And for those who follow the world of sports, namely Major League Baseball closely, the 1960's also featured the births of pitchers Jamie Moyer (age 43), Roger Clemens (43), Tom Glavine (40), Greg Maddux (40), Curt Schilling (39) and Mike Mussina (38).

To these guys, age is meaningless. Forget the commonplace antic regarding older players in sports about heading out to the mound with a cane mumbling about "back in my day" - these guys are for real in the years when most players leave the game because they're unable to throw the ball as hard as they used to or the type of pinpoint control that used to freeze batters is vanishing as the ball carries outward over the fences.

In the National League, Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux is off to a 3-0 start with an ERA of 1.33 that is more reminiscent of Maddux's Cy Young seasons of 1992 through 1995 than last season's 13-15 outing. In his last start against the Dodgers April 17, the 40-year-old went into the eighth inning, giving up three hits and one earned run on 86 pitches. Had the Cubs had a lead greater than three runs, Maddux might have had a shot at tossing his 109th complete game.

"I heard Julio Franco say a million times that age is just a number," said Maddux recently in an interview for the Chicago Tribune. Maddux admitted that he used to laugh at Franco, who at 47 years old is still in the majors as a backup infielder for the New York Mets, but admits that now "I know what he means now."

The Mets have their own ageless wonder as well in the form of the lefty Glavine. With 277 wins on the veteran's 20-year career, Glavine has been referred to by many as likely the last 300-game winner to pitch in the majors for a long time. Two years ago, some doubted that Glavine would even approach 300 after going a combined 20-28 in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. But after winning 13 games last season and off on a 2-1 start this season with an ERA of 1.38, those same doubters are starting to rethink their positions.

Glavine's only loss this season was a 2-1 loss to the Braves April 19 against Atlanta's Tim Hudson, who flirted with a no-hitter through five innings and surrendered only three hits in the game. Needless to say, it's pretty hard to pick up a win when your offense is held to only three knocks.

Interesting enough, both Maddux and Glavine struggled in their first two seasons in the majors before turning into one of the game's better pitchers from their third season on. Maddux was 2-4 in 1986 and 6-14 in 1987 before going 18-8 in 1988 while Glavine won only 9 games in the 1987 and 1988 seasons to go with a combined 21 losses before winning 14 contests in 1989. It's an interesting bit of trivia for some organizations that give up on pitchers who fail to live up to expectations after a few seasons in the majors.

Schilling, who has returned to the form he was in 2004 when he led the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title since Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States in 1918 with a record of 3-0 and an ERA of 1.64, also struggled to start his career when he went 4-11 in his first four seasons in the majors from 1988 to 1991. The Red Sox ace has been exceptional as his age has increased, putting up 98 wins since 2001 which includes last season's injury-marred campaign when the Arkansas native went 8-8 with an ERA of 5.69 and some time in the bullpen as the Sox' closer.

43-year-old Jamie Moyer can attest to Schilling's improved play. The lefty collected his second loss of the season April 14 again the Boston righty despite pitching a good game, allowing only two runs and punching out eight batters. Even though his record is 0-2 to start the 2006 season, Moyer has an ERA of 3.93 and is suffering from an offense that is featuring a struggling Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre and Carl Everett, three players that are key to the Seattle offense.

Moyer's career started out shaky as well. After going 7-4 in his rookie season, Moyer picked up 54 losses to challenge 15 wins from 1988 to 1991 before putting up his second season with a plus-.500 record in 1992 when he went 12-9.

The only guy among the bunch who didn't struggle entering the majors is the youngest of the group, 38-year-old Mike Mussina. Mussina's 4-5 record during his rookie season was the former Orioles and current New York Yankees pitcher's only losing season in his career besides an 11-15 mark that the Pennsylvania-native was saddled with in 2000.

Mussina, nicknamed "Moose," is also off to a hot start so far in 2006, going 2-1 with an ERA of 2.67 through three starts while striking out an impressive 23 batters.

Yankees skipper Joe Torre has picked up on Moose's play this season, calling his last outing against the Toronto Blue Jays as a "masterpiece" and noted that "he's as good as we've seen him early in the year."

Mussina's former teammate Roger Clemens has also been making headlines although he has not stepped onto the mound as a major league pitcher. Instead, the Rocket and his 341 career victories are pondering retirement for the second time in the 7-time Cy Young's career. Clemens went 13-8 to go with an ERA of 1.87 last season in what could be considered one of the best in his career.

Could Clemens reach 400 wins if he stays in the majors for three or four more seasons? It is highly possible but it would require the same type of success Clemens has had the past three seasons when the former Astros pitcher won a combined 38 games while surrendering only 15.

One thing is for sure, age is becoming meaningless in today's game of baseball. The type of guys who normally should be breaking down and having ERA's around 5.00 to 7.00 are pitching like they are in the prime of their careers.

Simply put, no more joking about the "elderly" fellows serving up homers instead of collecting K's. No more worrying about what to do when that great pitcher hits age 35. More and more, baseball sources and fans should be expecting these guys to be pitching like they always have instead of worrying about "this one" being the season that they finally break down.