What MLB Players Are in the Game?
The 648 players that are in the player deck consist of former (retired) MLB players who…
Had a career that spanned 10+ years.
Played at least 10 years of at least 50 games played (position players) or 12 games started (pitchers).
Whose rookie season began after 1935.
It is for this reason that you will find players like Bob Forsch (who played 17 unspectacular seasons) but won’t find players like Denny McLain (whose career was over at age 28 after just 7 stupendous seasons). The criteria above is also why you won’t find Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, or Lou Gehrig in the game as all started their career’s prior to 1935.
Additionally, because baseball cards are printed on cardstock sheets holding 9 cards, the deck for each position must be a multiple of 9. As such, it was necessary to leave off some players who might otherwise have met the criteria above. Thus, it is possible that there may be a particular player whom you admire and recall but who is not in the game. With that said, the 648 players who are in the game represent a dynamic collection of MLB players across 9 decades and includes all-time greats (Mays, Koufax, Bench, Pujols, Aaron, Mantle, Pedro, Drysdale, Maddux, Ryan, etc…) along with career journeymen and regulars (Tenace, Rojas, Sutcliff, McCarver, Guillen, Dunston, etc…).
