Jamie Moyer, One Of The Best Players Ever To Be Old

The next time Jamie Moyer gives up a home run -- which may well be today, when he starts against the Blue Jays -- he will hold the all-time career record for most home runs surrendered by a pitcher. (UPDATE: Yep! Record broken.) It’s not an indictment of his career so much as a testament to his longevity -- the guy has pitched since 1986, when I was three years old and too enamored with plastic bubble mowers to care about baseball.

Rather than joke about how old he is, let’s take a moment and consider whether he’s the greatest composite of age and effectiveness in baseball history. Take a look at all the other 47-year-olds to play the game:

Phil Niekro. He turned 47 on April 1, 1986. That season, he threw over 200 innings and posted a 4.32 ERA (96 ERA+). He’s Moyer’s stiffest competition, but his arm kind of died the following season. If Moyer pitches in 2011, and does so effectively, he trumps Niekro.

Julio Franco. In contemporary baseball circles, Franco is the most well-known old man, in large part because he served as a position player until he retired. After his 47th birthday, though, he was often relegated to pinch-hitting duty. His OPS+ was 74 in 2006 and 2007 -- his 47th and 48th years on his planet. Remarkable for his age, but not at all impressive otherwise.

Hoyt Wilhelm. From 1970 (the year he celebrated his 47th birthday) to the day he hung it up in 1972, he posted a very impressive 114 ERA+. He was relegated to the bullpen, however, and only pitched 127.1 innings over the course of these three seasons.
Satchel Paige. He turned 47 halfway through the 1953 season. From that point forth, he threw a 4.22 ERA in 49 innings. Apart from a three-inning stint at the age of 59, however -- those three innings were scoreless, by the way -- he never played again.
Jack Quinn. In 1931-33 (when he was 47-49 years old), he chalked up a 3.12 ERA (122 ERA+) in 167.1 innings. During these season, he was an oddity -- a pitcher in the 1930s who was pretty much exclusively a reliever.
Several other players made novelty cup-of-coffee appearances (such as Arlie Latham, who was born before the Civil War and nicknamed “The Freshest Man On Earth.”) These five, though, are Jamie Moyer’s only peers. If Moyer can somehow continue to be a serviceable major league starter for another season or two, he’ll be in his own category.

IMPORTANT POST-SCRIPT: Suppose you’re around my age. It might make you feel young to know that Moyer was pitching when you were three years old, but know that this is going to bite you right in the ass. In fifteen years you’ll remember that you were watching him pitch in the World Series in your mid-twenties, and then you’ll look him up and realize that he’s 62 years old. You have been warned.