BOSTON – Rich Hill came on in relief for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night, becoming the only active player to appear in a major league game in each of the past 20 seasons.
“There’s a lot of people to thank for getting to this point,” the left-hander said as he struggled to manage his emotions in the clubhouse after the 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays. “Putting down the work, the effort to come back. … I’ve always loved doing it. I’m lucky to be able to do that.”
Hill, who had stints with the Yankees and Mets, replaced starter Kutter Crawford with two outs in the seventh and struck out Toronto center fielder Daulton Varsho with a runner on second to end the inning.
The 44-year-old Hill, who is in his fourth stint with the Red Sox, received a nice cheer from the crowd and a handshake from manager Alex Cora when he returned to the dugout.
He came back for the eighth with Boston trailing 2-0 and retired all three batters he faced on a strikeout and two grounders.
Hill joins Tim Wakefield as the only pitchers to appear for the Red Sox at age 44 or older.
Hill — a native of Milton, Mass., who pitched in college at Michigan — has appeared for 13 different major league teams.
“Gotta love him, man,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who caught Hill in the Cape Cod League more than two decades ago. “I laughed when he came in. … I give him all the credit in the world for still doing it. He’s like a baseball version of Tom Brady right now in New England.”