On September 3, 2026, Bill Greason turned 102 years old — and he’s still the oldest living Major League Baseball player on the planet. Few names in baseball history carry this much weight in this little space: Willie Mays‘ teammate on the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, a World War II and Korean War veteran, and one of the first Black men to take the mound in the big leagues, back in 1954.
A Soldier, a Pitcher, a Preacher
Greason didn’t just play baseball. He lived three lives at once — soldier, ballplayer, and pastor. By the time he made his MLB debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954, he was already 29 years old, an age when most players are thinking about winding down. He’d already served in two wars before he ever threw a pitch in the majors.
His big-league career was brief: 24 appearances between 1954 and 1955. The raw numbers aren’t what matter here. What matters is the year — 1954 — when being a Black man in an MLB dugout was still, in every real sense, a political act.
He Knew Willie Mays Before the World Did
The connection to Willie Mays isn’t a footnote. Greason and Mays were teammates on the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, when Mays was just 17 and the Negro Leagues were the only real stage for Black ballplayers in America. That Birmingham squad reached the Negro Leagues World Series, and Greason was part of the pitching staff.
Mays would go on to become one of the two or three greatest players in baseball history — his career WAR of 156.2 ranks fourth all-time in MLB. Greason took a different road, but both men started in the same dugout, the same year integration was just beginning to crack the sport open.
Mays passed away in June 2024. Greason is still here.
The Record No One Can Chase
There’s no Baseball-Reference leaderboard for this. Being the oldest living Major Leaguer isn’t a title you win on the field — it’s one that finds you through longevity, faith, and an extraordinary life. Greason has spent decades as a reverend in Alabama. MLB acknowledged his birthday with a post. He deserves at least that, and honestly quite a bit more.
- Born: September 3, 1924
- MLB debut: 1954, St. Louis Cardinals
- MLB appearances: 24 (1954–1955)
- Negro Leagues: Birmingham Black Barons, including the 1948 NL World Series
- Military service: World War II and the Korean War
