Jamie Moyer's Potential Firsts

By Bill


I just wrote about Moyer right around a month ago. But he's taking the field now, stirrups and all, and, well, I can't help it. I'm excited about it. I still don't expect him to make an appearance in the big leagues this year, but just the fact that he might is so freaking cool.

So, quickly. If he does make the majors this year, here are some records he can set:

- First pitcher age 49 or older ever to earn a win. The only two 49 year olds ever to pitch in the major leagues were Hoyt Wilhelm and Jack Quinn; both pitched exclusively in relief, totaling 41 innings, and each had one loss and one save, but no wins. The only pitcher older than 49 was Satchel Paige, who made his one novelty start for the Kansas City Athletics at age 58 (at least) in 1965, but lasted only three innings.

Jamie Moyer: Four Degrees of Babe Ruth

By Bill


As you may have heard, Jamie Moyer, who will turn fifty years old a few weeks after the upcoming season's World Series, finalized a minor-league contract with the Colorado Rockies last night. It seems like just about the worst possible place for Moyer to play, but hey, all he's got to do is make an appearance in the majors (far from a sure thing at this point) to be one of the stories of the year.

Inspired by Diane's great collection of Moyer facts (including the first one below) over at VORG, here's a quick chain of players who show up in the same box scores as one another:

1. On June 16, 1986, Moyer made his Major League debut for the Cubs against the Phillies. His opponent that day was Steve Carlton, aged 41, who took the mound looking for his 289th 319th win. He wouldn't get it; Moyer didn't pitch very well, but he and the Cubs came away with a 7-5 win, Lee Smith picking up the save.

Beer Leaguers: 200 Year Old Unnamed Beer From the Bottom of the Sea and Jamie Moyer

Last week, CCN.com reported that divers in Scandanavia have uncovered the oldest drinkable beer in the world, an unidentified shipment of brew that was reportedly on its way to Russia sometime between 1800 and 1830 when it went down with the ship. There it sat, at the bottom of the sea, until its recent recovery.

Researchers will be using the next few months to determine its exact composition and recipe, during which TCM is sure that they’ll sneak a taste when no one’s looking. But The Common Man will, sadly, never get to drink it. This may not be a terrible thing, mind you, as there’s no real sense of whether the beer has gone flat in 200 years. But the culture inside of it is still, apparently, active, and it has been stored at ideal temperatures (near freezing) and light levels (none) for its entire life. It may damn well be the best beer in the world, in addition to being the oldest. But we’ll never know.

Obviously, the oldest beer in the world reminds us that, despite the injuries that sidelined him for the back half of 2010, Jamie Moyer is still an active pitcher.

Mirror Image

Wife week seems to have morphed into Jamie Moyer Appreciation Week.

The other day, The Common Man wrote a short post on The Daily Something about Jamie Moyer’s longevity, in which TCM claimed that Moyer is not Hall of Fame material. This prompted the following comment from the blog’s purveyor and good friend,

“He's not a Hall of Famer...but it's always important (to me) to note that if he's not, neither is Jack Morris. Nearly identical IP and ERA+, and Moyer now has almost as many strikeouts and many fewer walks. To believe Morris is a Hall of Famer, you have to believe that one really good World Series game is all it would take to propel Jamie Moyer there.”

Touche, Bill. As Bill points out, the difference between Moyer and Morris is an eyelash at this point (that eyelash being a 10 inning shutout and that they throw with opposite hands). Compare the following chart:


Relative to their leagues, the two players are pretty similar on a superficial level. That said, Moyer has more innings, much better control, and a higher WAR than Morris, according to BaseballReference.com. And while Morris made his bones in the World Series (4-2, 2.96), his overall playoff record (7-4, 3.80, 0.9 HR/9, 3.1 BB/9, 6.2 K/9, and 2.0 K/BB) is much more in line with his overall numbers. And those ALCS starts count too. Plus, it’s not like Moyer has been a slouch in the postseason (3-3, 4.14 ERA with a lower HR/9 and BB/9 and a higher K/9 and K/BB). In fact, if we remove one disastrous start for Moyer against the Dodgers in 2008 (when he gave up 6 runs in 1.1 innings), Moyer’s postseason ERA is 2.93. The main difference between the two hurlers in the postseason seems to be innings pitched, where Morris has more than twice the experience in October. So, while Morris does get some extra credit for his postseason heroics, it’s probably not enough to substantially separate himself from Moyer, if we’re looking at their careers objectively.

