Off the wall trivia question

[Nine of twelve]

I thought of this out of the blue and I don't want to take the time to research it but here's the question:

Beginning in 1901, which is considered to be the first year of the modern era of baseball, what is the shortest overlapping chain of players who played in the majors? By overlapping I mean players would have to play in the same year to be part of the chain.

To illustrate what I mean, here's the hypothetical scenario. Say there was a player who played every year from 1901 through 1921, another who played 1921-1941, another who played 1941-1961, another who played 1961-1981, another who played 1981-2001, and another who played 2001-2018. That would be a chain of 6 players.

I suppose a good place to start would be to find players who had very long careers. For example, Jim Kaat comes to mind (25 years).

[gunnarthor]

I can do it with six. Pretty sure you can't do it with 5.

 

Sam Crawford 1899-1917

Roger Hornsby 1915-1937

Phil Cavvarrettta 1934-1955 (no years lost to the war)

Brooks Robinson 1955-1977

Dennis Martinez 1976-1998

Adrian Beltre 1998-Present

 

[IndianaTwin]

I found a string as short as 6:

 

1. Tommy Leach (1898-1918)

2. Jimmy Dykes (1918-1939)

3. Phil Cavaretta (1934-1955) (Note -- there were several players who started in 1939 and played later than Cavaretta, but they all missed at least one season during WWII.)

4. Brooks Robinson (1955-77)

5. Dennis Martinez (1976-98)

6. Adrian Beltre (1998-2018)

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/leaders_most_seasons.shtml

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

If you cheat and start with Connie Mack, you might get to five.

[IndianaTwin]

 

I can do it with six. Pretty sure you can't do it with 5.

 

Sam Crawford 1899-1917

Roger Hornsby 1915-1937

Phil Cavvarrettta 1934-1955 (no years lost to the war)

Brooks Robinson 1955-1977

Dennis Martinez 1976-1998

Adrian Beltre 1998-Present

 

We had the same from Cavaretta on.

 

Going backwards, a better person for both of us is Babe Ruth, from 1914-35. There are several guys who could start the string, going from 1901 or before until 1914. Bobby Wallace played from 1894-1918, which was the earliest starting string for six players that I could come up with. 

[gunnarthor]

 

If you cheat and start with Connie Mack, you might get to five.

Yeah, managers you could easily do with five - Mack, Eddie Sawyer, Gene Mauch, Leyland, Mattingly

[Nine of twelve]

Very cool responses!

[Nine of twelve]

Phil Cavarretta appears to be the key. He was good enough to play before and after WWII but was excused from military service during the war, apparently because of a hearing problem. Not many players of that era who were good enough to have long careers stayed out of the military.