Saturday, March 31, 2012
HE IS ONE DAY OLDER THAN DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Jamie Moyer, 49, has made the Colorado Rockies' rotation and will start April 7 at Houston. He is older than Bo Jackson, Lenny Dykstra, and Mike Greenwell; he is older than Sidney Crosby and Lionel Messi (or Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray) combined.
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There are only six MLB stadiums still in business from when Jamie Moyer made his MLB debut.
ReplyDeleteMoyer is older than the Rockies and the Astros (the name, not the team, which started play as the Colt .45s seven months before Moyer was born). Moyer made his debut six years before Bud Selig took over as acting commissioner of MLB. He was traded to the Rangers with Rafael Palmeiro. Palmeiro hit 544 home runs after the trade and has been retired for six seasons.
ReplyDeleteHe made his major league debut on the day Barry Bonds hit the 4th home run of his career. He also debuted before Mark McGwire hit his first home run, before Roger Clemens won his first Cy Young award, before Randy Johnson struck out his first batter, and before Craig Biggio got his first hit.
ReplyDeleteJamie Moyer was born about a week after Ted Kennedy was sworn into the Senate for the first time. When he made his MLB debut, the #1 song in America was "On My Own," by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald.
ReplyDeleteMoyer debuted for the Cubs against the Phillies and won - against Steve Carlton. Starting LF for the Cubs that day was present-day Phils broadcaster Gary Matthews, whose son, Gary Jr., played in 12 MLB seasons between Moyer's 110th and 262nd career wins.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, both Barry Larkin and Roberto Alomar started and completed their careers, then spent the mandatory 5+ years waiting for HOF induction and were inducted, after Moyer's MLB debut.
ReplyDeleteThe only predecessor team to the Astros that we recognize around here are the Houston Babies.
ReplyDeleteglad to see him make a roster. i wish he was still a mariner...
ReplyDeleteOne more I've learned: Jamie Moyer is older than ZIP Codes.
ReplyDeleteThis is fun...
ReplyDeleteMoyer began his career before the all-star game determined home field advantage in the world series, before interleague play and before the wild card. When he made his debut, the National League still had one team that used a player-manager (the Reds) and one team whose stadium did not have lights (the Cubs).
When he began his career Michael Jordan was five years away from winning his first NBA championship, Derek Jeter was six years away from graduating high school and Billy Crystal was five years away from hosting the Oscars for the first time. Cal Ripken was nine years from breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak. The United States has had five different presidents during Moyer's career.
WHen Jaime Moyer started playing, the NL still had an exemption from modern baseball rules! Oh wait...
ReplyDeleteHere's something I used to love back when I was collecting baseball cards - the guys who had played in 4 decades (and for whom Topps had to use a totally different font for the career stats on the backs of their cards). The ones I remember from my card-collecting days were Jim Kaat, Tim McCarver, and Willie McCovey, who all started their careers in 1959 and played into the early 1980s.
ReplyDeleteMoyer, though, is unusual among 4-decade guys in that he started his career in the middle, rather than at the end, of a decade. Hall-of-Famers Nolan Ryan (1966-1993) and Eddie Collins (1906-1930) are the only other modern-era comparables to Moyer on this front - every other 4-decade guy in MLB history started his career in the -8 or -9 year of the decade.
(Also, give it up for the only other active 4-decade club member: Omar Vizquel.)
Would it be the case that Moyer has played in the most MLB parks, not just among active players, but ever?
ReplyDeleteJim Caple: "<span>Because he pitched in both leagues before the wave of new stadiums and in both leagues after the new stadiums, Moyer has pitched in a record 49 big league ballparks (plus three more in Japan during an MLB tour). The only ballparks in use during his career he missed are Exhibition Park in Toronto, Mile High Stadium in Denver and Target Field in Minnesota. If he makes the team, Miami's new stadium could be his 50th."</span>
ReplyDeleteHe has won in 41 parks; Randy Johnson has won in 43.
While Moyer recovered from injury last year, knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield held the title of oldest active player. Wakefield was a firstbaseman on his college team when Moyer made his major league debut.
ReplyDeleteMoyer started so long ago that his only teammate out with an Achilles injury was Achilles himself! And his catcher hadn't fully evolved yet! His name was Ug and he walked on all fours!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for entertaining my baseball-knowledge-absorber kiddo. I made him guess Omar Vizquel (took two guesses - first guess was Tim Wakefield, then he remembered he was retired).
ReplyDeleteWhen Moyer started in the league, the HOUSTON BABIES were known as the BUFFALO BAYOU ZYGOTES.
ReplyDeleteBoth had their signature years with the Seattle Mariners.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it is worth adding the caveat that Moyer was out of MLB for 2 seasons (1992, which he spent in the minors, and last season, rehabbing) during his career. But still.
ReplyDeleteMoyer is older now than Wilford Brimley was when Brimley played the role of seasoned team manager "Pop" in a little 1984 baseball film called "The Natural".
ReplyDelete