From the first season to today

Baseball

In 1871, the first season of organized professional baseball on record, a 21-year-old infielder named Davy Force was playing for the Washington Olympics. In 2026, Kevin McGonigle made his debut. They were born more than a century apart, and they’re connected by just nine teammate links. Out of 21,482 players on 3,135 team-seasons, no pair from those two seasons is closer.

1. 1Davy Force1871–1886

   teammates on the 1880 Buffalo Bisons

2. 2Arlie Latham1880–1909

   teammates on the 1909 New York Giants

3. 3Rube Marquard1908–1925

   teammates on the 1922 Boston Braves

4. 4Johnny Cooney1921–1944

   teammates on the 1944 Brooklyn Dodgers

5. 5Eddie Miksis1944–1958

   teammates on the 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs

6. 6Vada Pinson1958–1975

   teammates on the 1972 California Angels

7. 7Nolan Ryan1966–1993

   teammates on the 1991 Texas Rangers

8. 8Ivan Rodriguez1991–2011

   teammates on the 2005 Detroit Tigers

9. 9Justin Verlander2005–2026

   teammates on the 2026 Detroit Tigers

10. 10Kevin McGonigle2026

Arlie Latham debuted with the 1880 Buffalo Bisons and was still around in 1909, when he played a few games for the New York Giants as a 49-year-old coach. On that Giants team was a young pitcher in his first full season, Rube Marquard.

The rest of the chain does the same thing, over and over. Nolan Ryan pitched until he was 46, long enough to throw to a teenaged Ivan Rodriguez in Texas. Rodriguez caught until he was 39, long enough to catch a 22-year-old Justin Verlander in Detroit. And Verlander was still pitching for the Tigers when this year's rookies came up.

Baseball has the longest history in our data by far, back to the first professional season, so it takes the most links. It's also the sport where careers run longest: pitchers and catchers into their 40s, coaches who suited up for a game or two.

Basketball

In 1946, the first season of the league that became the NBA, Clarence Hermsen was playing for the Cleveland Rebels. In 2025, Keshon Gilbert made his debut. They’re seven links apart.

1. 1Clarence Hermsen1946–1952

   teammates on the 1950 Boston Celtics

2. 2Bob Cousy1950–1969

   teammates on the 1969 Cincinnati Royals

3. 3Fred Foster1968–1976

   teammates on the 1976 Buffalo Braves

4. 4Moses Malone1976–1994

   teammates on the 1994 San Antonio Spurs

5. 5Howard Eisley1994–2005

   teammates on the 2005 Denver Nuggets

6. 6Earl Watson2001–2013

   teammates on the 2013 Portland Trail Blazers

7. 7CJ McCollum2013–2025

   teammates on the 2025 Atlanta Hawks

8. 8Keshon Gilbert2025

Bob Cousy came into the league with the 1950 Celtics and retired in 1963, then came back at 41 to play seven games for the Cincinnati Royals, the team he was coaching. That comeback carries the chain into the 1970s.

Moses Malone, who went from high school to the ABA, played his first two NBA games for the Buffalo Braves in 1976. His last season was 1994-95 in San Antonio, where a rookie named Howard Eisley was on the roster. Two journeyman point guards do the rest: Eisley played into the mid-2000s, alongside Earl Watson in Denver, and Watson finished his career in Portland in 2013-14, the season CJ McCollum arrived.

Basketball's data starts with the league itself, the 1946-47 BAA. Rosters are small, about 15 players, so there are fewer links to choose from than in any other sport, but a few very long careers bridge the decades.

Football

In 1970, the first season in our football data, Ken Stabler was playing for the Oakland Raiders. In 2026, Nik Constantinou made his debut. They’re four links apart.

1. 1Ken Stabler1970–1984

   teammates on the 1982 New Orleans Saints

2. 2Morten Andersen1982–2007

   teammates on the 2007 Atlanta Falcons

3. 3Matt Prater2007–2025

   teammates on the 2015 Detroit Lions

4. 4Michael Burton2015–2026

   teammates on the 2026 Cleveland Browns

5. 5Nik Constantinou2026

Football careers are short, but kickers' aren't, and two of them do most of the work here. Ken Stabler finished his career with the Saints, where a rookie named Morten Andersen took over as the kicker in 1982. Andersen kicked until he was 47. In his last season, 2007, Atlanta started the year with a young kicker named Matt Prater and brought Andersen back when Prater struggled.

Prater went on to kick for most of two decades, which is how two links cover more than 40 years.

Our football rosters start in 1970, the year of the AFL-NFL merger, so the chain covers half a century, not the league's full history. Rosters of 53 players and more put a huge number of players on every team, and that makes the sport small: a few links reach from the merger to this year's rookies.

Hockey

In 1967, the first season in our hockey data, Wayne Cashman was playing for the Boston Bruins. In 2026, Igor Chernyshov made his debut. They’re four links apart.

1. 1Wayne Cashman1967–1982

   teammates on the 1979 Boston Bruins

2. 2Ray Bourque1979–2000

   teammates on the 1999 Boston Bruins

3. 3Mike Knuble1996–2012

   teammates on the 2011 Washington Capitals

4. 4Dmitry Orlov2011–2026

   teammates on the 2026 San Jose Sharks

5. 5Igor Chernyshov2026

Wayne Cashman spent his whole career in Boston, long enough to be the veteran when an 18-year-old Ray Bourque arrived in 1979. Bourque stayed with the Bruins for 21 seasons, and one of his last teammates there was Mike Knuble, who was still playing in Washington in 2011 alongside a rookie Dmitry Orlov.

Our hockey rosters start with the 1967 expansion, when the NHL doubled from six teams to twelve. Like football, a chain through those six decades needs only a few links: long careers on the blue line and in goal, and players who moved between contenders.

Soccer

In 1963, the first season in our soccer data, Juan Maraver was playing for the Sevilla FC. In 2025, Jan Virgili made his debut. They’re three links apart.

1. 1Juan Maraver1963–1987

   teammates on the 1987 Celta de Vigo

2. 2Jorge Otero1987–2002

   teammates on the 2002 Atlético de Madrid

3. 3Iván Cuéllar2002–2025

   teammates on the 2025 RCD Mallorca

4. 4Jan Virgili2025

Our soccer rosters cover Europe's top five leagues from 1963-64, and players move between those leagues all the time, so a chain can cross countries as easily as decades.