Jamie Moyer

Jamie Moyer (born November 18, 1962 in Sellersville, Pennsylvania) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is currently the oldest active player in the major leagues, and has been likened to Phil Niekro.

Moyer pitched at Saint Joseph's University where he set the school's single-season strikeout record of 90 in 1984 and is the only Saint Joseph's baseball player to have his number retired. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the sixth round of the 1984 amateur draft.

1986-1996

Moyer was selected a New York - Penn League All-Star in 1984. He made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs on June 16, 1986 against Steve Carlton and the Philadelphia Phillies, and got his first win. Later that year on August 16, he threw his first shutout against the Montreal Expos. He was also the starting pitcher for the Cubs on the day that Greg Maddux made his debut.

In 1987, Moyer ranked tenth in the National League with 147 strikeouts while winning 10 games. Following his then best season in 1988, Moyer was traded to the Texas Rangers as part of the 9-player Rafael Palmeiro for Mitch Williams trade. Moyer was on the disabled list with a sore left shoulder for much of a disappointing 1989 season. 1990 saw Moyer spend time in the bullpen before regaining a spot in the starting rotation.

Moyer was released as a free agent after the 1990 season and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals. He made seven starts for the Cardinals in 1991 before being sent to the minor leagues on May 24, and was released on October 14. In 1992, Moyer went to spring training with the Chicago Cubs, but was released and spent the rest of the season in the minor league system of the Detroit Tigers.

On December 18, 1992, Moyer signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Moyer began the 1993 campaign in the Oriole minor leagues, before being called up on May 30. He set a career-high total in wins with 12 and a new career-low ERA of 3.43. Moyer regressed some in the strike-shortened 1994 season, but was third on the team in innings pitched.

In 1995, Moyer again found himself in the Baltimore bullpen, but worked his way back into the starting rotation. He was released following the 1995 campaign, but his contract was picked up by the Boston Red Sox on December 22. Moyer started the 1996 season in the Boston bullpen, but made seven starts for the Red Sox during the year.


Seattle Mariners

In the middle of the 1996 season, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners on July 30, where he would start 11 games and go 6-2. His record of 13-3 would lead the majors in winning percentage at .813. In 1997, Moyer was fifth in the American League with 17 wins. His 17-5 record gave him the second highest winning percentage (.773) in the league. Moyer would make his first postseason start against his former club Baltimore, but was forced out with a strained elbow in the fifth inning.

In 1998, Moyer went 15-9 with a 3.53 ERA. He was third in innings pitched with 234.1. He registered his 100th career win against the Cleveland Indians on August 27, as well as his 1000th career strikeout with a sixth inning strikeout of David Bell. He was named Seattle's Pitcher of the Year by the Seattle chapter of the BBWAA.In 1999, Moyer established himself as one of baseball's consistent pitchers, and went 14-8 with a 3.87 ERA. He was given the honor of pitching the first game in the Mariners' new home, Safeco Field, and after 8 innings of 1-run ball was in line for the win when the save was blown by closer José Mesa. Moyer was voted to The Sporting News AL All-Star team. He again won the Seattle Pitcher of the Year award.

2000 saw Moyer rebound from an early shoulder injury to tally 13 wins, giving him at least 13 in each of his past five seasons. He made his first Opening Day start for Seattle, but lost to the Boston Red Sox 2-0 on April 4. His shoulder problems led his ERA to balloon to 5.49. A knee injury suffered on the last pitch of a simulated game caused him to miss Seattle's trip to the American League Championship Series against the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees.

2001 was Jamie Moyer's best season to date and he played a major role in propelling the Mariners to an American League record 116 wins. His 20 wins ranked tied for second in the American League, and his 3.43 ERA was sixth in the AL. On May 19, Moyer pitched one of the best games of his career against the New York Yankees, setting down 21 of the 22 batters he faced. He earned his 150th career win against the Texas Rangers on September 24. He became only the second Mariner in history to win 20 games on October 5, former teammate Randy Johnson being the other. Moyer went 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in the postseason. He won Games 2 and 5 for the Mariners against the Cleveland Indians and also carried Game 3 against the New York Yankees before Seattle lost in Game 5.

In 2002, Moyer went 13-8 with a then career low 3.32 ERA. Moyer was often plagued by lack of run support in some of games, where although he pitched 20 more innings and had a lower ERA than in 2001, he won seven fewer games. 2003 saw the now 40-year old Moyer come back to the mound and have his statistically best season. Moyer won a career high 21 games, lost only 7, and had a career low 3.27 ERA. He was tied for second in the American League for wins and was sixth in ERA. His .750 winning percentage placed him fourth in the league and his 21 wins are a club record. He became the only Seattle pitcher to win 20 games more than once. Moyer was voted to his first All-Star Game in 2003. He was named for the third time the Seattle Pitcher of the Year. Moyer was also the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the big leaguer whose success on the field is mirrored by his impact in community service, The Hutch Award, presented annually by the world-renowned Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center to an MLB player displaying "honor, courage and dedication to baseball, both on and off the field," and The Lou Gehrig Award, presented annually to the MLB player who both on and off the field best exemplifies the character of Lou Gehrig.

2004 saw Moyer's statistics slip, as well as the Seattle Mariners place atop the American League West. Moyer went 7-13 and posted his first losing record since 1994 While the year started well for him, going 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA from May 20-June 18, Moyer ended 2004 on a 10-game losing streak. One positive for Moyer was he was awarded the Branch Rickey Award for his exceptional community service following the season.

The 2005 season was a major improvement for Moyer. He passed Randy Johnson to become the winningest pitcher for the Mariners on May 30. On June 8, 2005, Moyer became the 25th southpaw to win 200 games in the majors. He avoided a collapse similar to that from 2004 and finished with a 13-7 record. One June 18, 2006, he became the 33rd man to start 500 major league games. In his 11 seasons with the Mariners, Moyer had a record of 145-87 with a 3.97 ERA in 324 games (323 starts) and is the franchise leader in wins, starts and innings pitched. Moyer also holds the dubious distinction of one of the all-time leaders in 1-0 complete game losses. Moyer has lost eight games having surrendered only 1 run over 9 innings. Before being traded in August of 2006, he was the oldest active American League player.


Philadelphia Phillies

On August 19, 2006, Moyer was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitchers Andrew Barb and Andrew Baldwin. In his first start with the Phillies, Moyer set a franchise record as the oldest pitcher to record a win. In eight starts with the Phillies in 2006, Moyer went 5-2 with a 4.03 ERA. As a result, Moyer signed a two-year extension worth $10.5 million with the Phillies on October 23.

In 2008, at age 45, Moyer became the oldest active player in Major League baseball. On April 30, Moyer hit a single off Padres pitcher Chris Young into left center field to become the oldest Phillie ever to get a hit.

On October 25, Moyer made his first World Series start against the Tampa Bay Rays, pitching 6 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs, and receiving a no-decision. More impressive was that he pitched with a severe stomach virus. Moyer won his first World Series ring when the Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, on October 29, 2008.