Forget iPhone video, this ballplayer was pitching when camcorders just started to become a regular household item. Ronald Reagan was president and a gallon of regular gas cost only 93 cents.
It was the summer of 1986 when a 23-year-old pitcher named Jamie Moyer debuted for the Chicago Cubs.
Almost 26 years later Moyer has a chance to become the oldest pitcher in the 112 year history of America's pastime to win a game. The 49-year-old left-hander is battling for a spot in the Colorado Rockies rotation this spring.
Should Moyer do it, he'll knock Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Jack Quinn out of the record books. At 49 years and 74 days, Quinn became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game when he beat the Cardinals at Ebbets Field on Sept. 13, 1932.
Moyer and his wife, Karen, the daughter of former Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps, are parents of eight kids. The children range in age from 5 to 20 with son Dillon pitching for the UC-Irvine Anteaters after being drafted in the 22nd round by the Twins in 2010.
Despite the full household, Karen encouraged her husband to continue pitching a year away from his 50th birthday.
"If he's happy, that trickles down to the rest of us," she told the New York Times. "All of our friends in the game who are retired have backed us, big time, because that transition into retirement is really hard. This is all we’ve ever known as a couple. It's all the kids have ever known."
Moyer was asked why other older ballplayers have retired, rather than follow in his foot steps.
"That's a great question, and I don't know if I have an answer for you," he said. "I think, for a lot of people, they hear at some point in their career, 'You're too old,' and they start to believe that. Or they're just mentally exhausted, and they move on."
Although he was hammered by minor leaguers from the Diamonbacks on Monday, Moyer has allowed four hits and only one earned run in five innings of work for Colorado this spring.
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Jamie Moyer Fun Facts (From NY Times) • Born (Nov. 18, 1962), four months before the Beatles released their first album. • Beat Darryl Strawberry's 1986 Mets and Derek Jeter's 1998 Yankees. • Discovered yoga on advice of former Padres star Trevor Hoffman. • Won more games between ages 38-to-40 (54-21) than he did from ages 27-to-29 (2-11) • Has faced 23 Hall of Famers. • Started the last game before lights were installed at Wrigley Field. • Keeps a copy of his original Cubs scouting report. Dated March 7, 1984, it notes his tepid fastball -- 81 to 84 miles an hour -- and his tendency to push the ball. • Moyer's average fastball in 2010 was 80.2 miles per hour. • Older than eight current major league managers and 16 current general managers. • Pitched for Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Red Sox, Mariners and Phillies. |
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