The news on Jamie Moyer was much worse than expected when he landed awkwardly on the mound during his final pitch in the seventh inning last night. Though he limped off the field quite gingerly, it was expected to be a strained muscle or something.
Who would have guessed that it very well could be the final pitch of his career?
According to team physician, Dr. Michael Ciccotti, Moyer tore three muscles. Two of those are in his groin and one torn muscle is in his stomach. He's going to have surgery in the next week and could be back in time for spring training.
I don't think it's the swan song for Moyer because I think he likes to play and always thinks he has something to prove. He loves that very much like Michael Jordan always liked proving people wrong.
The thing about Jamie is that he is quite arrogant, too. Clearly that's part of the reason why he has been so successful during a baseball career that bucked the odds.
I have had the chance to talk to Moyer a lot over the past few years and most of the time it was always illuminating. Even this season when he wasn't as friendly as in the past or feeling somewhat slighted because the team got Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez and spouted off about being "misled" that day at Wrigley Field, something was easily gleaned.
Moyer than anything else, Jamie Moyer is a competitor.
I wrote this after a game in Washington last year:
Moyer has no timetable for retirement and may even seek another contract when the current one ends.
“Look, I feel great and I’m pitching well and I love playing so I have no plans to stop,” he told me in a late-season interview. “But I could come in here tomorrow and the desire could be completely gone.”
Clearly that’s not the case. Moyer prepares and competes at 46 no differently than he did when he was a green rookie coming up with the Cubs in 1986. However, if there is something behind Moyer’s motivation to continue to pitch (and to pitch well) it seems to be the slights he took from baseball people back when he was struggling in the early 1990s. No, Moyer didn’t cite it as a motivating cause, but then again he didn’t have to.
“Fourteen years ago I was told to retire,” Moyer said with a smirk in a recent interview.
If Moyer hangs 'em up, his legacy will be those two clinchers he pitched at the Bank in 2007 and 2008 as well as his great effort in Game 3 of the World Series in '08.
While we were contemplating Moyer, the Phillies rallied for four runs in the fourth and Pedro Martinez was yanked for a pinch hitter.
Pedro's line: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, 1 HBP, 84 pitches (54 K)
Fourth inning: Phillies 5, Astros 3