There is no denying the Yankees are the oldest team in baseball.
They were last season, too.
"We were old when I showed up here," Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "And that was four years ago."
All the Yankees have done since Teixeira arrived in 2009 is win a World Series, three division titles and gone to the playoffs every year. The oldest team in baseball had the best regular-season record in the American League last year.
According to BaseballReference.com, the average age of the Yankees' hitters a year ago was 32.7, and the average age of their pitchers was 30.3.
And still they were one of only two teams in baseball to score at least 800 runs. The old Yankees also led baseball with 245 home runs.
Teixeira, 32, understands the pros and cons of a team that is growing old.
"As long as you stay healthy, it doesn't matter how old you are," he said. "If you're healthy, being old means you have experience. It means you have guys who are leaders. It means you have guys who are professional and who have been through championships.
"But, if you are a little older, you might be a little more prone to injury, and you might heal a little bit slower."
Injury risk, however, does not trump the experience of a veteran team over the course of a 162-game season that is sure to include some turbulent times.
"When things go bad, which they will on every team every single year, you can get through those a lot easier," Teixeira said. "It helps so much when you know sticking with your plan and staying the course will get you through it."
The Phillies experienced that in 2009 and 2010, when their bats went south for long stretches, but they remained calm and waited for the storm to pass.
When the Yankees needed help down the stretch last year, they signed old Andy Pettitte. The 40-year-old lefty went 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 12 starts and delivered two strong postseason starts. They also acquired 38-year-old Ichiro Suzuki from Seattle, and he hit .322 in 67 games.
"You shouldn't be judged on the age that you are," Ichiro said. "There are a lot of guys out there who are 22 or 23 who are moving like 40-year-olds. You should look at a way a person plays and produces instead of looking at a number."
At some point, the Yankees and the Phillies are going to be too old. The Yankees may have finally reached that point this season with the uncertainty surrounding Derek Jeter's return from a fractured ankle, Mariano Rivera's return from a torn ACL, and Alex Rodriguez's nuclear meltdown in so many ways. It didn't help when leftfielder Curtis Granderson fractured his wrist Sunday, but that had nothing to do with age.
An American League scout said it's conceivable the Yankees could finish last in the deeply talented American League East this season. That last happened in 1990.
The 2013 Phillies, with their aging core, also find themselves in a talented division with the much younger Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves. Still, they should be more worried about what they will get from their young outfielders - Ben Revere, Dom Brown, and Darin Ruf - than their older players.
"I don't see old. I see talented," Teixeira said. "If I'm any National League team, if the Phillies stay healthy, I wouldn't want to face them because we all know how much talent there is over there."
Contact Bob Brookover at bbrookover@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter @brookob.
