Grand Old Man Jamie Moyer | The Sports Simpleton

Hey Phillies fans! Break out the walkers, stroll on up with wheelchairs, and have your AARP card ready, cause Jamie Moyer is on his way back to town. For a guy old enough to be Cole Hamel's father and then some, it is amazing how a guy with an 80 mph fastball has lasted as long as he has, particularly without even the slightest hint of fear of being accused of being all juiced up. He faced the greats of the 80's in Mike Schmidt, Dale Murphy, Bo Jackson, and Dave Parker. He had been matched up as a rookie against Steve Carlton, and won. Ironically, he was involved in a trade for future Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams. And now the dude is 46 years old, and ready for a new two year contract with the Phillies. It's not official of course but it will be soon enough. Bet on it.

And why not sign him? He won 16 games in 2008, had a decent enough ERA, didn't strike many out, and yet managed to keep a 2:1 strikeout/walk ratio. A key to this maybe because he outthinks hitters or lets hitters outthink themselves, in addition to that fastball can lull anyone to sleep. Realistically, opposing teams should hire slow pitch softball players to throw BP prior to facing Jamie. Another reason he'll be back is that he's from Sellersville, PA so the Phillies are his home team. He's been employed by 8 different teams now and would probably like to settle down and five years ago he made his first and only trip to the All-Star game.

Two years. That is what he has left in the gas tank from 1962. And what does he deserve? I'd say he's worth about 7 million each year plus some incentives. That's a better bargain than Freddy Garcia at 10 million for one win or the 1997 signing of Danny Tartabull (2 million, 7 at bats). Jamie has been a soldier, a trooper, a fighter and all the other clichés and has only helped the Phillies make it to the post-season two years running. Why ruin a good thing, even if it is old and slow, it is not broken.