After 23 seasons, Moyer still savoring every moment in majors
And so this is what it's come down to: The winningest active pitcher in baseball had a PICC line removed from his biceps last Monday.
The PICC line had been implanted six weeks prior so the medication for the staph infection could be delivered directly into his veins.
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| Jamie Moyer, currently the oldest player in the majors, can still run the bases. (Getty Images) |
Somewhere back in the hazy recesses of his mind after all this is the surgery to fix two torn tendons in his groin and one in his abdomen following the Sept. 29 injury that knocked him out of the Phillies' second consecutive World Series run.
Which is where all of this started.
"Far as I know, I'm doing pretty well with it now," Phillies left-hander Jamie Moyer said when we talked the other day, and I didn't even hear the whooshing of an oxygen tank in the background for the old guy.
"I'm still rehabbing it," he said. "I'll see what it's like when I get up on the mound for spring training."
Abscesses, blood infections, Thanksgiving stays in the hospital ... this is the stuff they don't exactly prepare a guy for in the minor leagues.
Then again, when you're in the minors, who figures they'll still be playing at 47?
"I didn't," Moyer said and, looking back, it's cute how so many scouts raised their hands in agreement with that over the decades. "I always hoped I could play close to the time Nolan Ryan and Charlie Hough played. They were teammates in the late '80s, and they each played until they were [46]."
Now here Moyer is, the game's oldest active player and, upon Randy Johnson's retirement earlier this month, now No. 1 on the active wins list at 258.
He ranks ahead of those spring chickens Andy Pettitte (229 wins, second on the active list) and Pedro Martinez (219, third), each 37 years old. He's ahead of John Smoltz (213, fourth) and the Old Knuckleballer himself, Tim Wakefield (189, fifth), each 42.
"I guess it's kind of by default," he said. "For me, my whole career has been about contributing. Contributing to the team I'm playing for. Contributing in the clubhouse by being a good teammate.
"It's kind of cool."
Cooler yet, no doubt, now that the PICC line has been removed, the staph infection appears gone and the groin is back together in one piece.
Yes, it's been a busy winter for Moyer who, when he hasn't been checking into hospitals and speaking with doctors, has been knee-deep in planning the latest fundraiser for the Moyer Foundation's Camp Erin, a chain of bereavement camps for children who have lost a loved one, or someone close to them: The Super Bowl Super Brunch, to be held at Miami's Viceroy Hotel on Feb. 6, the day before the big game.
Moyer and his wife, Karen, who started the Foundation, are teaming up with celebrity chef Mario Batali for the event, whose co-chairs are musician Jimmy Buffett, comedian Jimmy Fallon and celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.
"It's going to be a lot of fun," Moyer said. "We'll have a cooking demonstration, music and a couple of hours to help educate people about the cause. It'll be electric in the city that day."
The Moyers started Camp Erin in Seattle several years ago when Jamie was pitching for the Mariners, and it since has raised more than $19 million to help support more than 225 different programs that help children in distress.
The Foundation hosted 28 bereavement camps last year, the goal is to increase that to the mid-to-upper 30s this year and, in the next year or two, host a camp in every major league city.
"It's our way of giving back to the communities we've lived in," Moyer says. "And our way of feeling like we've at least been able to leave something behind.
"I can't imagine being 6 to 17 years old and losing someone close to me. The type of effect it would have on me and my family as a whole. There's a whole lot these kids are going through, and when they come to these camps they realize, 'Hey, I'm not the only one dealing with something like this.'
"Hopefully they can make some friends while they're at camp, life-long friends. In Seattle, we've had some kids come to the camps who then came back as young adults to be counselors at the camp. That's very gratifying."
It's also one of the most meaningful benefits that can grow from a long life lived well in the majors. You hear a lot about free agents and multi-million contracts when the game itself hibernates for the winter. Things like Camp Erin -- and hundreds of charities like it across the game -- bring perspective and depth, standing as glowing examples of what sports and those who play them can do for a community.
Entering the last season of a two-year, $13 million deal, Moyer is eager to get back on the mound in Clearwater, Fla., this spring. Last summer wasn't exactly a triumphant encore for Moyer following the Phillies' 2008 World Series win. He got off to a rocky start, never regained his rhythm, eventually was yanked from the rotation and put in the bullpen ... and then suffered the season-ending injury.
With 2009's disappointment (12-10, 4.94 ERA) ringing in his ears, Moyer figures he'll show up in Clearwater and prove he's still got what it takes to pitch in a big league rotation. Hey, he's been there before.
"That's exactly my mindset, that I'll be back in the rotation," he said. "Assuming I have my health underneath me, I think they've got me penciled in as a starter."
The Phillies made one blockbuster move earlier this winter in acquiring ace Roy Halladay while dispatching lefty Cliff Lee to Seattle. The Phillies right now go six starting pitchers deep in Halladay, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick, Joe Blanton and Moyer, plus the assorted youngsters who will be pushing forward.
Once, a couple of baseball generations ago, Moyer was one of those youngsters. Now, entering his 24th season -- and coming off of the first surgery of his career -- the old left-hander is enjoying each diamond sunrise as if it might be his last.
One of his two favorite teammates of all-time, Andre Dawson, was just voted into the Hall of Fame. And with his first pitch of 2010, at 47, Moyer will work one year deeper into his life than his other favorite all-time teammate, Ryan.
"Not only for what they did on the field, but for who they were as people," Moyer said. "I learned a great deal from those men."
Just like, no doubt, a few young men around the game are learning now from Moyer.
