Jamie Moyer declares he’s not retired, then tells a golden David Justice story
Rick Chandler
Jul 18, 2012, 3:15 PM EDT
Please forgive if you’ve already heard this story — it’s new to me, although there is a similar one in Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball. Jamie Moyer is in Tahoe for the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship — the closest thing to an active MLB player you’ll see here, since the tournament is held every year in July. Moyer, 49, who was waived by the Blue Jays earlier this month, told a story to the assembled press this morning about pitching to David Justice, who is also playing at Tahoe:
Moyer:
“David Justice and I have a great story that goes back a few years when he was with Cleveland and I was with Seattle. We were up pretty big, and it was like the sixth or seventh inning, and he kept fouling balls off. Good at-bat we both had going. I finally got tired of it.
“I threw a pitch, he fouled it off. So I walked towards home plate. I said: ‘David, what do you want?’ He looks at me like I’m crazy. He goes, ‘A fastball.’ I go ‘Okay, here it comes.’ I went back, threw a fastball, and he hit a home run.
“He laughed all the way around the bases, but the at-bat was over and I moved on. We ended up winning the game. So we joke about that, yeah. We have fun with that.
Moyer is already the oldest player in MLB history to record a win, and the oldest to get an RBI. But will he throw a pitch in an MLB game at age 50?
“I’m not retired, I’m not retired. I’m just kind of laying in the weeds and just trying to figure out what’s going on,” Moyer said. “I’m just going to step back after the season and assess what’s going on, and see how I feel and go from there.”