Rick Porcello of the Detroit Tigers is the current MLB player with the youngest age in the American League. Clayton Kershaw of the National League Dodgers is the current MLB's youngest player. He was born on January 31, 1990.
Porcello made his debut on April 16, 2011 vs the Chicago White Sox. In this game he only pitched one inning but didn't allow any runs or get any strikeouts. The rookie pitcher received a no-decision as the Tigers lost 1-0. Porcello spent most of 2011 at Triple-A Toledo where he went 9-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 22 games (20 starts). In 2012, he started 13 games for the Tigers and had a 4-4 record with a 4.26 ERA before being shut down due to shoulder pain that required surgery later in the season. Porcello returned from the disabled list on August 5 after posting a 2-1 record with a 2.11 ERA in four September games.
He is the first Tiger since Max Scherzer in 2010 to win the Rookie of the Year Award without making an appearance in Major League Baseball. Scherzer was awarded the honor despite not making his debut with the Washington Nationals until after the conclusion of the regular season. With his victory, Porcello became the first Tiger rookie to win the award since Dave Rozema in 1967.
Harvey Haddix, pitcher for St. Louis. Koback was the youngest player in Pittsburgh history when he made his MLB debut at the age of 18 years and 10 days. On July 31, he made his first professional start at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. He became the second-youngest player in MLB history (trailing only Harvey Haddix) after entering the game in relief of starter Jeff Francis. The next day, August 1, 2003, Koback hit his first career home run off Randy Wolf of the San Diego Padres.
In four seasons with the Pirates, he played 82 games once, hitting.272 with six homers and 26 RBIs. He spent part of 2010 back with the Pirates' minor league system before being released on March 30.
The youngest Pirate was Rod Scurry, who was 20 years and 298 days old when he made his debut on April 16, 1973. He finished his career with two seasons and three months as a Pirate, batting.273 with 19 HRs and 85 RBIs.
This list includes players who were born in January or February. Notable exceptions include Roberto Clemente, Tony Cuccinello, and Andy Van Slyke, all of whom were born in December.
Cuccinello and Van Slyke both played several years with the Pirates before moving on to play other positions.
Sandy Koufax is a pitcher. Sandy Koufax, a former Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed pitcher, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 19, 1972. Koufax became the youngest player ever chosen at the age of 36 years and 20 days. He was selected by vote of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).
Koufax debuted with the Dodgers in April of 1955 and over the next five seasons went 42-25 with a 2.64 ERA. In his career with the Dodgers, he won two National League pennants and one World Series ring. After his successful run with the franchise that drafted him, he decided to turn down $750,000 dollars to play baseball elsewhere. This made him uncoachable by today's standards but at the time it was seen as a great deal for both the player and the team. He died at the age of 37 after being hit by a car while walking his dog.
The youngest player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame is Joe Jackson who was only 18 years old when he first played in Major League Baseball in 1901. Jackson played all over the field for the Chicago White Sox during his three-year career, batting.275 with 16 home runs and 116 RBIs. He returned to the White Sox in 1904 and 1905 before finishing his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1906.
Trivia and Records Ott was the youngest NL player to accomplish 1,000 hits at the age of 27, while Jimmie Foxx was the youngest AL player to do it at the age of 27 years, 236 days. Hank Greenberg became the big league's fastest player to reach 1,000 RBIs, doing it in his 1,026th game. Greenberg also owns the AL record for this accomplishment.
Ott's average of.462 is the highest by an American League batter before 1950. The AL record is still held by Ted Williams at.462 in 1947.
In 1957, Bill Mazeroski hit a ball that came down on 3rd base with 2 out and no one covering. In fact, he hit it so well that it went over the head of anyone standing in front of the plate. However, since nobody was out, Mazeroski was awarded a base on balls. This is one of only two cases in Major League history where this has happened. The other time was in 1912 when Ed Delahanty was awarded a base on balls after hitting a ball that went over the head of everyone but who should show up but Delahanty himself to take advantage of the error. This incident occurred in the first inning of a game played between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Highlanders. Delahanty would go on to score the first run of the game from third base on the error.
Willie Mays became the National League's youngest 500-home run hitter at the age of 34 years and 130 days. He hit his 500th career homer on April 17, 1975. While playing for the San Diego Padres, he got two hits out of three total times to the plate during that year's World Series against the Boston Red Sox. That's when we know about his milestone homer that tied the game up at 3 and sent it into extra innings. In the 11th inning of this very same game, Mays hit another shot over the left-field wall to give his team a 4-3 victory.
This mark has since been topped by several players including Alex Rodriguez (34 years and 279 days), Mark McGwire (35 years and 71 days), and Barry Bonds (37 years and 365 days).
Mays' career high in homers was 30, which he reached four times. His average of 1.7 homers per season is the lowest among players who have reached 500 homers.
He finished his career with 562 homers, a.276 average, 1636 RBI, and a.919 OPS. He remains one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.
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