Better With Age 

As we all know, players tend to lose a step on the base paths when they get older and it’s not uncommon that the power numbers tail off too.  

Some guys are able to maintain their power well into their 30’s and a few of them are making a splash in this year’s All American Home Run Derby players pool. 

Here is a look at the Top 5 pool players over the age of 35.

Chipper Jones

Chipper might not be the Jones that hit 51 HR in a year, but he has hit at least 30 on six occasions.  He came just one HR shy of that mark last year, but his 10 round trippers this year trail only Chase Utley and Lance Berkman, so he’s well on his way to 30 again.

Manny Ramirez

Manny has always been a monster at the plate and has eleven 30+ HR seasons under his belt and 5 of those years, he cleared the 40 HR plateau.  Many experts thought that age had finally caught up with him when he only hit 20 HR last year.  That was his lowest total since 1994 when he only played in 91 games.  With 7 HR so far this year, Manny seems to be Manny again.

Jim Thome

Thome also has eleven seasons of 30 or more homeruns, but unlike Manny, he has 6 seasons of 40+ and a career high of 52 HR in the 2002 season.  He’s hit an average of one homerun every 4 games since turning 30 years old and the only thing that seems to slow him down is the occasional injury.  He has 6 HR in 32 games this year. 

Ken Griffey Jr.

The question with Griffey is always, “what if?”  What if he hadn’t battled injuries his entire career?  Would we be talking about the greatest HR hitter ever?  The man who owns the best swing in baseball has 9 seasons of 30 or more HR, but 7 of those years he hit 40 or more, including back-to-back seasons of 56 HR.  Last year, at the age of 37, he hit 30 homeruns and proved to everyone that he’s still a force to be reckoned with when he steps up to the plate.

Carlos Delgado

Delgado has had 10 seasons of 30 or more homeruns, but the interesting part is that it was in 10 consecutive seasons.  You could make a very good case that Delgado has been a model of consistency for a decade, but you can also argue that the end of the streak last year marked the beginning a power loss.  He still managed 24 HR and has 4 this year, but he hasn’t remained a threat like his counterparts listed above.