Steven Matz started Game 4 of the 2015 World Series as a 24-year old rookie for the Mets. He pitched 5 innings giving up 2 runs. He exited with a 3-2 lead, but the Royals would go on to win 5-3.

Last night, he gave up 1 run in an 1.2 innings of relief for the Rays, and the Brewers would go on to win 3-2.

His only postseason experience between these two seasons was a pair of scoreless innings in the 2025 Wild Card round.

This isn’t the longest gap between World Series appearances in history, but an 11 year wait is still a pretty long time, and it felt deserving of some recognition.

Per a quick Google search, the longest gap between World Series appearances for a player belongs to Jim Kaat: he was the losing pitcher of Game 7 of the 1965 World Series (the opposing starting pitcher was Sandy Koufax, so…), on October 14th, 1965, when Kaat was 26 years old.

Kaat did not make it back to the World Series until he was 42 in 1982 when, like Matz last night, he appeared in relief during a Game 1 loss to the Brewers, on October 12, 1982, putting his gap at 16 years, 363 days. Kaat’s Cardinals would go on to win in 7 games.

And of course, just a few years ago, Evan Longoria appeared in the 2023 World Series with the Diamonbacks after having last appeared in the 2008 World Series as a rookie for the Rays. And now he’s probably one of the favorites to throw out the first pitch before the first game at the Trop in this World Series.

Are there any other guys who have had really long gaps in between World Series appearances?