couldn't find work. Short careers seem like they would have been commonplace in such a system.

[Skip]

Do you wish it was that way still? Part of me does - it'd be nice to see everyone more serious about staying in shape and playing to their best (Mo??)

[Craig S.]

Originally posted by Skip
Do you wish it was that way still? Part of me does - it'd be nice to see everyone more serious about staying in shape and playing to their best (Mo??)

It would be nice to see players take their jobs more seriously. Obviously, players in that era got shafted on a number of fronts by the owners, but playing to keep your job is appealing. Tough to do now with all those multi-year contracts, and I can imagine how the Players' Union would react if you tried to tie too much in the way of finances to the shape of the player.

[sweaver]

It still works that way, as much as it ever did. When the minors were bigger, and teams had more players under contract, it was easier to come up with a replacement for a marginal player, perhaps.

[SmedIndy]

One would think that these athletes have enough professional pride not to slack off if they receive a big contract.

It may seem that way, but there could be other things going on, like nagging injuries, or moving to a new enviornment, that could lower performance.

But back in the day, sometimes it was a choice of playing in the PCL or Southern League, or the Browns, Senators, Phillies, or A's. And many chose the minors, with good reason.