‘LOS VIEJOS’ THEY AREN’T
WASHINGTON—National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidate Anthony Rendon surveyed his teammates scattered around the Nationals Park diamond, whoopin’ it up after clinching a World Series berth.
There were starting pitchers Max Scherzer and Aníbal Sánchez, each 35—and each responsible for taking a no-hit bid into at least the seventh inning as Washington won Games One and Two of the NL Championship Series. So was Howie Kendrick, 36, the second baseman who earned NLCS MVP honors with four doubles and four RBIs in the sweep. And Ryan Zimmerman, 35, the first baseman slugging .484 this postseason.
“A lot of old guys on the team,” Rendon observed. “They call themselves ‘Viejos.’”
Indeed, they do, and “Los Viejos”—Spanish for “The Old Guys”—are a big part of why the Nationals are getting ready to face the Astros in the Fall Classic, which opens Tuesday night in Houston.
There’s also catcher Kurt Suzuki, 36, and reliever Fernando Rodney, 42, the oldest active player in the majors.
“People think we are old men and we can’t do things,” said Rodney, who credited Suzuki with originating the nickname. “So we say, ‘Vamos, Viejos! You can do it!’”
They helped make Washington the oldest club in baseball in 2019, with an average age of a tad under 31.
The Astros aren’t exactly spring chickens, either: With an average age of just above 30, they ranked third oldest out of Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs. Just like the Nationals, their roster includes a half-dozen players who are at least 35, including rotation stalwarts Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke.
Astros star Alex Bregman has noticed. “I know how they say let the kids play,” the 25-year-old third baseman said Monday. “But there are some veterans that can show the kids how to play.”
Makes sense to Suzuki.
“Older players sometimes get devalued a little bit, just because of the age,” he said. “You can call us old, but that’s fine. We don’t care. We feel like we can still contribute and we can still play at a high level. And I think that’s the only thing that matters.”
Scherzer, for example, is a three-time Cy Young Award winner who followed up yet another stellar regular season by compiling a 1.80 ERA in four appearances in the playoffs; Washington went 4-0 in those games.