Jamie Moyer

Infobox MLB player
name=Jamie Moyer


width=250
position=Starting pitcher
team=Philadelphia Phillies
number=50
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1962|11|18
birthplace=city-state|Sellersville|Pennsylvania
debutdate=June 16
debutyear=1986
debutteam=Chicago Cubs
statyear=2008 season
stat1label=Win–Loss
stat1value=246–185
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=4.19
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=2,248
teams=
*Chicago Cubs (by|1986–by|1988)
*Texas Rangers (by|1989–by|1990)
*St. Louis Cardinals (by|1991)
*Baltimore Orioles (by|1993–by|1995)
*Boston Red Sox (by|1996)
*Seattle Mariners (by|1996–by|2006)
*Philadelphia Phillies (by|2006–present)
awards=
*All-Star (2003)

Jamie Moyer (born November 18, 1962 in Sellersville, Pennsylvania) is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, playing for the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League. He is currently the oldest active player in the major leagues.

High school and college

Moyer spent his high school career at Souderton Area High School in Souderton, Pennsylvania. Moyer also pitched [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970714&slug=2549418 three consecutive no-hitters] in his high school career. [ [http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Jamie_Moyer Reference.com/Encyclopedia/Jamie Moyer] Moyer pitched at Saint Joseph's University and was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the sixth round of the by|1984 amateur draft. It was at college that former St Joe's pitcher Kevin Quirk taught Moyer [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060728&slug=moyer28 the change-up] that has carried him through his major league career.

Professional career

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, by|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.

In by|1987, Moyer ranked tenth in the National League with 147 strikeouts while winning 10 games. Following his then best season in by|1988, Moyer was traded to the Texas Rangers as part of the 9-player Rafael Palmeiro for Mitch Williams [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEED7163CF935A35751C1A96E948260 trade] .

Moyer was on the disabled list with a sore left shoulder for much of a disappointing by|1989 season. by|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 by|1991 before being sent to the minor leagues on May 24, and was released on October 14.

In by|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 by|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 by|1994 season, but was third on the team in innings pitched. In by|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.

eattle Mariners

Moyer started the by|1996 season in the Boston bullpen, but made seven starts for the Red Sox during the year. 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 by|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 by|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 by|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 [http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jul/16/sports/sp-56603 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.

by|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 [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/moyr09.shtml 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.

by|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 by|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 eight fewer games.

by|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.

by|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 by|1994 While the year started well for him, going 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA from May 20 - June 18, Moyer ended by|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 by|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, by|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 by|2006, he was the oldest active American League player.

Philadelphia Phillies

On August 19, 2006, Moyer was traded to the 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. [http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061023&content_id=1721461&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi]

On April 13, by|2007, at age 44 Moyer combined with Tom Glavine to become the oldest matchup of lefty starters (85 years, 163 days) in major league history. He struck out six batters in this game which included his 2000th batter. Later that month, on April 29 Moyer pitched a two-hitter in 7⅓ innings pitched as he recorded a win against the Florida Marlins. On May 9, at age 44, Moyer broke that same record when he combined with Randy Johnson to become the oldest match up of lefty starters (88 years, 48 days) in major league history. Moyer would win that game, with Johnson receiving a no decision.

In a dramatic finale to the 2007 season, Tom Glavine and Moyer faced off respectively in separate games to determine the National League Eastern Division Champions, as the division lead was tied at 88 wins. Moyer defeated the Washington Nationals, pitching 5⅓ innings and surrendering no runs, and three hits, while Glavine was crushed by the Marlins at Shea Stadium, surrendering 7 runs in the first inning, hitting a batter with the bases loaded and recording only a single out before being pulled. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001718_pf.html Thomas Boswell - Moyer Is The Sage of Philadelphia - washingtonpost.com ] ]

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 to ever get a hit. [ [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080430&content_id=2616945&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: News: Philadelphia Phillies News ] ] [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/04/08/2008-04-08_never_too_early_to_begin_booing.html Never too early to begin booing ] ] .

On May 26, Moyer won his 235th career game, giving him at least one victory over each Major League team. The victory came in a 20-5 win over the Colorado Rockies. Moyer pitched seven innings, struck out seven batters, and gave up four runs. He followed that in his next start against the Florida Marlins by earning his sixth victory of the season, pitching seven innings and giving up five runs.

On September 11, Moyer won his 14th game of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers, continuing his very impressive season, keeping his ERA well under 4, and igniting the Phillies toward a 7 game win streak. On September 27, 2008 Moyer again took the mound for the Phillies against the Nationals, in a game where the Phillies could clinch the National League East title with a win. Moyer pitched 6 innings and gave up only 1 run. The Phillies eventually won the game 4-3, and Moyer earned his 16th win of the year, the second oldest pitcher to accomplish this feat, finishing with a 3.71 era.

On October 4 against the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2008 NLDS, Moyer became the to ever start a post-season game at the age of 45 years 321 days, and the oldest since 1929 when Jack Quinn started for the Philadelphia Athletics at 46 years 103 days.

Personal life

Moyer currently lives in the Magnolia district of Seattle, Washington with his wife Karen (the daughter of former Notre Dame basketball coach and current ESPN sportscaster Digger Phelps and American University Professor of Law [http://www.wcl.american.edu/faculty/phelps/ Teresa Godwin Phelps] ) and their seven children. Their [http://mobile.mcall.com/detail.jsp?key=161899&full=1 youngest child] was adopted from Guatemala.

Jamie and Karen Moyer are philanthropists in the Northwest with their work done through [http://www.moyerfoundation.org/about/aboutus.aspx The Moyer Foundation] , a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children in severe distress.

couting report

Moyer is best known for his methodical approach to the game and his devastating changeup. He has notes and video recordings on almost every batter that he faces, which he studies prior to a game.

He is a finesse pitcher, rather than a power pitcher, throwing a 79-83 mph fastball with late movement, the circle changeup, a cut fastball, and a curveball.

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
* MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
* Top 100 Major League Baseball strikeout pitchers

References

External links

* Parody of the Jamie Moyer's hall of fame induction plaque [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/070502&sportCat=mlb]

Persondata
NAME = Moyer, Jamie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Baseball pitcher
DATE OF BIRTH = November 18, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH = Sellersville, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =