There Is Always Hope, as long as Jamie Moyer is the big leagues

Every year as my age advances and opening day approaches I realize that the chances of me making a MLB baseball team diminishes significantly.  But hope springs eternal as long as Jamie Moyer continues to pitch!

He is trying to make it back into the bigs as a member of the Colorado Rockies pitching staff at the tender age of 49.  ESPN reporter Jim Caple wrote a great piece, 49 Things You Should Know About Jamie Moyer.  If you haven't read it, I suggest you do.

My favorites, 28-30:

28.  Moyer never threw much harder than 82 or 83 mph, and according to fangraphs.com, his average fastball was 80.2 mph in 2010. "I came to realize in my late 20s that my velocity is not going to grow so I had to learn to utilize what I had.''

29.  His changeups have been clocked in the mid-60s. A player once described Moyer's repertoire as "throwing feathers'' while Colorado's Jason Giambi says, "You don't think the ball can stay in the air that long.''


30.  Not surprisingly, Moyer thinks there is too much reliance on radar gun readings. "I'm not saying it's inaccurate, but I wonder if it is. I think a lot of that is for fans.'


After Tim Wakefield retired this year I thought there was no way I could make it.  My thinking went how hard could it be to develop a knuckle ball?  It does not take a tremendous amount of arm strength.  Perhaps the greatest trait one would have to possess would be stamina and self-confidence.  I think I have enough of those to toss in MLB.  But he retired.  My hopes sank.  But if Moyer makes the Rockies, so too does my dream!  I can throw 82, and I'm pretty sure my breaking and off speed pitches rarely go above the mid 60s. 


Come on Jamie!

And if Johnny Bench ever makes the Senior PGA, oh brother.