World Series 2016: ’90s kids will love playing in this Fall Classic
CLEVELAND Perhaps it’s fitting that the record was set in the 1991 World Series. It was Game 3, 25 years ago, when Atlanta and Minnesota played 12 innings, and 25-year-old David Justice scored the winning run.That game featured 13 players age 25 and younger, the youngest being 21-year-old Atlanta starter Steve Avery, who pitched seven solid innings in his World Series debut. Of the 13 young players in the game, nine belonged to Atlanta Avery, Jeff Blauser, Francisco Cabrera, Brian Hunter, Justice, Kent Mercker, Keith Mitchell, Mike Stanton and Mark Wohlers. Though not all of those players went on to be part of the core of the team of the 1990s, is it any wonder that Atlanta went on to such succe s in the decade while building around a young nucleus?MORE:The best active MLBplayers by age, 21 to 43This year, that record of 13 players is facing a rare threat, from players all too young to remember it being set, and it’s a testament to both the health of the game and the long-term positive future of the Jurickson Profar Jersey teams involved. The record only stands to fall if 25-year-old Trevor Bauer’s start goes long, or if the drone enthusiast’s pinkie becomes a bloody me s again, as it did in the ALCS but still,that it’s a po sibility is a sign that Cleveland and the Cubs are built for the long haul.Bauer and fellow pitchers Mike Clevinger (25) and Ryan Merritt (24) make up half of Cleveland’s youth contingent, joined by the American League champions’ best player, 22-year-old shortstop Francisco Lindor and key contributors Jose Ramirez (24) and Tyler Naquin (25).The Cubs have the likely National League MVP in 24-year-old third baseman Kris Bryant, joined by Albert Almora Jr. (22), Javier Baez (23), Willson Contreras (24), Carl Edwards Jr. (25), Addison Ru sell (22), Kyle Schwarber (23) and Jorge Soler (24).It’s a sign of an overall sea change in baseball that’s been going on since the last generation peaked with the 2009 World Series. Edinson Volquez Jersey In the final game of that one, as the Yankees knocked off the Phillies, the only 25-and-under player to appear was Joba Chamberlain, for one inning of relief. As fate would have it, Chamberlain stands to get a ring this year if Cleveland wins, as at the age of 30 he pitched 20 games for them before being released in July.MORE: World Series MVPs through the yearsThe age of players now, 25 and younger, they’re the best players in the game, Shane Victorino, who was 28 when he played for the 2009 Phillies, told Sporting News this spring when he was in camp with the Cubs. When I came up, it was the opposite. It was like 35 or 32 to 40, the older players were at the top of the list. Now, it’s reversed, and the young guys are coming up and it’s like, ‘Here we are, we’re taking over the game!’ That’s what makes this fun for me, being the veteran. I learned from guys like J-Roll (Jimmy Rollins) and now I’m on the opposite of it. It’s fun and it’s great.Victorino said that with full knowledge that he probably was not going to get a job because he was being pushed aside by the younger players who have made this Cubs team as Nolan Ryan Jersey good as it is. Now, they’re in the World Series with a Cleveland team that has nearly as much youth, and it is indeed fun and great.