So what do we make of this? Morris was never an elite pitcher in the American League, just a good pitcher for a long time. Similarly, Jamie Moyer was probably never an elite pitcher in either league (only one all star appearance, a few high finishes in Cy Young voting but never top 3). The two are each the second most similar pitcher to one another according to Bill James’ similarity scores (amazingly, the most similar pitcher to each of them is Dennis Martinez). Given the general qualifications of Hall of Fame pitchers, neither really passes the bar.

That said, The Common Man has recently become more of a “Big Hall” kind of guy, and can envision a Hall of Fame that welcomes both the twirler of the greatest game in World Series history and the pitching with the biggest post-30 career turnaround ever. After all, we all enjoyed the careers of both Morris and Moyer, and TCM sees nothing wrong with reliving those memories when we browse the plaques in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame Gallery.

So The Common Man revises his earlier statement. Moyer for the Hall! And Moyer! And Santo! But all of them have to line up behind Blyleven.

Methuseli

As The Common Man explored on The Daily Something the other day, the inimitable Junkballin’ Jamie Moyer pitched a wonderful game against the New York Yankees, becoming the oldest pitcher to ever beat the ballclub. That said, as Craig points out on Hardball Talk,

“Jamie Moyer is the oldest pitcher to ever beat the Yankees! -- is another of those silly, ‘we're only talking about it because it's a New York team’ things. Moyer is the oldest pitcher to beat a whole bunch of teams, I'd imagine, and we generally don't care. But because he's facing New York, which means that there are a bunch more writers covering it, all of whom are looking for an angle, we get factoids disguised as records like this one.”

True, Craig. So true. Which, of course, gives The Common Man his own angle, for which he is greatly appreciative. So here is a list of the oldest pitchers to beat each Major League franchise since 1900:




You’ll notice a couple things. First of all, Craig’s right, Moyer is the oldest pitcher to beat the Yankees, Padres, Brewers, Braves, Mets, Astros, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Reds, Rays, and Nationals. Indeed, that’s more than a third of the teams in the MLB. Also, you’ll note that the list is dominated by only a few names. This makes sense, obviously, since very few pitchers tend to make it into their forties to begin with, let alone their late 40s. And as these players tend to remain effective in their 40s (otherwise they would not be pitching), they tend to beat a lot of their opponents. The list is also dominated by pitchers with a gimmick. Hoyt Wilhelm, who pitched until his was 49, had the greatest knuckleball of all time. Phil Niekro, who retired at 48, is right behind him. Charlie Hough, who barely cracks the list, also threw a knuckler. Jack Quinn was the last man allowed to throw a spitball, after the pitch was outlawed. And, of course, Moyer throws slower than most 14 year olds, but combines excellent control with a yard full of junk.

Beacon of Manhood: Jamie Moyer

Well, The Common Man's successful viewing experience last night, brought about by Penn State's first win at Ohio State in 15 years and plenty of time to watch Game 3 of the World Series, was improved tremendously by watching 45 year old (he'll be 46 next month) Jamie Moyer baffle Tampa Bay Rays hitters for 6.1 innings. Moyer, despite coming up ridiculously short in his previous start, bounced back against the young and hungry Rays, taming hitters less than half his age. Moyer limited the Rays to just 5 hits and 3 runs, and striking out five (including 23 year old BJ Upton once, and 22 year old uber-rookie Evan Longoria twice). He wasn't perfect, but like the cagey and wily old man that he is he kept his team in the game and far exceeded expectations.

Baseball is a funny game. As in life, the race doesn't always go to the swift or the fight to the strong. Sometimes, indeed often in baseball, gutty and smart performers can outstrip even the most skilled and gifted opponents. And when that happens, baseball is infinitely more fun to watch. Being privileged enough to watch Nolan Ryan reel off no-hitters long into his forties, or see Rickey Henderson in his 5th comeback coax out his eleventy billionth walk off a 20 year old phenom, or Jamie Moyer, throwing changeup after changeup in his first World Series in a 22 year career.

For his impressive work and his impressive age (and because no one else seemed particularly inspiring this week), The Common Man awards Moyer this week's Beacon of Manhood. The Common Man hopes to be just as successful, grizzled, and impressive when he's 46. The Common Man doesn't much mind being wrong in his predictions his prescience is thwarted by an awesome story and an ideal example of masculine manliness.