OTFATT 2009: Final Update

Previous Updates #1 4/12 68 players remaining #2 5/25 34 players remaining #3 6/25 23 players remaining #4 7/19 11 players remaining #5 8/17 5 players remaining OTFATT is short for "On the field, all the time." In these updates throughout the season, I've kept track of which MLS players have played every minute of every game (regular season only). The season is over, and we have four survivors: three you could've guessed in March (Busch, Hartman, Onstad) and one that shocked everyone (Barnes). The only player to drop off in the past two months was Joe Cannon, who was rested by San Jose in a couple of their meaningless final games. Darrius Barnes benefited from the injury to Gabrielle Badilla in preseason and never looked back. Kind of like Michael Parkhurst's story, who replaced the worn out Carlos Llamosa in 2005. The two NE center backs from ACC colleges are the last two rookies to accomplish the feat. Nick Garcia in 2000 is the only other rookie on the list below. Some stats: Playing every minute is still a rare feat, it's only happened 39 times over the past 14 seasons (by 29 different players). Goalkeepers have taken the all time edge over field players: 20-19. That's actually the first time they've held the edge in league history, and I'd be shocked to see it swing back the other way. KC players have accomplished OTFATT 10 times, leading the league. Runners up are NE with 7. 5 teams have not had a player play every minute: CHV, DAL, MIA, SEA, and TOR. Kevin Hartman has played every minute for three straight season; that's unprecedented. He holds the league record for consecutive minutes played. Jon Busch is back on the list for a second straight year. He's the sixth player to repeat after Peter Vermes (1999-00), Scott Garlick (2000-01), Pat Onstad (2005-06), Matt Reis (2006-07), and Kevin Hartman (2007-09). A total of 8 players have multiple appearances: the six mentioned in the last bullet point, and also Joe Cannon and Nick Rimando. Pat Onstad didn't repeat, but he's still standing for a third time. That's a record now shared by him and Hartman. All this while becoming the league's second oldest player ever. 1996-2009: Played Every Minute (players in bold played every minute of every game in all competitions, goalkeepers in italics) 1996 Preki (KC), Steve Trittschuh (COL) 1997 Mike Burns (NE) 1998 (none) 1999 Peter Vermes (COL) 2000 Joseph Addo (TB), Nick Garcia (KC), Scott Garlick (TB), Peter Vermes (KC) 2001 Scott Garlick (TB/COL), Tim Howard (NY), Steve Jolley (NY), Zach Thornton (CHI), Kerry Zavagnin (KC) 2002 Nick Rimando (DC) 2003 Tony Meola (KC) 2004 Joe Cannon (COL), Jim Curtin (CHI), Richard Mulrooney (SJ), Steve Ralston (NE) 2005 Todd Dunivant (LA), Simon Elliott (CLB), Pat Onstad (SJ), Bo Oshoniyi (KC), Michael Parkhurst (NE) 2006 Pat Onstad (HOU), Matt Reis (NE) 2007 Kevin Hartman (KC), Chris Klein (RSL/LA), Matt Reis (NE) 2008 Jon Busch (CHI), Joe Cannon (SJ), Jimmy Conrad (KC), Kevin Hartman (KC), Jay Heaps (NE), Nick Rimando (RSL) 2009 Darrius Barnes (NE), Jon Busch (CHI), Kevin Hartman (KC), Pat Onstad (HOU) Order of teams being totally wiped out for 2009, with last surviving player: 1. NY - Dane Richards (4/18) 2. CLB - Brian Carroll (5/27) 3. SEA - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (6/14) 4. RSL - Will Johnson (6/27) 5. LA - Omar Gonzalez (6/28) 6. TOR - Adrian Serioux (7/18) 7. COL - Jordan Harvey (7/18) 8. DAL - David Ferreira (8/1) 9. CHV - Carey Talley & Zach Thornton (8/8) 10. DC - Bryan Namoff (8/15) 11. SJ - Joe Cannon (9/27) *Toronto's Nick Garcia was eliminated on 8/15. However, he was traded mid-season and had played every minute he was available for two teams - SJ & TOR. Toronto themselves had no players left after Adrian Serioux.