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Sunday, April 01, 2012

Jamie Moyer through the years, baseball-card style

Jamie Moyer is 49 years old and has made the Rockies’ rotation—as the No. 2 starter!—meaning this will be his 25th season in Major League Baseball.

Below, thanks to my wonderful editor, is a compilation of Moyer’s baseball cards from the beginning. It’s chronological per season, starting in the upper-left. Obviously, the picture in the middle isn’t a baseball card, but it’s this season.

sptaylor Posted: April 01, 2012 at 06:24 PM | 40 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: cardinals, cubs, history, mariners, orioles, phillies, rangers, red sox, rockies

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1. lieiam Posted: April 01, 2012 at 08:36 PM (#4094410)

I like the one where he's a righthanded pitcher.
I wonder if it's a joke or if it got switched around.

2. smileyy Posted: April 01, 2012 at 08:39 PM (#4094413)

They probably mirror-imaged the photo. I think that's not entirely uncommon.

3. dave h Posted: April 01, 2012 at 08:51 PM (#4094420)

Wouldn't the words on his jersey be reversed too then? It looks like the last letter is an S, not an M.

4. Shock Posted: April 01, 2012 at 09:07 PM (#4094427)

He has six Phillies ones. I guess they made one for last year?

5. Jolly Old St. Nick Done Jumped The Ship

Posted: April 01, 2012 at 10:06 PM (#4094453)

Anyone know who put out the far right hand card in the row above the bottom? It looks like an illustration patterned after a 1950 Bowman card, which I suppose might be appropriate.

6. bobm Posted: April 01, 2012 at 10:08 PM (#4094455)

[1], [2], [3]

The picture is not mirror-imaged, unless the arm-patch, the billboards and the glove logo were also originally printed in reverse (like when righty Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig would hit the ball and run to third base before the print was reversed in The Pride of The Yankees).

Click here to see the card which you can then click and see a 4x zoom image (1992 Toledo Mud Hens Fleer/ProCards #1042 - Jamie Moyer).

7. ajnrules Posted: April 01, 2012 at 10:09 PM (#4094456)

Anyone know who put out the far right hand card in the row above the bottom? It looks like an illustration patterned after a 1950 Bowman card, which I suppose might be appropriate

I'm pretty sure that's Topps as part of their Bowman Heritage set.

8. Jolly Old St. Nick Done Jumped The Ship

Posted: April 01, 2012 at 10:18 PM (#4094462)

I'm pretty sure that's Topps as part of their Bowman Heritage set.

Thanks, I figured it must have been something like that, given how there've been reprint sets of the 1951 Bowman and 1952 and 1953 Topps sets, and probably others. I always liked the cards with no name on the front (the 1953 Bowmans were also captionless) because you and your friends could quiz each other on their identities.

9. Walt Davis Posted: April 01, 2012 at 10:43 PM (#4094468)

The one in front of the Seattle(?) skyline is terrible ... and I'm not sure that's the Seattle skyline -- looks more like Sears Tower back there and where's the space needle?

10. Monty Posted: April 01, 2012 at 10:57 PM (#4094474)

The one in front of the Seattle(?) skyline is terrible ... and I'm not sure that's the Seattle skyline -- looks more like Sears Tower back there and where's the space needle?

The Space Needle is down a little to the left. From the place that picture was taken, it's not going to show up very well. That tall building is the Columbia Tower.

We do have more than one tall structure in Seattle, you know!

11. vortex of dissipation Posted: April 01, 2012 at 10:59 PM (#4094475)

As Monty notes, that's definitely Seattle from the south.

12. Too Much Coffee Man Posted: April 01, 2012 at 11:09 PM (#4094477)

One year younger than Roger Slattery of Mad Men...just sayin'

13. simon bedford Posted: April 01, 2012 at 11:10 PM (#4094478)

the changes in card styles are far more telling with someone like Tommy John

http://www.guitar9.com/bc/displaybaseballcards.pl

14. Brian White Posted: April 01, 2012 at 11:18 PM (#4094481)

So, there's a link on that page to the Jamie Moyer All-Stars, the best lineup of players that were teammates of Moyer for any amount of time. Naturally, it's a pretty impressive list - the starters are so great the writer had to leave off King Felix and Roy Halladay. But the best catcher he ever had as a teammate is ... Carlos Ruiz? That's a bit odd.

15. Best Regards, L.M. Posted: April 01, 2012 at 11:36 PM (#4094492)

I like the one where he's a righthanded pitcher.
I wonder if it's a joke or if it got switched around.

My guess is that he didn't have his glove when they took the picture, and they only had a right-handed glove lying around.

16. Jarrod HypnerotomachiaPoliphili(Teddy F. Ballgame) Posted: April 01, 2012 at 11:44 PM (#4094496)

That Jamie Moyer All-Star list is quite a thing. There's a case to be made that he played alongside the four greatest pitchers in history.

