Number 50 is 49

Rockies uniform

I hadn't kept up with the baseball news the past week while in Ireland. When checking to see how former Seattle Mariner Jamie Moyer was doing - hoping for a win with the Colorado Rockies, and knowing he wasn't getting a lot of back up support by his teammates' hitting - I saw the editorial below from the Denver Post. Jan heard somewhere that the forties are the old age of youth, and the fifties the youth of old age - I wonder what will happen with Moyer next season, if he plays in his "youthful" fifties.

Opinion
Editorial: For Jamie Moyer, a classic victory by a classy pitcher
By The Denver Post

How 'bout that Jamie Moyer?

Not only did the Rockies' crafty lefty become the oldest pitcher to win a game in major league history Tuesday night — he's 49 —   but he did it the same way he's been doing it for 25 years, with his own blend of wits and guts and a fastball that barely catches the eye of a radar gun. So how old is 49 in baseball years? In the classic movie "The Natural," and in the not-quite-as-classic "The Rookie," heroes Roy Hobbs and Jimmy Morris are over-the-hill ballplayers who attempt to have one last hurrah before the game passes them by. Their age: 35. And Crash Davis, whom Kevin Costner's character was based on in "Bull Durham"? He was 33 when he finished his career. Heck, when Jamie Moyer was 35, he was still in the first half of his career.And when his career began with the Chicago Cubs in 1986, Wrigley Field didn't have lights, Pete Rose was still playing, and the Colorado Rockies were just a mountain range. But Moyer isn't just a classic — he's also one of the game's classiest. A devout Catholic and father of eight, Moyer's charitable work is as impressive as his athletic feats In 2000, he and his wife Karen established the Moyer Foundation, which serves children in severe distress. The foundation's Camp Erin program, with nearly 40 camps nationwide, is designed to help children aged 6-17 who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Compared to many of his record-setting contemporaries in what can be considered baseball's Steroid Age (think Bonds, Clemens, Canseco), the Rockies' new elder statesman is a breath of fresh Mile High air. He's won baseball's prestigious Branch Rickey and Roberto Clemente Awards, and in 2009 he and his wife were given honorary doctoral degrees by Philadelphia's Holy Family University for their public service. And now he's baseball's oldest winning pitcher. "It's a historic night for one tremendous human being," said Rockies manager Jim Tracy after Moyer's 268th career win. "It couldn't happen to a better guy." The good news for Rockies fans: Moyer leads the team in ERA this season — and will likely be breaking his record again soon.

From: Updated:   04/18/2012 04:09:07 PM MDT

Too bad it couldn't have happened in Seattle.