The Astros signed 44-year-old John Franco today to a one-year contract to actually pitche for them next season. I guess the ineffectiveness of lefty Mike Gallo and the rest of his pen-mates in the playoffs last year were cause enough for Houston to sign a reliever who has not been effective since the last Bush's administration.

At least this forty-something pitcher did not cost them another $18 M, like 42-year-old Roger Clemens did. It made me wonder how many teams had multiple forty-year-olds on their roster. Here are the ones with the most:

The '47 White Sox had Luke Appling (40), Red Ruffing (42), Joe Kuhel (41), Thornton Lee (40), and Earl Caldwell (42). I can name the Wheez Kids ('82 Phils) by heart Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Ron Reed, and Bill Robinson. They also had a 39-year-old Joe Morgan.

As far as teams with multiple 40-year-olds on their pitching staffs, seven are tied with three:

The forty-something pitchers on the '03 Yankees staff were Roger Clemens, David Wells, and Jesse Orosco, for a time. There are another 38 with at least two 40-year-olds.

So it's not as rare as I thought, but when you add in a 39-year-old outfielder in Craig Biggio, a 35-year-old catcher (Brad Ausmus), a 36-year-old first baseman (Jeff Bagwell), a 36-year-old utility infielder who always ends up starting wherever he goes (Jose Vizcaino), and a 36-year-old bench player (Orlando Palmeiro). That makes seven potential key players on the Houston roster that are at least 35 years old.

The record for players who are at least 35 is 13 for the 2002 D-Backs, but with some luck the Astros can catch them:

Aside from two World War II teams, all these teams are expansion-era.