He’s been in the big leagues for a couple weeks now, but seeing that I update whenever a minor league player 30 years of age or older makes his big league debut, I thought I’d write about one who fits that profile—Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman John Lindsey.
33-year-old John Lindsey made his major league debut on September 8, along with five other players. Lindsey’s debut may have meant a little bit more—to him, at least—because he’d been waiting longer—much longer—than the others who made it to The Show that day.
Lindsey began his minor league career in 1995—yeah, 15 years ago—playing in the Colorado Rockies system. He didn’t show too much promise at first, hitting below .250 every other year for the first five years of his career. Nor did he display the power that would one day make him stand out at the minor league level.
Sure, he hit 14 home runs in 1998, however it was not until 2002 that he developed into his own—he became a fearsome power hitter. That year, he slugged 22 home runs with 93 RBI. Two years later, he hit 19 dingers and drove 72 runs in. He played in independent ball for most of 2005 and 2006, however he was back in full force for the 2007 season.
That year, Lindsey hit 30 home runs with 121 RBI and the next year, he hit 26 home runs with 100 RBI. By this point, he was an established minor league slugger who could also hit for average—by 2007, he’d hit .300 or greater three seasons in a row.
Age was not on his side, however. Being a late bloomer in the minors did not bode well for his career—by the time he had his 30 home run season, he was already 30 years old—a bittersweet way to celebrate the big 3-0.
Despite being 33 years old in 2010, however, Lindsey was having a year that merited a call-up, no matter what the age—he’d been hitting .350 with 25 home runs and 97 RBI, to go along with a career-high 41 doubles. To not earn a promotion after a year like that would have been a travesty.
Travesty averted. Lindsey was called up to the major leagues after a decade and a half of minor league baseball. 219 minor league home runs later, he finally earned the promotion he’d been waiting for year after year.
