The 27 Club-Peak Connection

When playing fantasy baseball, as I do, there are many things to consider when picking players. Their stats, certainly, but their team, their injury history and many other things go into the equation. One of the more important considerations is a players age. Take two identical pitchers. Say both play for winning teams. Both are about the same size and have put up similar stats. Both have been more or less healthy. Seems about even, right? But say Player A is 27 years old, and Player B is 34. Then it becomes easier to take player A. He is younger and has more promise, while player B may not have much left. But what age would be the best to take a player. On average, what do baseball players reach their prime. The answer used to be assumed to be around 30 or so. However, recent sabermetric studies by guys like Bill James and Baseball Prospectus have determined that players tend to have their best years at the age of 27. Every year, another guy busts out and has a career year at his magical age 27 peak. We saw it this year with Justin Morneau, Carlos Zambrano, Joe Saunders, K-Rod, Rich Harden, and Josh Hamilton. All of those guys had great years, and they were all 27.
Besides for being a good strategy for fantasy baseball, the age 27 has another, more sinister distinction. Many rock stars have died at the age of 27, joining the so-called "27 Club". Members of this club include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones (founder of The Rolling Stones), Kurt Cobain, Robert Johnson, and a bunch of others. Weirdly, all these rockstars died in the age that baseball studies dictate that someone is in thier prime. I think this makes the 27 Club a little bit more important. In some respects, every single one of the members of the 27 Club were at the very top of thier game. And then they died suddenly. It's like a pitcher who just won the Cy Young retiring suddenly.
So, I have named this blog "27 Club Peak", because I like talking about sports, pop culture, and how they occasionally have weird collisions. The fact that baseball players peak at 27, and rock stars die at 27, is one of those weird coincidences I like to look at. Enjoy my blog.