Moyer still going strong at 45

By Dave Van Dyck | Chicago Tribune • Published October 12, 2008

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LOS ANGELES – Perhaps the best way to make the second round of the postseason is to be an ex-Cub rather than a current Chicago Cub.

And so we find 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, who started with the Cubs and also is a former Seattle Mariner, not only pitching in the National League Championship Series but trying to push the Phillies closer to the World Series.

It is Moyer's job tonight to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 0-3 hole. You know, those Dodgers who eliminated the Cubs a week ago in the NL Division Series. The Dodgers of ex-Cubs Greg Maddux and Nomar Garciaparra.

Moyer, who met future wife Karen (nee Phelps) while pitching at Wrigley Field, will be pitching in his seventh postseason, all since he left the Cubs in 1988. Maddux—relegated to the Dodgers bullpen after being bypassed for a Game 4 start in favor of Derek Lowe—appeared in two postseason games with the Cubs, 32 since he left.

More remarkable is that the two still are throwing in their mid-40s, and Moyer isn't looking at the end yet, is he?

"Are you asking, possibly, if I might play into my 50s?" he said at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, where the teams worked out on their off-day. "Forty-five has been fun. I think (pitching at 50) is asking a lot, sitting here today.

"If you were to ask me at 35 if I thought I'd be playing at 40, I'd probably say no. If you asked me at 40 if I thought I'd be playing at 45, I'd probably say no. We'll see."

The Dodgers will have to get their offense on track if they have any hope of getting the NLCS back to Philadelphia. It appears that manager Joe Torre will start Garciaparra at first base instead of James Loney against the left-handed Moyer. And why not? Garciaparra is 15-for-36 (.417) lifetime against the former Cub from another era.

Playing at their spacious home, the Dodgers can be a different team than they were in the Philly bandbox.

"To me, they're like a school of sharks, kind of on the prowl," Moyer said. "And if you can keep them all separated in the pool, you know, it's a great way to go after them. But when they kind of swarm together and they see the blood in the water, they attack and they do a very good job of it."

While the present-day Cubs are home, ex-Cubs Moyer and Maddux are going, not only deeper into the playoffs but deeper into their life cycles.

"They're good students of the game," Philadelphia pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "They came up when throwing was a thing you did. I don't think people throw enough nowadays.

"Over time they have learned to make adjustments and persevere up here, and that's what it takes. Greg and Jamie, especially, have learned to make the adjustments that they need to pitch for a long time."

And a long time, at least in Cubs' perspective, into the playoffs.