Until the Major League Baseball playoffs start in October, baseball holds little interest for me when the college football season starts. That is, until this headline in the local daily popped up in front of me: 'Old Man' Moyer Does It Again.
In an instant, even though he now plays for the Philadelphia Phillies on the East Coast, I knew Jamie Moyer was a former Seattle Mariner who should never have been pushed out the door by the Seattle club management.
All Moyer did Thursday (9-11-08) was pitch 5+ effective innings on 3 days' rest to allow the Phillies time, with the help of Ryan Howard's major league-leading 43rd home run, to beat the Milwaukee Braves 6-3 and climb within 3 games of the National League's East Division-leading New York Mets.
"He's been consistent all year," said manager Charlie Manuel after the game. "Goes to show you the old man can still pitch."
Seattle originally picked up Moyer for Darren Bragg in a 1996 trade with the Boston Red Sox. As a Mariner for part of 1996, the 9 full seasons from 1997 through 2005 and part of 2006, Moyer's won-loss record was 145-87 (62%). He went 20-6 in 2001 and 21-7 in 2003. He helped Seattle win titles. He was the Mariners' opening day pitcher in 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The Mariners figured his good days were gone. They guessed wrong. Moyer is 14-7 with Philly this year and 7-1 in his last 13 starts. His victory Thursday moved him past Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal and into a tie with Jack Powell for 49th on the all-time win list with 244 wins during his 22-year career.
When the Mariners dealt Moyer in 2006, they got Andrew Barb and Andy Baldwin, a couple of minor leaguers who never did squat for Seattle. The Moyer trade was not just a bad deal, it rates as one of the worst deals in the history of baseball.
Moyer was admittedly only a contributing factor with the Mariners, but there is no arguing the fact that Seattle's baseball fortunes went into the dumper when he was let go.
The Mariners, currently stuck in last place with 88 loses among the American League West teams, may well become the first team in MLB history to lose 100 games in a year with a $100+ million payroll.
Having followed the Mariners for too many years to count, I can tell you that Moyer was just one of 4 huge mistakes management has made.
Another was pushing Randy "the Big Unit" Johnson out of the door to Houston; Seattle thought his winning days were over, and did not want to pay the freight. Randy would go on to win 4 Cy Young Awards as the best pitcher in the National League, and also a World Series ring with the Arizona Diamondbacks while the Mariners were watching him on the tube.
Another gaffe was getting rid of Ken Griffey Jr. rather than Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez was all about the money, signing a 10-year, $250 million contract with the Texas Rangers. Griffey was a player looking for a World Series ring; he would end up at home in Cincinnati, be perpetually injured and flounder while never being the same player with the Reds that he was with the Mariners.
A 4th mistake was not sitting on Alex Rodriguez when he came to the bigs. Alex just had to play shortstop because he was going to be the greatest player of all time (he may end up as just that). However, that meant Seattle dumped a far-better fielding shortstop in Omar "Little O" Vizquel.
Someone in management should have taken Alex Rodriguez aside when he came up and said, "Son, you are going to become the greatest power-hitting third baseman in the history of baseball." As fate would have it, when Rodriguez was acquired by the New York Yankees, there was no way the Yankees were going to let Rodriguez play shortstop, that position belonged to Derek Jeter, the Yankees' captain and heart and soul of the team.
In hindsight, had the Mariners put Rodriguez at third base, left Omar Vizquel at short, kept Randy Johnson, dumped Rodriguez and kept Griffey, their fortunes would have continued longer. Now Seattle is but a late-afternoon shadow of the team it once was.
I will concede that Ossie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals is the greatest fielding shortstop in baseball history. "The Wizard of Oz" won 13 consecutive Golden Gloves in the National League, a record that has never been matched. I still believe that the Venezuelan-born Omar Visquel is the greatest fielding shortstop in the American League.
So am I upset that Seattle let go of Jamie Moyer? Nah, stupid is as stupid does. I am happy as a grandfather that Moyer can still pitch with the best at age 45. I hope he pitches long enough to win 300 games and end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He may not have the stats, but he sure is made of the right stuff.
At his worst, Moyer just may be one of the smartest pitchers in baseball; from the view of many, he has certainly played far better than his actual talent. Is there any wonder why millions of fans who never had the talent to make it to the bigs identify with Jamie Moyer? He is our guy, and we will always root for the underdog.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
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