A funny chain of events occurred this morning: Jamie Moyer caused a short circuit at baseballreference.com and has suggested (at least in my mind) that casual fans may some day soon begin to believe that he is a robot.
It all started when I read an article not too long ago announcing the Moyer was set to be the number five starter for the Phillies to begin the 2010 season. I was pleased, but not surprised. Afterall, throwing the rough beginnings of 2009, Moyer had an exceptional season. He even saved the Phillies a few times with some five inning relief appearances late in the year. I've been a Moyer fan since he came to the Ms mid-way through the '96 season. I liked him because he pitched the way I did: he threw the ball where he wanted it to go, he didn't try to knock the catcher on his backside. Of course his low-80s heat is scarier than mine, but that's why he's a professional ball player and I'm the one writing a blog for free.
It wasn't until this morning, though, that I realized just how much of an anomaly Moyer is to the casual baseball fan/non-Moyer follower. What triggered this was a facebook post made by a friend that read
I just had my annual "Wait, Jamie Moyer is still alive?!?" moment.
Not only is the man still alive, but he slated to start against Houston on Saturday.
But there's something about this Jamie Moyer fellow. Something unassuming. Something that makes people think he'll fall apart and fall off the face of the baseball earth after every season, despite his continued success. This is remarkable considering that over the last decade, even in his "down" years, he's still performed remarkably well. In 2004, for example, the man's ERA was 5.21 and he allowed the most home runs in the American League. But he also pitched over two hundred innings for a team whose bullpen was oft battered to the tune of 99 losses. Then there's 2007, his first full season in Philly, where his ERA was once again over 5.00. But he pitched 199.1 innings and won fourteen games. Fourteen. At age 44!
And yet, failure is still expected. But you know all this.
What struck me today was reading Tim Kurkjian's article "New Wave of Pitchers Taking Over Game", where he notes that
For the first time in 15 years, a season has begun without one starting pitcher whom we can point to and say, without hesitation, "That guy is a Hall of Famer right now.''
For the first time in 10 years, a season has begun without an active pitcher with at least 260 victories. Jamie Moyer entered the season with the most wins (258). Tim Wakefield entered with the most wins among active right-handed pitchers, with 189. God bless both of them for what they've done -- they are miraculous in their own right -- but neither is a Hall of Fame pitcher.
Naturally I take issue with Kurkjian's phrasing. What he should have wrote is that Jamie Moyer is not a Hall of Fame pitcher yet, because if he pitches to age 52 and wins 300 games there is no way he can be denied. No way.
But this got me thinking. At present, and for the first time in his career, Moyer is the winningest pitcher in baseball. And I wondered: who is second? I had a hunch that the second winningest pitcher among all active players was Andy Pettitte, but it appears that I'm wrong. According to Baseball-Reference.com, which, especially since the redesign and inclusion of minor league stats, is my source, my old reliable for baseball information, according to this site Jamie. Moyer. Has. Retired
Evidently Pettitte is the active leader in career wins. I failed in my attempt to post a screen capture of this, so I'll describe - on the list of "Active Wins Leaders" Moyer's name does not appear - nor is his name bolded on the "Career Wins Leaders" list, a delineation that separates the active from the retired. For all baseballreference intents and purposes, Jamie Moyer is no longer a ML baseball player.
Clearly this is just a glitch, but it has curious parallels with what I see as common opinion.
It seems that the common opinion is one that expects a quiet, long anticipated failure. A failure that has yet to come but still surprises many from year to year. How can this be considering the fact that the man is historically remarkable?
Two weeks ago Jayson Stark wrote this article describing Moyer's attempt to make the Phillies rotation in 2009. He asks the question:
What's the last team to start a non-knuckleballer older than Moyer more than once in a season? Any season? And the answer to that is: You can't find one. Ever.
If he sticks in the Phillies rotation this season Moyer will be the oldest, consistent, non-knuckleballer starter in the history of the game. And he certainly has a shot at being the oldest consistent starter outright. He'd only have to hold on until his age 49 season to earn that distinction. But who says he can't? If Moyer continues to pitch the way he has the last few years, there is certainly hope that he'll be able to continue playing in 2011, 2012, and on to 2013 (at which time, at age 49, he could be primed to eclipse the 300-win mark).
My question, then, becomes, why is failure expected and seemingly absorbed with such subdued responses? Why is it that the casual fan is surprised to see that the man is still playing the game instead of intrigued and excited?
Jamie Moyer is historically remarkable, there may never be another like him in age or strategy again. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine an instance in which a pitcher with an 80 mile per hour fastball would even be given the opportunity to play at the highest level in the game's current climate. In addition, Moyer may be the last 300 game winner we see for a very, very long time. And he is sure to be the most unconventional to arrive at such a place if he does arrive there.
In a sport where most pitchers throw the ball will chilling velocity, and batters strike the ball back the way it came (plus another 450 feet) on a regular basis, why not cheer for the patience, perseverance, and outstanding athletic, though not overpowering, abilities in a Jamie Moyer? Why anticipate his failure? Why not follow his every start in his quest for an unlikely triumph? Why not anxiously await news of his making the Phillies rotation this spring instead of being surprised to hear that he is even a part of the game anymore?
Jamie Moyer provides the opportunity to cheer for the unlikely and the remarkable, yet so many allow him to fall from view. For the last few years I have been, still am, and will continue to be, transfixed on this storyline. I know many of you are the same. I just don't understand why there are so few of us.
It is The Way of Things.
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