Mr. Yoder’s Blog

Pardon me while I defend my hometown hero.

It seems that no one can mention Jamie Moyer without mentioning how old he is.  In specific I’m talking about sportswriters.  Chipper Jones made a comment about Moyer being 87 years old.  That was hyperbole and it was funny.  Sportwriters aren’t exaggerating every time they mention his age.

I guess it isn’t the age-ism that upsets me, it is the sheer bafflement writers express over his success at such an ‘advanced’ age.  Maybe if these same sports writers would stop assuming that Moyer is past his prime, or over the hill, or how he’s the oldest to do this or the oldest to do that, they could focus not on that he is successful, but rather how he is successful.

This isn’t a defense of my home town; there’s plenty of reasons I don’t live there now, but Souderton was a good place to grow up. Not much was just handed to kids; there was more than a little work involved (unless you lived in Harleysville).  I know this is coming off as a ‘In my day we walked 8 miles to school, uphill both ways’ statement, but consider:

• Moyer went to Indian Crest JH (now MS) before the renovations.  I’d say that school had a good bit to do with learning focus and concentration.  How else can you make it through 7th through 9th grades will no walls between classrooms?  There were distractions on all sides, not the least of which was Mr. Frey playing with his Zippo throughout each class.  (Seriously, there were no walls.  It was some hippy-nonsense design that kids would go to learning stations set up throughout the giant open space.  That was quickly abandoned in favor of bookshelves and portable dividers.  You had to learn to focus despite distractions, or at least how to multi-task and pay attention to 2 or 3 classes at once.  And when it was quite you could hear the telltale metallic ‘clink’ three rooms away.)
• For intensity, nothing beats a junior high gym teacher who would call out ‘Snap ‘em’ and expect the entire class to snap the elastic on their jock straps simultaneously (obviously not co-ed gym).  And if the class did it wrong, they did it until they got it right.  Leiphart’s World has nothing on Jacktivities.
• Moyer developed stamina for the long haul working summers for the borough mowing lawns as a teen, then playing Legion ball at night.  His high school and legion coach worked as a mason by day, coach at night.  I’m sure that on more than one occasion Moyer schlepped bags of concrete.  When not playing ball, he developed strong legs riding his bike to the Souderton pool (which was an uphill ride both ways if you used Wile Ave. to get there), then navigating the changing rooms without falling over on the polished smooth concrete floors.
• Come to think of it, I’m not sure this needs to be written.  Sportswriters giving up on him really isn’t an issue.  People give up on him all the time and it doesn’t phase him.  One English teacher told him he’d never pitch in the majors.  After a few years bouncing around in the majors, he spent a year in the minors after refusing an offer for a coaching position.  That was almost 20 years ago.
• He’s a nice guy, frequently winning humanitarian awards from MLB.  He’s got time for kids (he better with 8 of them at home).  Once I saw him pitch for the Toledo Mud Hens against the Rochester Red Wings.  After he got pulled, my dad walked me down to the locker room and knocked on the door.  Dad dropped a few names to the clubhouse attendant and Moyer came out, talked to us for about 5 minutes and signed a baseball for me.  I still have it.
• Former teachers describe him as not the brightest kid, but he’s baseball smart, and his work ethic helps.  He studies opposing hitters relentlessly via written notes and video which allows him to out-think batters.  His change up (a frequent target of mocking by writers, since how can you have a change up when your fastball is low 80s?) is a result of a change in mechanics in his legs, not his arm motion.  And the reasoning is brilliant:  hitters can’t pick up a change up watching the legs, they’re busy watching the ball.

What I like most about Moyer is that he plays because he likes the game.  All those years ago he could have taken a cushy coaching job.  He could have had a fairy tale ending, retiring on top in 2008.  Like a left handed Energizer bunny, he keeps going and going and going…

And for those scoring at home, not once did I mention how old he is, or the age records he’s set.  At 260+ career wins, I think we’ll see him pitch at least until he gets to 300.

And then he’ll reinvent himself as a knuckleballer.