Erik Pappas, the former big league who is still playing at the age of 57 with the Greek national team

In modern baseball, where more and more opportunities are given to young people, active players over 40 years old seem to be a dying breed, but there are also others, such as former Major League player Erik Pappas, who continue to play 57 years old.

In recent years it has been very common to see MLB players or former players join European baseball teams, such as Roger Bernadina and Didi Gregorius with the Netherlands, Ty Kelly and Ryan Lavarnway with Israel, and more recently Eric Sogard with the Czech Republic. , but Pappas’s is a special case because in his longevity, he is part of the Gracia selection.

Serving as the second catcher and substitute for the first baseman, the greatest virtue of the former Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals player is his experience that, despite being just three seasons in the Majors, looks quite extensive compared to players from Europe where baseball is not that popular sport.

But this is not the first time that Pappas represents the Greek team, and he joined them when he found out that Greece was going to hold the Olympic Games in 2004. Precisely the youngest player in this European team, he was born in the year of celebration of that Olympic fair.

It was that sporting event that motivated the recipient to come out of retirement since, at that event, he was almost 40 years old.

“I wasn’t playing baseball at all. I had no interest in playing in those over-30 leagues. About five years ago, I heard about the Olympics and the possibility of Greece having a team, and I thought, ‘Great. I’ll be 38 years old.’ I didn’t think the team interested me,” Erik Pappas told Baseball America on that occasion.

The Chicago-born player did not play in Greece’s 14-1 loss to Spain, however, he is expected to take at least a pinch-hit turn in some of the next two games against the Czech Republic on Monday or against Austria on Tuesday.

With information from MLB.com.

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