We're all about baseball history here at Orioles Card "O" the Day, especially as it pertains to the delightfully elderly Jamie Moyer. Last night, the only active major leaguer born during the Kennedy administration won his ninth game of the season and the 267th of his endless career. He's 36th all-time in total victories, and his next 'W' will tie him with Jim Palmer. After that, he's only two wins away from former O's teammate Mike Mussina. But in Sunday night's game, Jamie unseated another pitching great with Birdland ties for a dubious honor. He surrendered a two-run homer to Vernon Wells - the 506th home run allowed in his career. Of course, when you hang around for 24 years and pitch to contact, you're bound to get hammered a few times. I wandered over to Jamie's Home Run Log on Baseball-Reference and dug up some real great trivia on Moyer's roundtrippers:-322 different batters have victimized Jamie, including six current Hall of Famers (Schmidt, Tony Gwynn, Andre Dawson, Wade Boggs, Paul Molitor, and Cal Ripken, Jr.). At a glance, as many as 15 others could be enshrined in Cooperstown when the smoke from the Steroid Era clears.
-Batters have knocked the ball out of 42 different ballparks against Jamie. Contrary to popular belief, he never pitched at Shibe Park or Forbes Field.
-Once he got to 400 homers allowed, he apparently couldn't wait to give up #500. David Ortiz hit the big 4-0-0 off of Moyer in a Red Sox-Mariners tilt in 2006; it was the first of five home runs Boston hit against the lefty that day. Alex Gonzalez, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, and Manny Ramirez rounded out the quintet.
-He's given up only one inside-the-park home run. It was hit by Kansas City's Kevin Seitzer on May 13, 1989.
-Likewise, Jamie has surrendered just one walk-off home run. It came on June 24, 2004. The Mariners and Rangers had been tied at seven when Moyer was called upon to make an emergency relief appearance in the 15th inning. He held Texas scoreless for three innings before Hank Blalock singled to open the bottom of the 18th. Two pitches later, Alfonso Soriano ended the game with a round-tripper.
-He has given up home runs to the father-son combos of Cecil and Prince Fielder and Tony Pena Sr. and Jr.
-Last year, Jamie was taken deep by Dan Murphy of the Mets. Murphy was born on April 1, 1985. Moyer was drafted by the Cubs in June 1984, ten months earlier.
-Once he got to 400 homers allowed, he apparently couldn't wait to give up #500. David Ortiz hit the big 4-0-0 off of Moyer in a Red Sox-Mariners tilt in 2006; it was the first of five home runs Boston hit against the lefty that day. Alex Gonzalez, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, and Manny Ramirez rounded out the quintet.
-He's given up only one inside-the-park home run. It was hit by Kansas City's Kevin Seitzer on May 13, 1989.
-Likewise, Jamie has surrendered just one walk-off home run. It came on June 24, 2004. The Mariners and Rangers had been tied at seven when Moyer was called upon to make an emergency relief appearance in the 15th inning. He held Texas scoreless for three innings before Hank Blalock singled to open the bottom of the 18th. Two pitches later, Alfonso Soriano ended the game with a round-tripper.
-He has given up home runs to the father-son combos of Cecil and Prince Fielder and Tony Pena Sr. and Jr.
-Last year, Jamie was taken deep by Dan Murphy of the Mets. Murphy was born on April 1, 1985. Moyer was drafted by the Cubs in June 1984, ten months earlier.
He's simply amazing!
ReplyDeleteJamie Moyer made his MLB debut when I was 22 days old. I'm now 24 years old. During that time, I went through K-12, graduated from college, and got a job with a 401k. And he's still pitching. That's nuts.
ReplyDeleteJim - I certainly think so, as evidenced by the amount of time I spend on him here on the blog.
ReplyDeleteWilliam - 24? Lousy punk kid... ;)