April 17, 2012: Jamie Moyer sets record as oldest winning pitcher as Rockies beat Padres, 5-3

All the fans knew that Jamie Moyer was trying for the record books as the oldest pitcher to win a game in the National, American, or Federal League.1 Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Dodgers had set the record on September 13, 1932, at 49 years 74 days old.2 The newspapers had highlighted Moyer’s previous attempts in their stories about the veteran left-hander losing his first two starts of the 2012 season, his 25th in the big leagues and first with the Colorado Rockies, a franchise that did not exist until seven years after he reached the majors in 1986.3

Moyer had allowed four runs in each of those starts, leaving him with a 4.22 ERA. It might be considered amazing that he was pitching at all. He was returning after missing 2011 because of Tommy John surgery—difficult for a pitcher of any age, but extraordinary for a 49-year-old.

He made his third attempt, at age 49 years and 151 days, on a pleasant Tuesday spring evening in Denver.4 Moyer’s wife was among the 24,525 fans in the stands. The Rockies (4-6) were hosting the San Diego Padres (3-8).5 Facing Moyer was righty Anthony Bass (0-1, 2.16 ERA).

Bass was born on November 1, 1987, nearly 17 months after Moyer’s first big-league appearance, with the Chicago Cubs.6 Moyer’s batterymate, Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario, was born on February 23, 1989—two months after the Cubs sent Moyer to the Texas Rangers in a nine-player deal, the first of 12 times Moyer changed franchises in his major-league career.

All Moyer allowed in the first inning was a single to Padres left fielder Mark Kotsay. This was not unusual as the 36-year-old Kotsay was 19-for-33 (.576) in his career facing Moyer. Chris Denorfia hit a one-out single in the San Diego second, but Moyer’s pickoff caught him in a rundown for the second out. Andy Parrino walked, but was left at first when Jason Bartlett flied out.

In the third, Bass led off by reaching on a throwing error by Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. It was Tulowitzki’s fifth error in only 11 games—surprising given his Gold Glove-winning performance in both of the previous two seasons (with only six errors for the full year in 2011).7 But Tulowitzki turned Cameron Maybin’s groundball into a force, then handled the pivot on Kotsay’s inning-ending double-play grounder, and the Padres remained scoreless. It was ironic that Kotsay ended the inning by grounding into a double play since he was the player who had warned his teammates about the risks of grounding into double plays when facing Moyer.8

The only Colorado baserunner against Bass in the first two innings was a first-inning walk to Carlos González, but the Rockies got on the board in the third. Marco Scutaro hit a two-out single and Dexter Fowler brought him home with his second home run of the year, into the left-field stands.

Moyer worked another scoreless inning in the fourth—this time it was Nick Hundley who grounded into the inning-ending double play.

The Rockies increased their lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Michael Cuddyer singled with two outs and scored on Rosario’s double. The Padres chose to intentionally walk Chris Nelson to face Moyer and his pristine .000 batting average.9 The strategy was successful—Moyer was out on three pitches to end the inning.

Denorfia singled in the Padres’ fifth, but was erased one out later on the third double play turned behind Moyer.

Padres manager Bud Black,10 whose playing career overlapped Moyer’s, sent up Will Venable to bat for Bass to lead off the sixth. Venable’s father, 12-year major-leaguer Max Venable, had appeared for the California Angels in two games in which Moyer had pitched for the Rangers in 1990, 22 years earlier.11

Venable grounded out, and Maybin was next. On April 13, 1987, nine days after Maybin’s birth, Moyer took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies.12 Here, Moyer recorded his lone strikeout of the game—Maybin swung so hard he fell to his knees.13 Kotsay reached on an infield single, but Headley’s groundout made it six scoreless innings for Moyer.

The Padres finally got on the board in the seventh. Jesús Guzmán walked and Denorfia singled with one out, putting runners on first and second. A potential inning-ending double-play ball went between Tulowitzki’s legs for his second error of the game,14 allowing Guzmán to score. Denorfia beat the throw to third; he scored the Padres’ second run on Bartlett’s sacrifice fly. Moyer escaped with a one-run lead by inducing pinch-hitter Jeremy Hermida to ground out on the first pitch. He ended his outing at 87 pitches,15 leaving to a standing ovation.16

San Diego’s Ernesto Frieri had worked a one-two-three sixth inning, and the Rockies faced the Padres’ second reliever, Luke Gregerson, in the seventh. Nelson led off with a single, and Eric Young Jr.—whose father, Eric Young Sr., had been hitless against Moyer in 12 at-bats lifetime17—batted for Moyer and reached on an infield single.

With two on and no outs, Scutaro advanced the runners with a sacrifice. After Fowler struck out swinging, Padres manager Black called on Joe Thatcher to face González for a lefty-lefty matchup. The strategy worked—he flied out with the score holding at 3-2, Rockies.

Lefty Rex Brothers, the fourth player born after Moyer’s major-league debut to see action in the game,18 pitched the eighth for the Rockies, walking Kotsay but erasing him on the Rockies’ fourth double play of the game.

Thatcher continued pitching in the bottom of the eighth but didn’t last long. He walked Tulowitzki, and  Todd Helton got on base when left fielder Kotsay dropped his fly ball for an error. The Rockies took advantage of the miscue after a pitching change to Huston Street. Cuddyer’s double scored Tulowitzki, and Helton scored on Rosario’s lineout to right, giving the Rockies some breathing room at 5-2.

