Less than two weeks shy of his 41st birthday when he made his major league debut, Joyce was drawn into a game in Philadelphia on August 14, 1886 in an emergency. Washington Nationals shorstop Sadie Houck injured his leg on the basepaths, so Barney Gilligan (usually a catcher but playing in CF that day) moved from the outfield to shortstop and Joyce was brought in to play centerfield. Baseball-Reference.com says that Joyce never batted, but the Washington Post says that Joyce was retired on a weak grounder in the sixth inning. After that inning, a heavy storm ended the game. This makes Joyce one of the oldest rookies to appear in his first game.

Oldest Rookies:
Diomedes Olivo, Giants pitcher – 41 years, 227 days
George Joyce, Washington outfielder – 40 years, 353 days
Chuck Hostetler, Tigers outfielder – 40 years, 210 days
Ken Takahashi, Mariners pitcher – 40 years, 16 days

This list used to include Satchel Paige and Quincy Trouppe, but now that baseball acknowledges that the Negro Leagues were major leagues, their 40+ year old appearances don’t technically count. Also, John Greenig was supposedly born in 1848 but we don’t have an exact date of birth so we don’t know if he was in his 40s when he debuted in 1888.

Born August 26, 1845, George W. Joyce was the fifth child born to Richard and Ann (Artridge) Joyce, both Irish immigrants who arrived in Washington DC prior to marrying in 1824. As an adult, George operated a tobacco shop at 1705 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. In the years after the Great War for Slavery, Washington was a baseball town, with a large number of amateur clubs actively playing on the grounds of the capitol. Joyce spent his days in the 1870s and 1880s with the old National and Jefferson clubs – the Nationals had briefly dabbled in the majors in the 1870s, but Joyce wasn’t on those clubs as he joined them in their later years.

When he died of cancer on November 9, 1895, Joyce left half of the business to his friend and companion James Maher (Joyce was a bachelor); the other half to a niece. The rest of his belongings were shared among three nieces and nephews. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in the capital city in an unmarked plot.

Notes:

“The Nationals Sixty-Third Defeat,” Washington Post, August 15, 1886: 2.
“Old Baseball Player Dead,” Washington Post, November 10, 1895: 4.
1830, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 US Census Data
DC Marriage Records
DC Wills and Probate Records
Oak Hill Cemetery Burial Record
— This cemetery’s burial record suggests that Joyce was born on August 26, 1845 and died of cancer.