17. Best Regards, L.M. Posted: April 02, 2012 at 12:01 AM (#4094503)

The amazing thing about Moyer is that after 1992, you would have never figured Moyer would still be in baseball at 35, let alone 49. It's not like he's a guy who was a stud in his prime years, and has just hung on for all those years afterwards. He wasn't a good pitcher before he turned 30.

18. OsunaSakata Posted: April 02, 2012 at 12:10 AM (#4094508)

I'd take Jim Sundberg over Carlos Ruiz.

19. bobm Posted: April 02, 2012 at 12:12 AM (#4094510)

[14] But the best catcher he ever had as a teammate is ... Carlos Ruiz?

Mike Lieberthal? Gregg Zaun? Jody Davis?

If you have never played with The Oracle of Baseball at BB REF, it is quite amusing for trivia like this. It lists all teammates, teammates of teammates, chains of players, etc.

Excluding Minnie Minoso (because of his 1970s return), here is the "Chain from Harry Wright to Jamie Moyer"

Harry Wright played with Jim O'Rourke for the 1876 Boston Red Stockings

Jim O'Rourke played with Jack Doyle for the 1892 New York Giants

Jack Doyle played with Rube Oldring for the 1905 New York Highlanders

Rube Oldring played with Jimmy Dykes for the 1918 Philadelphia Athletics

Jimmy Dykes played with Bob Kennedy for the 1939 Chicago White Sox

Bob Kennedy played with Brooks Robinson for the 1955 Baltimore Orioles

Brooks Robinson played with Dennis Martinez for the 1976 Baltimore Orioles

Dennis Martinez played with Jamie Moyer for the 1997 Seattle Mariners

20. Walt Davis Posted: April 02, 2012 at 01:38 AM (#4094529)

And he was teammates with somebody named Jaime Bubela which is just a fun name to say.

In fact:

Bubela
Arquemides Pozo
Cecilio Guante
Ryan Feierabend
Heathcliff Slocumb
Cecil Espy
Hiram Bocachica
Vance Worley
Bob Tewksbury
Rafael Bournigal
TJ Bohn
JJ Putz
Fabio Castro
Rolando Roomes
Oswaldo Navarro
El Guapo
Scott Chiamparino
RJ Swindle
Shin-Soo Choo

OK, I'm tired now, that list goes on forever. I love that he was Ryan's teammate, hadn't thought of that. Also Matt Stairs, but amazingly not Mike Morgan or Octavio Dotel.

21. Gotham Dave Posted: April 02, 2012 at 03:16 AM (#4094541)

Moyer could easily end up playing with someone who winds up remaining active until 2030 or later.

22. rlc Posted: April 02, 2012 at 04:18 AM (#4094544)

I'd take Jim Sundberg over Carlos Ruiz.

Sundberg for career, Chris Hoiles for peak. Ruiz really doesn't belong in the conversation.

23. Walt Davis Posted: April 02, 2012 at 04:30 AM (#4094546)

Here's a pretty good one given the players involved ... Moyer to Cy Young

Moyer -- Henderson -- P Niekro -- Spahn -- Johnny Cooney -- Hank Gowdy -- Young

The Niekro -- Spahn -- Cooney step covers 43 years. Moyer to Walter Johnson takes 5 steps, taking advantage of the Tommy John to Early Wynn connection which potentially covers 1939 to 1989!

Moyer -- Sutcliffe -- Grote -- John Paciorek
Moyer -- Hoffman (not that one) -- Minoso -- Cavarreta -- Grimm -- Red Ames -- Moonlight Graham

By the way, b-r still thinks opening day is two days away.

24. bobm Posted: April 02, 2012 at 07:51 AM (#4094560)

By the way, b-r still thinks opening day is two days away.

So does MLB :)

25. Yeaarrgghhhh Posted: April 02, 2012 at 09:38 AM (#4094597)

Seeing those cards is amazing. I have the first two. I was 13-14 and living in Chicago at the time. When he came to the Orioles 1993 and had one of his first good seasons as a starter, I was 20 and in college. I remember thinking, "wow! Jaime Moyer is making a comeback."

26. John Northey Posted: April 02, 2012 at 10:56 AM (#4094637)

Wonder how many other players have twice had a full year gap in their careers? Probably quite a few. Be interesting to see who has had the most 'x year' gaps in their ML career.

I think his ERA+ is interesting too...
80 in 1986 to 105 in 1988, dropped to 65 in 1991, 130 in 1993, back to 92 in 1995, 150 in 1996, 83 in 2000, 132 in 2003, 87 in 2004, 105 in 2006, 91 in 2007, 118 in 2008, 85 in 2009 - so he flipped from sub-100 to above 100 6 times in his career...so far. If he can somehow go above 100 this year he'd have 7 shifts from sub-100 to above which requires a minimum of a 14 year career. Could anyone have done that more often?

FYI: He holds the record for HR given up. He is 19 starts from catching Tom Seaver for 15th all-time. I don't think he is near the top 20 in anything else though.

