Baseball history has several examples who have turned back the clock to win at advanced ages. Knuckleballers such as Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro and Tim Wakefield. Even hard-throwers who kept going such as Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Satchel Paige and (perhaps with some "help") Roger Clemens.
But Jamie Moyer is now in a class by himself, winning a game Tuesday night in Denver at age 49 and 150 days, which was older than any of the above, breaking a longstanding record held by Jack Quinn, who won in relief on Sept. 13, 1932 at age 49 years and 70 days.
"I kind of wish I was a baseball historian, and I am a little embarrassed that I don't know more about it," Moyer said to the Denver Post. "To have my name mentioned with the greats of the past is special."
Quinn wasn't exactly a great, but he was pretty good, and statistically was similar. Quinn, a right-hander, missed almost three full seasons in the prime of his career because of World War I, but still pitched for 23 seasons and won 247 games from 1909 to 1933. He won 26 games in one season, and lost 22 the next. He played for eight different teams in three different leagues, playing two seasons in the quickly vanishing Federal League in 1914-15, which was a major league.
Moyer, who broke into the majors in 1986 and had reconstructive elbow surgery last year, is in his 25th season and is also on his eighth team. On Tuesday, he started and threw seven innings and didn't allow any earned runs against the San Diego Padres. He improved to 1-2 on the season with his 268th career win, tying him with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer on the all-time wins list.
Quinn's record stood for almost 80 years, but Moyer doesn't think his latest achievement belongs on a list of most unbreakable baseball records.
"The way athletes are going in today's game, I think it could be broken," Moyer said after Tuesday's game, to the Associated Press.
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