Nation's Oldest Major Leaguer Dies at 99

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Posted By: Nickinvegas

Interesting story(obligatory credit to the good people at the AP)...He pitched to the Babe!


By Associated Press

January 3, 2004, 2:27 PM CST


DEEP RIVER, Conn. -- Paul Hopkins, who gave up a record-tying home run to Babe Ruth in 1927 and was the oldest former major league player, died at 99.

He died Friday after a brief illness, son Peter Hopkins said Saturday.

Paul Hopkins pitched just two seasons, joining the Washington Senators after playing for Colgate.

He made his major league debut at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 29, 1927. Ruth hit his record-tying 59th homer of the season off Hopkins.

Hopkins told The Hartford Courant in 1998 he didn't know he would face Ruth when he was summoned in the fifth inning with the bases loaded.

"Then (Ruth) strolled out from the Yankee bench and walked up to the plate," he said. "I was not excited or awed."

Hopkins' last season was 1929 when he left the St. Louis Browns because of a pulled tendon, finishing his career with a 1-1 record. The right-hander returned to his native Connecticut to work at a bank.

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Posted By: John(z28jd)

Ray Cunningham,a third baseman who played briefly for the Cardinals in 1931-32 is now the oldest former ballplayer.He turns 99 on the 17th of this month

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Posted By: Julie

that these guys who were born shortly after the turn of the century are, on an average, living way longer than the average person born in their times--99 seems old to us, but it's fairly astonishing for people born that long ago. (I was born in 1935. No penicilan, but they had sulfa drugs, and doctors had been washing their hands for nearly 3/4 of a century. Some people ate well (healthily), and almost no American babies simply "died in infancy.")

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Posted By: Pete Zouras

of surviving each additional year once you turn age 99. As more people make it to that age, for the reasons you state, the population of people surviving past it will grow as well. If America has 100,000 people age 99, we can predict that 49 will make it to 110 (so-called "super-centenarians"). That number grows proportionate to the number of people starting at age 99.

The number of infant deaths of US males born in 1905 was 12,792 (for every 100,000 births). Infant deaths of US males born in 1935 was 5,848. US males born in 1997 died at a rate of 795 (per 100,000). Clearly surviving birth for people born in 1905 was no mean feat.

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Posted By: Nickinvegas

As the father of a 1.1LB baby boy I can tell you science of Neonatology has come a long way. Babies that had no chance of survival even 5 years ago are able to make it today. Childbirth before the 1940's was at a minimum a risky venture...

Nick

PS:My little guy is 17lbs. now!