The Ageless Jamie Moyer and the Texas Rangers Starting Rotation

The Colorado Rockies have reached an agreement with Jamie Moyer on a minor league contract with an opportunity to compete for a spot in the major league rotation. Moyer is attempting to return to baseball at the age of 49 after missing last year due to Tommy John surgery. Moyer worked out for scouts this winter, and at least one report concluded that he looked “excellent.”

Frankly, it’s amazing that a 49 year old could possibly compete at the highest level of professional baseball, let alone do so after sitting out a year while recovering from surgery. But that is the anomaly that is Jamie Moyer, a soft-tossing lefty who really wasn’t very effective until he turned 34.

And it’s the amazing longevity of Jamie Moyer that’s inspired this article. But this won’t really be about Moyer himself but rather an illustration of how wide the age gap is between him and your average major league pitching rotation.

So, let’s go back in time and discover what Jamie Moyer was doing on the day that each member of the projected Texas Rangers starting rotation was born.

Now that the Rangers have officially signed Yu Darvish, their starting rotation will probably look something like this:

Colby Lewis Yu Darvish Derek Holland Matt Harrison Neftali Feliz

The Rangers will sport a pretty young starting staff – which works quite well for this particular bit of research.

1. Colby Lewis – Born August 2, 1979

Lewis has tentatively been slotted to be the Rangers opening day starter, and he’s easily the oldest member of the rotation at 33 years old.

When Colby Lewis was born, Moyer was a 16-year old, probably playing high school ball at Souderton High in Souderton, Pennsylvania. Searching the vast wastelands of the Internet, I was unable to find any official stats for the 1979 Souderton High Indians. I’m sure I just didn’t look hard enough.

2. Yu Darvish – Born August 16, 1986

We’ll know soon enough if the Rangers and the Japanese phenom Yu Darvish have agreed to a contract, but it appears there’s plenty of optimism in the Rangers camp that a deal will get done. Darvish would slide into the 2 spot in the rotation, but the hope is that he’ll be the de facto staff ace.

The day of Darvish’s birth was a good one for Moyer as he threw his first career shutout against the Montreal Expos whose lineup included Hall of Famer Andre Dawson and former Ranger George Wright. Moyer gave up 2 hits, struck out 4, and walked none, backed up by a defense that included Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and Gary Matthews Sr., a name that should be familiar to Ranger fans.

3. Derek Holland – Born October 9, 1986

Holland sometimes shows the stuff to be a solid number 2, but he suffers from consistency issues. Still, the Rangers will rely heavily on him this year and expect good results. He’s one of the more interesting characters on the Rangers and is a favorite of the local fans and media because he’ll do things like pitch whiffle balls to Dirk Nowitzki and persistently try to grow his ridiculous mustache.

The day Derek Holland was born, the 23-year old Moyer had finished his first season in the majors going 7-4 with a 5.05 ERA for the 5th place Cubs and may have been watching the Mets beat the Astros 5-1 in game 2 of the NLCS at the Astrodome.

4. Matt Harrison – Born September 16, 1985

Harrison, like Holland, shows great stuff from time to time, but his performance is still difficult to predict. Harrison came to Texas in the famous Mark Teixeira trade which has now produced 40% of this year’s rotation.

The day Matt Harrison was born, Moyer was still in the minors pitching for Double A Pittsfield in the Eastern League, a year away from joining the Cubs rotation. That 1985 Pittsfield team didn’t make the playoffs but they did the following year with Greg Maddux and Rafael Palmeiro. And the year after that with Doug Dascenzo and Mark Grace. And the year after that with Joe Girardi. That’s right, during Moyer’s playing career, Joe Girardi debuted in the majors, retired, worked as a commentator, and managed 2 teams.

5. Neftali Feliz – Born May 2, 1998

The plan this year is for Feliz to join the rotation, a plan firm enough that Ogando and Harrison are more likely to move to the bullpen than Feliz. He looked good as a starter last year in Spring Training, but it’ll be very interesting to see if he can control his secondary stuff well enough to be an effective starter for a full season.

When Neftali Feliz was born, Moyer won unimpressively throwing 6 innings and giving up 2 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks in a 5-2 win over the Padres. He did manage to strikeout Tony Gwynn, Robbie Alomar, and Benito Santiago. He just had more offensive support with homers by Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson. Rafael Palmeiro started in left field, Jim Sundberg came in as a pinch runner, and the game was closed out by Goose Gossage.

So there you have it, Jamie Moyer was mowing down Hall of Famers before much of the Rangers rotation was born, and now it’s become possible that he could face the Rangers when the Rockies come to town June 22-24. It would be a homecoming of sorts for Moyer who played here in 1988 and 89 coming over to Texas from the Cubs with Rafael Palmeiro and for Mitch Williams in a 9-player blockbuster trade.

Here’s hoping Moyer plays this year and into his 50s.


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