Colorado Rockies Old Friend: How The Hell Is Juan Uribe Still Playing?

Jun 2, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman J. Uribe (2) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring in the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Juan Uribe (22 years old in 2001) — ACTIVE
Uribe is playing with the New York Mets — he was traded twice this year, after beginning with the Los Angeles Dodgers and working his way through the Atlanta Braves. All told, he’s had nearly 6,400 big league plate appearances.

Ben Petrick (24) — Retired
Petrick is now out of the game, though of course it wasn’t his choice.

Todd Helton — Retired
Todd, of course, retired after the 2013 season. He recently enjoyed “Todd Helton Day” at the Rockies’ rookie-level Grand Junction affiliate, which is cool.

Todd Walker — Retired
Walker was done after 18 games in 2007 with the Oakland Athletics. Also, he played parts of two seasons in Colorado and hit .304/.363/.514 so we probably should have kept him around a bit longer at second base.

Neifi Perez — Retired
What do you say about a guy like Neifi? Oh, yeah — that his numbers outside of Colorado never matched what he did with the Rockies, and he was out of baseball after 2007.

Jeff Cirillo — Retired
Cirillo, coming off a massive 2000 season with the Rockies, had a solid 2001 (he slashed .313/.364/.473) and after the season was traded to the Mariners for Brian Fuentes, Jose Paniagua, and Denny Stark. He retired after 2007.

Ron Gant — Retired
Gant was at the end of a long, successful career when he came to Denver for part of the 2001 season. He was out of the game by 2003 with the Athletics, and went into broadcasting afterwards.

Juan Pierre (23) — Retired
JP!!! Juan Pierre was one of my favorite players growing up, because he worked so hard and was always so prepared. He was the only one to come close to over taking Uribe on this list, retiring after 2013 with the Marlins, though don’t you think with the shape he was in that he could’ve caught on somewhere in the last two years?

Larry Walker — Retired
Y’all already know.

Terry Shumpert — Retired
Shumpert has since retired (2003, with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays), but he’s got a kid who’s pretty decent at baseball.

Greg Norton — Retired
Norton is now an assistant coach at Auburn University! The pinch-hitter extraordinaire retired in 2009 with the Atlanta Braves.

Brent Mayne — Retired
Mayne retired in ’04 as a member of the Dodgers after a 15-year big league career. His seasons in Colorado were the best offensive seasons of his life (though that’s true of most players, and he also was no offensive slouch — for a catcher — the rest of the way, anyways).

Next: The Pitchers... All Gone!