Jamie Moyer has a history of defying the odds, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but Rockies’ manager Jim Tracy announced last night that the 49-year-old left-hander has won a spot in the team’s starting rotation. He’ll start the second game of the season on April 7 against the Astros.
Moyer, who is entering 25th major league season, posted an impressive 2.77 ERA and 11/3 K/BB ratio over 13 innings this spring. He will be the oldest pitcher to start a game since Satchel Paige at age 59 in 1965 and will also have the chance to become the oldest pitcher to win a major league game. Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Dodgers previously won a game on September 13, 1932 at 49 years, 74 days old. Moyer is two months older than Quinn was at the time.
It’s impressive enough that Moyer won a rotation spot at the age of 49, but remember that he also missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Kudos, Jamie. You are making us all look like slackers.
