Old Man Moyer plying his trade.Jamie Moyer has had an unorthodox career. Through age 32, he pitched about 1,100 mediocre innings for four teams and had a losing record. As he moved into his mid-30s, an age when most pitchers decline quickly, he got much better. Since turning 33, he has thrown nearly 3,000 above-average innings and racked up over 200 wins. Now, at 47, he is pitching his fourth full season for the Philadelphia Phillies. As I detailed in a post a couple of weeks ago, he is the ultimate soft-tosser in today’s game. He is a straightforward, fastball-changeup pitcher whose average heater comes in at 81-82 miles per hour and has maxed out at around 84 this season. He has relied on command and deception to survive for years with some of the slowest stuff in the game.
Niekro knuckled his way through 5,400 innings over 24 seasons.Just by taking the mound in his late-40s, Moyer is placing himself in rare territory. Few pitchers have thrown significant innings at 46, and the drop-off is steep every year thereafter. Last year, Moyer became just the second 46 year old to qualify for the ERA title since 1900. He threw 162 innings, behind only knuckleballer Phil Niekro’s 220 at age 46 in 1985. He has already passed the 45-inning mark this season, and again is chasing Niekro, who threw 210⅓ at age 47. And Moyer is not simply eating up innings, but has had stretches of good pitching. Last Friday, May 7, he became the oldest man ever to throw a shutout. It was not a cheap one; he was dominant, striking out five and allowing only two baserunners, both on singles to Troy Glaus.
If Moyer can remain in a starting rotation for the rest of this season and beyond, he has a chance to catch and surpass Niekro in longevity. Following is the full list of pitching seasons at age 48 or older since 1900. These numbers are from Baseball Reference, which uses a June 30 cutoff each season to determine age of record.
| Table 1: Pitching Seasons, Age 48 and Older | ||||||
| Name | Year | Age | Games Started |
IP | W-L | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Niekro | 1986 | 48 | 26 | 138.2 | 7-13 | 6.30 |
| Jack Quinn | 1932 | 48 | 0 | 87.1 | 3-7 | 3.30 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 1972 | 49 | 0 | 25.1 | 0-1 | 4.62 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 1971 | 48 | 0 | 20.0 | 0-1 | 2.70 |
| Jack Quinn | 1933 | 49 | 0 | 15.2 | 0-1 | 4.02 |
| Satchel Paige | 1965 | 58 | 1 | 3.0 | 0-0 | 0.00 |
Apart from a stunt by Satchel Paige, who started a game in 1965 after being out of the majors for over ten years, Niekro is the only pitcher in history to start after turning 48. If Moyer pitches next season and has modest success, as he has the past few years, he will join Niekro in that club. If he can pitch in 2012, he should not have much trouble passing Wilhelm and Quinn in innings pitched. And if he remains in the league just one year beyond that, he will join Paige as the only players in their 50s to pitch in the major leagues. Though he is no Hall of Famer, after a rough start, Moyer has had a fantastic career as a late bloomer. It will be interesting to see whether he can add more unique achievements to his record over the next couple of years.
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