Timelessness and Jamie Moyer

Creeping closer to seniors discounts at local restaurants, Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher to win a game in the bigs, a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. Cheers Jamie!

LIVINGSTONE: I’m beginning to look into my future a little bit more these days, especially when it comes to baseball. It coincides with life, maturity, professional desires, life, family, etc. It’s normal, I suppose, so it’s carried over into the ‘what-ifs’ of my sports passions. Will Ben Roethlisberger make it to another Super Bowl? Will The Flyers win a Stanley Cup in the next five years? Will the Leafs ever win one in my lifetime (or my hypothetical child…and their kids.)?

The question that popped into my head last night came on the heals of a new baseball record, now enshrined in the Hall of Fame: Will Jamie Moyer ever retire?

Moyer, at the young age of forty-nine, became the oldest pitcher in history to win a baseball game. Pitching now for the Colorado Rockies, after pitching for almost every team in baseball (that’s not true, but it seems like it, he’s only pitched for eight) he kept the San Diego Padres’ hitters at bay with his lightning-fast 79 mph fastball and his nasty cutter. The Rockies won 5-3.

Moyer, 49 years, 150 days old to be exact, takes the record held by Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who was 49 years, 70 days old when he set the record.

Wait, the Brooklyn Dodgers? Yep, the record was set on Sept. 13, 1932 when a bottle of Coke was five cents and the Second World War was yet to happen.

It’s an incredible feat. To be able to pitch for 25 years, for eight clubs, play with Ryne Sandberg, Ken Griffey Jr., and Carlos Gonzalez (in three different decades mind you) amass 268 wins and over 2,400 Ks – it’s unreal. Moyer is the third oldest pitcher ever to play in a regular season game (behind Quinn and Satchel Paige who was, get this, 59(!!) when he played in 1965) and is tied for sixth on the oldest player, pitcher or position, to play (he’s tied with the likes of Julio Franco (2007) and Hughie Jennings (1918), among others).

It speaks a lot to not only the longevity of his ability to play – but to the fact he has been able to continue pitching, after 25 years and more than 4,000 innings, without his body, or love for the game, saying that’s enough.

Sure, he gets a paycheck, and a pretty decent one in the grand scheme of life, but at this point in his career, he just seems to want to keep playing the game he loves so dearly.

It’s beautiful.

 

Is it time to worry about Tim Lincecum?

Giants starter Tim Lincecum has been anything but the freak he has known to be. In his first two starts of the season he got pelted and currently has an ERA above 10.00.

LIVINGSTONE: The expectations surrounding San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum have been high since he came into the league.

He’s 69-42 with a 3.04 career-ERA, has won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2008 and 2009 and played a pivotal role in the Giants World Series title in 2010. In 1,035.2 innings pitches, The Freak has 1,137 strikeouts.

Dominant? You bet.

And while the season is young and Lincecum has only pitched two games he looks nothing like the dominant slingshot pitcher hitters have feared for the last five seasons. In two starts for the Giants, Lincecum has posted an ERA of 12.91, has given up 11 runs in 7.2 innings, 14 hits and has posted a WHIP of 2.22 (his career WHIP is 1.20). It’s anything but spectacular and one has to wonder if Lincecum is beginning to show signs of fatigue.

It’s known that Lincecum has dropped – or at least diminished greatly – the use of his slider. That slider was one of the filthiest in the league and a big part of his ability to dominate. It’s very early, but there has always been concern that Lincecum’s career would tail off as he aged, much of it to do with his slingshot delivery and his relatively small frame.

As a fantasy baseball nut who has drafted Lincecum each of the last four years, it’s tough to watch him struggle like this. It’s early so patience is key, but one has to wonder if it’s a glimpse into the slow decline of one of the most dominant pitchers in the game over the last half-decade.

Have to hope it’s not likely the case. He gets his third start of the season tonight so much of fantasy baseball players will be watching closely to see just how Freakish Lincecum will be – either good or bad.