Moyer Not Ready for Retirement

To the untrained eye, Jamie Moyer was just another guy in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform this spring. Inside that uniform, though, is a phenomenal story about a guy who is nearly twice as old as Kyle Kendrick, the teammate he's battling to be the team's fifth starter.

Certainly, Moyer is no shoe-in to receive considerable playing time at this stage in his career. Although he allowed just one hit over six-plus innings on March 26, Moyer will be 48 years old in November. Simply put, the body is well into its decline no matter how well Moyer's pitching prowess hides that truth. For more than a decade, Moyer has battled knee and shoulder problems. Last fall, he had hernia surgery, and he received arthroscopic knee surgery at the start of 2010. A 2009 Sports Illustrated article says Moyer's fastball tops out at 82 mph, which makes it one of the slowest of any pro pitcher.

That's correct. There's a 47-year-old man in that Phillies' uniform. If he plays during the regular season, he'll represent the sixth oldest pitcher to throw in a game, and he's likely to play. After all, he's signed to an $8 million contract. Forget about washing the gray out of his hair. At this point, Moyer probably needs to stock up on fiber and calcium supplements.

When it comes to understanding old age, perhaps Moyer can receive advice on that and pitching, too, from Steve Carlton. The Hall-of-Fame lefty still has close ties to the Phillies, the team Carlton pitched for during 15 years of his 24-year career. Carlton was himself 43 when he hung up his spikes.

Of course, there's not much about pitching that Moyer hasn't already heard. Just consider his longevity in the game. Moyer, who went 12-10 with a 4.94 ERA with the Phillies last season, came onto the scene in 1986. Since his debut that year with the Chicago Cubs, Moyer has pitched in 666 more games. In that time, he has compiled 258 wins and 2,342 strikeouts over 3,908 innings. His lifetime ERA is 4.22, and he has won 20 games or more in a season twice, including a 21-7 season with Seattle in 2003.

The question the one-time all-star often receives is an obvious one. Why does he still do it?

Based on what he said in a March 26 Associated Press report, the answer is just as obvious.

"Being in this clubhouse with this group of guys, it's a winning environment, it's a winning situation. It's really hard to walk away from," Moyer said of the Rangers.

And that really brings us to one of the most remarkable aspects of Moyer's career. While the lefty has been successful throughout his career, he also had failed to grasp that ultimate prize, a World Series championship, until Philadelphia won it in 2008. Moyer played a big part in the Phillies' success that season. He was 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA for Philadelphia, the team he cheered for as a child growing up in Sellersville, Penn. Even at age 45, then, the fire burned in Moyer. His postseason, though, was a disaster. Moyer threw in three games and allowed 11 earned runs in 11 innings to go 0-2 with an 8.49 ERA. It was a big drop from 2001, when Moyer won three postseason games for the Seattle Mariners.

Of course, this isn't the first time that Moyer appears to have something to prove. Long before it was about age, Moyer faced a few major hurdles, the kind that sometimes lead a player to shut it down for good. Just three years after his major-league debut, the Cubs traded him to Texas, where he suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder in 1989.

Moyer spent most of the 1990 season pitching out of the bullpen. Then he was released at the end of the season. That began an anxious period for Moyer, who was signed and released by the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. Moyer pitched just eight games in 1991 and didn't throw again until he signed with Baltimore prior to the 1993 season. With a 12-9 season that featured a 3.43 ERA, Moyer had resurrected a career that seemed doomed.

Commenting on his career, Moyer told USA Today reporter Scott Boeck a lot of his success stems from "good genes" and a strong desire to play.

"I still have the desire to play. I've had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but I've enjoyed it and I wouldn't want it any other way," Moyer said.

If the early '90s didn't push Moyer out of the game, it's doubtful that something such as age would cause him to walk away. Clearly, the fire in Moyer still burns red-hot, and it might always be that way. Perhaps he believes he still has something to prove. Or maybe he's worried that Social Security will be broke by the team he's old enough to receive benefits. More likely, he simply loves the game and loves to compete. What happens from here, though, depends a lot on whether Moyer wins the fifth spot in the rotation.

Sources

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/moyerja01.shtml

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=moyerja01

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/03/veteran-pitchers-/1

http://stage.www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/baseball/jamie-moyer-continues-bid-for-phillies-5th-starter-spot-with-win-over-yankees-89309422.html

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/pecota/moyerja01.php

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=moyerja01