A Major League Baseball Chain. Can you make one with fewer links?
 

On the way home from work this afternoon I was thinking about something. What is the fewest links in an unbroken baseball chain from inception to now. Baseball Reference has the first MLB season in 1871. Each player has to overlap. If you can't beat the list with fewer than 8 players, see if you can get 8 players that has more total WAR.

Here is my effort. See if you can match it or beat it.

Cap Anson (1871 - 1897) (WAR 94.3)

Cy Young (1890 - 1911) (WAR 163.6)

Ty Cobb (1905 - 1928) (WAR 151.5)

Jimmie Foxx (1925 - 1945) (WAR 93.1)

Stan Musial (1941 - 1963) (WAR 128.7)

Pete Rose (1963 - 1986) (WAR 79.6)

Barry Bonds (1986 - 2007) (WAR 162.7)

Albert Pujols (2001 - present) (WAR 99.6)

That makes 8 players to span the entire history of MLB.

Total WAR for all 8 players is 973.1.

Man if I could transition from one year to the next instead of overlap I could kill it

Cap Anson 1871 - 1897
Nick Altrock 1898 - 1933
Bobo Newsom 1929 - 1953
Minnie Minoso 1949 - 1980
Rickey Henderson 1979 - 2003
Albert Pujols 2001 - Present

But for missing by one year at the beginning I did it in 6, so I could definitely patch in any player to cover that year and hit 7

A different version of this.

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1346545

And see the reference to Keith O's article which took it all the way back to the 1840s.

He is out there somewhere in spring training. He's probably 20 or 21, maybe 22. And he will retire in the year 2016.
He will be the grand old man of baseball. And they will say, 'He's so old that the year he broke in, Eddie Murray was still playing.' And he will become the ninth man.

Eddie Murray's the eighth man. When he broke in, Brooks Robinson was still playing. And when Robinson broke in, Bob Feller was still playing. And when Feller broke in, Rogers Hornsby was still playing. And when Hornsby broke in, Honus Wagner was still playing. And when Wagner broke in, Cap Anson was still playing. And when Anson broke in, Dickey Pearce was still playing. And when Pearce broke in, Doc Adams was still playing. Adams played for the Knickerbocker club inthe first organized game of baseball in 1846, number one of the eight men whose careers cover the 152 seasons since. And somewhere out there is the ninth man

Those players did not play continuously for those spans, at least not Altrock or Minoso. Coming back for one game as a stunt does not count IMO. Minoso's career ended in 1964 not 1980 by any meaningful definition.

:P

Here it is with seven players:

Cap Anson (1871-1897)
Hughie Jennings (1891-1918)
Al Nixon (1915-1928)
Satchel Paige (1927-1965)
Tommy John (1963-1989)
Roger Clemens (1984-2007)
Albert Pujols (2001-present)

Paige did not play until 1965 he pitched one stunt game after being retired for 12 years.

Using Keith O's players and with A Rod as the next player in the succession, you can get from Anson to 2016 in 7 players.

Cap Anson (1871-1897)
Honus Wagner (1897-1917)
Rogers Hornsby (1915-1937)
Bob Feller (1936-1956)
Brooks Robinson (1955-1977)
Eddie Murray (1977-1997)
A Rod (1994-2016)

If Hornsby had just played a few games in 1938, you could then use Enos Slaughter to get to 1959, Jim Kaat to get to 1983, and Julio Franco to get to 2007, which would give you a lot of options for current players and you would have it done in 7 with room to go.

I can get to 2018 in 7 players

Cap Anson 1871-1897
Honus Wagner 1897-1917
Charlie Grimm 1916-1936
Bob Feller 1936-1956
Frank Robinson 1956-1976
Dennis Martinez 1976-1998
Adrian Beltre 1998-2018

Bartolo Colon would also get you to 2018.

Ok here is the best I could find.

Cap Anson 1871-1897
Bobby Wallace 1894-1918
Waite Hoyt 1918-1938
Enos Slaughter 1938-1959
Ron Fairly 1958-1978
Mike Morgan 1978-2002
Albert Pujols 2001-Present

Nice, but look at my post, once you get to Slaughter you can go Kaat Franco and get to 2007 and then have younger players than Pujols with more time left as your 7th player.