I pulled data on the youngest and oldest professional athletes in four major sports leagues for each

I pulled data on the youngest and oldest professional athletes in four major sports leagues for each year: MLB (baseball), NHL (hockey), NFL (football), and NBA (basketball). Baseball’s history extends much further back, but for the purpose of the graph, I’ve truncated it to make the other three time series clearer.As noted on the graph, some of the data includes/excludes other leagues. NHL does not include WHA. NFL includes APFA. NBA includes BAA. Also, the ages are calculated on a specific date during the season, which is different for each sport. For example, the basketball ages are calculated on February 1st, while baseball ages are calculated on June 30th. As a consequence, some player ages were one less at the beginning of a season, or one greater at the end of a season than the data shown on the graph.I’ve place a few fun facts on the graph. Overall, the minima have far less variance than the maxima. Youngest players tend to be between 18 and 21, while maxima range from late 30s to late 40s, and in some cases extend far into the 50s.Data sources:http://www.hockey-reference.com/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/http://www.baseball-reference.com/http://www.basketball-reference.com/ -- source link

More pics about