Rafael Betancourt, the Rockies’ usual closer, earned his third save in the ninth but it was a close call. He allowed a one-out solo homer to Hundley, then yielded singles to Denorfia and Parrino. Bartlett flied out, bringing up Yonder Alonso, who had taken over at first base in the eighth.19 They battled to a full count, but Betancourt won the battle—Alonso swung at strike three, sealing Moyer’s place in history. His feat was announced in the park while his fans and family celebrated.

Moyer’s 268th win tied him for 34th on the all-time wins list with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. Seven days later, on April 24, he held the Pittsburgh Pirates to one run in six innings but received a no-decision when the Rockies’ bullpen blew the save. Moyer notched what turned out to be his final career win on May 16 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, pushing the record for oldest winning pitcher to 49 years 180 days.20 He was released by the end of May. Although he briefly pitched in the minors, he did not return to the majors. As of 2024, he was one of only 31 major-leaguers (11 pitchers) to play in four different decades.21

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

YouTube highlights reel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gpaI1XnegI

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL201204170.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2012/B04170COL2012.htm

Notes

1 At the time of this game, no Negro Leagues were included as major leagues. Once certain Negro Leagues were added to the major-league statistics, the record holder for the oldest winning pitcher is String Bean Williams, who won five games in the Eastern Colored League in 1924. He was at least 50 years old at the time. Gary Ashwill, “String Bean Williams,” Agate Type, October 3, 2019, https://agatetype.typepad.com/agate_type/2019/10/string-bean-williams.html. Note that Satchel Paige (59) and Nick Altrock (57) pitched when they were older than Moyer and Williams, but were not credited with a win.

2 He earned three wins in 1932, all as a reliever. Quinn pitched in relief in 1933 as well—he was charged with a loss but did not earn a win.

3 Associated Press, “Youth Trumps Wisdom,” Grand Junction (Colorado) Daily Sentinel, April 13, 2012: B1.

4 The temperature was reported as 66 degrees at game time, but it dropped into the 50s by the end of the game. Weatherunderground.com, https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/co/denver/KDEN/date/2012-4-17, retrieved January 21, 2024.

5 Neither team improved from its early season record, finishing fourth (Padres) and fifth (Rockies) in the NL West Division.

6 Their 25-year age difference wasn’t the greatest age difference ever between starting pitchers. In his previous game, Moyer had faced Madison Bumgarner, a difference of 26 years 256 days. That difference was the largest since Paige (59 years 80 days old, based on his most commonly cited birthdate of July 7, 1906) facing Bill Monbouquette (29 years 46 days) on September 25, 1965, for a difference of 30 years 34 days. “Youth Trumps Wisdom.”

7 He committed 10 errors during his 2010 Gold Glove season.

8 Associated Press, “Winning Never Gets Old,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, April 18, 2012: B1.

9 By the end of the season, Moyer was 2-for-13 (.154). His lifetime batting average was .128 in 400 career at-bats.

10 Black’s own 15-season career as a big-league lefty starter had overlapped Moyer’s by nearly a decade. At the time of this game, it had been nearly 17 years since Black’s final major-league game.

11 Moyer pitched in relief for the Rangers against the Angels on June 1 and June 9, 1990. Max Venable started in left field for the Angels on June 1 and entered as a defensive replacement on June 9 but did not bat against Moyer in either game.

12 Moyer, in his 18th major-league appearance, held the Phillies hitless until Juan Samuel led off the ninth with a single. After allowing a walk and a single, he was replaced by Lee Smith, who closed out Chicago’s 5-2 win. Moyer finished with 12 strikeouts – a total that he topped only once in his career – and was credited with his eighth career win. Paul Hagen, “Year Makes Big Difference for Moyer: Souderton Lefty 3 Outs Shy of Tossing No-Hitter at Phils,” Philadelphia Daily News, April 14, 1987: 78.

13 Troy Renck, “Moyer Pitches His Way into Record Books,” Sacramento Bee, April 18, 2012: C4.

14 “Winning Never Gets Old.”

15 Those 87 pitches weren’t what you’d call high heat—his “fastball” averaged 72.1 miles per hour. “Jamie Moyer,” Fangraphs.com, accessed January 30, 2024, https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jamie-moyer/1091/game-log?gds=&gde=&season=&position=P&type=18. Given the lack of detailed data before 2007, it is not possible to compare that to career averages, but his fastball speed had definitely declined between 2007 and 2012. “Jamie Moyer,” Fangraphs.com, accessed January 30, 2024, https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jamie-moyer/1091/stats?position=P.

16 Frederich C. Bush, “Jamie Moyer,” SABR Biography Project. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Jamie-Moyer/.  Retrieved January 21, 2024.

17 Young faced Moyer in 1997 and 1998 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and in 2004 as a member of the Rangers. Moyer was pitching for the Seattle Mariners.

18 Brothers was born on December 18, 1987.

19 Alonso, born April 8, 1987, was the fifth player born after Moyer’s major-league debut to play in this game.

20 Moyer made his 696th and final major-league appearance with the Rockies on May 27 and was released three days later. Brief minor-league stints with the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays ended his professional career. AP, “Rockies Designate Moyer for Assignment,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, May 31, 2012: 3B.

21 David Adler and Andrew Simon, “These MLB Careers Spanned Four Decades,” mlb.com, January 7, 2022. https://www.mlb.com/news/four-decade-players-c300996490.