27. Bill Liming Posted: April 02, 2012 at 11:12 AM (#4094649)

Well, he's 6th in ER allowed, and seems likely to move into at least 3rd this season (only 23 more to pass Sutton for that spot). Probably needs 3 full seasons to pass Cy Young for #1, which is also the minimum it would likely take for him to get to 300 wins.

A full season will get him into the top 25 in hits allowed as well (currently 33rd), but it will take 2 to get him into the top 20. 3 full seasons gets him pretty close to top 10, where he's currently 617 behind John for 10th or 570 behind Maddux for 11th. He might not crack the top 25 in IP even with 3 seasons, though.

28. musial6 Posted: April 02, 2012 at 11:30 AM (#4094661)

I will never get over the fact that Jose Oquendo (whose MLB career spanned 1983-1995) is younger than Jamie Moyer.

1991 Cardinals WAR for pitchers
Oquendo -0.1
Moyer -0.5

29. Slivers of Maranville (SdeB) Posted: April 02, 2012 at 11:31 AM (#4094662)

Nice retrospect, but they're missing his early tobacco cards.

30. SoSH U at work Posted: April 02, 2012 at 11:47 AM (#4094672)

Wonder how many other players have twice had a full year gap in their careers? Probably quite a few. Be interesting to see who has had the most 'x year' gaps in their ML career.

I don't know if I'd consider 1992 a gap. He was playing, just not at the major league level. If you count that, the record would probably be held by some AAAA guy.

31. Misirlou is bad, he's nationwide Posted: April 02, 2012 at 12:07 PM (#4094687)

Wonder how many other players have twice had a full year gap in their careers? Probably quite a few. Be interesting to see who has had the most 'x year' gaps in their ML career.

Minnie Minoso has 3.

32. Bob Evans Posted: April 02, 2012 at 01:46 PM (#4094747)

Hughie Jennings has 4.

33. Walt Davis Posted: April 02, 2012 at 02:27 PM (#4094794)

Well, he's 6th in ER allowed, and seems likely to move into at least 3rd this season (only 23 more to pass Sutton for that spot). Probably needs 3 full seasons to pass Cy Young for #1, which is also the minimum it would likely take for him to get to 300 wins.

I don't care if it is earned runs, breaking a record of Cy Young's would be impressive.

34. Bill Liming Posted: April 02, 2012 at 03:03 PM (#4094826)

The modern record for R allowed is apparently Phil Niekro at 2337, 301 ahead of Moyer who's in 11th (the record goes up to almost 3500 if you included 19th century guys, but those guys were giving up ~1000 UER). Moyer should finish this season somewhere between 3rd (94 runs away) and 7th (20 away), and should eclipse Ryan for 2nd some time next year pretty easily if he gets regular time as a SP between now and then.

35. phredbird

Posted: April 02, 2012 at 03:58 PM (#4094868)

I like the one where he's a righthanded pitcher.
I wonder if it's a joke or if it got switched around.
My guess is that he didn't have his glove when they took the picture, and they only had a right-handed glove lying around.

my guess from his expression and the digit poking out of the glove is that the only thing that got flipped was the viewer.

36. Bill Liming Posted: April 02, 2012 at 04:55 PM (#4094953)

If he manages to get one up into the thin air in Mile High and hit his first ML homerun, he would also become the oldest guy to ever hit a HR in the majors.

37. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: April 02, 2012 at 05:17 PM (#4094974)

I think Mike Stanley, who Moyer played with both in Texas and Boston, is the best catcher. It's close between Stanley and Lieberthal, but yeah Ruiz isn't really in the conversation unless he puts up another 4 or 5 good years.

38. Neutral Milk Dotel (Dan Lee) Posted: April 02, 2012 at 05:51 PM (#4095007)

The Baseball Gauge has an automated "All-Teammate Team" for every player, though I think it only includes the seasons during which the players were teammates. Hoiles is the catcher on Moyer's team.

The highest WAR total of any Moyer teammate is...Edgar Martinez. ARod is second, Utley third.

39. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: April 02, 2012 at 06:07 PM (#4095019)

Moyer could easily end up playing with someone who winds up remaining active until 2030 or later.

This deal with the Rockies should at least help out with that sort of thing - playing for the Phillies of recent years is not a great way to be teamed up with precocious young stars. (Antonio Bastardo and Vance Worley notwithstanding)

40. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: April 02, 2012 at 07:49 PM (#4095082)

The modern record for R allowed is apparently Phil Niekro at 2337, 301 ahead of Moyer who's in 11th (the record goes up to almost 3500 if you included 19th century guys, but those guys were giving up ~1000 UER). Moyer should finish this season somewhere between 3rd (94 runs away) and 7th (20 away), and should eclipse Ryan for 2nd some time next year pretty easily if he gets regular time as a SP between now and then.

Moyer is only two R behind Jim Kaat among modern non-Hall of Famers.

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Jamie Moyer through the years, baseball-card style

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