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Virtually every MLB player will tell you there aren’t any awards or accolades that come close to matching the high that comes with winning a World Series. With that said, I can only imagine earning the coveted “Lifetime Pass” that’s handed out to people who’ve paid their dues has to be near the top of the list of the greatest honors someone can receive.
If you’ve made a living as a professional baseball player, you probably don’t need to worry about being able to afford to attend a game.
If you played for the same franchise for an extended amount of time, there’s a good chance the team will pick up the tab if you want to attend a game, and even if that’s not the case, it’s doubtful you’ll have to check your bank account balance before dipping into the sizeable nest egg most people who had sustained success in the MLB will be able to fall back on once they retire.
However, the league has gone out of its way to cater to many players and others who’ve made a career out of baseball in different capacities with a literal golden ticket that is one of the coolest flexes you’ll ever encounter.
The history of the MLB “lifetime pass” that grants the holder (and a guest) free admission to any regular season game
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In the early 1890s, the Washington Senators were hoping to drum up some free publicity (and, in turn, give the recently-formed MLB some legitimacy) by getting Teddy Roosevelt to attend a game.
In 1905, the President of the United States received a pass that granted him admission to any American League stadium, but the man who viewed baseball as a “mollycoddle” (translation: “soft”) sport compared to his beloved football declined to take advantage even though the Senators had constructed a presidential box reserved for anyone who occupied the Oval Office.
Two years later, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (which represented America’s minor league teams) presented him with another lifetime pass made of 14-karat gold that also went unused, and while Roosevelt may have never cashed in, there are plenty of other people who have thanks to an MLB tradition that carries on to this day.
The lifetime pass the league hands out can really be traced back to former National League president Ford Frick, who gifted one to longtime shortstop George Wright in 1935. Babe Ruth also received one despite spending the vast majority of his career in the American League, which sparked some internal bickering that led to all-encompassing tickets being handed out for the first time in 1936.
The first batch of recipients featured 17 players who’d played for at least 20 years, a list that boasted baseball legends like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Cy Young, and Tris Speaker. While it’s not entirely clear when the standard was lowered, the threshold to receive a lifetime pass is now eight full seasons of service as a player (front-office executives and other employees can earn one once they’ve put in 25 years of work).
As things currently stand, anyone with a lifetime pass can use the gold card that comes in a leather case containing instructions on how to use it to gain entry to any regular season MLB game. In most cases, it can simply be presented at the V.I.P. ticket window to get up to two tickets to any contest (the exact seats are left up to the discretion of individual teams), although cardholders are advised to contact the stadium in advance in situations where there may be a sell-out crowd.
Players obviously make up the biggest chunk of lifetime pass recipients, but there are some other groups who’ve also been able to take advantage. For example, the one pictured above was presented to Steven Kirtley in addition to the 51 other Americans who were held hostage in Iran for 444 days before being released in 1981.
Olive Garden may give the MLB a run for its money with the lifetime pass the restaurant chain has occasionally sold, but I think most people would love to have either of them in their possession.