How Jamie Moyer defied the radar gun and defeated time
A legendary right-handed pitcher and TV commentator Curt Schilling once said, “Control is the ability to throw strikes, and command is the ability to throw quality strikes.”As far as control and command are concerned, Jamie Moyer would be one of the best pitchers in history. In fact, he had no other options as his fastball speed was well below average at around 130 kilometers per hour.“Just Tell Me I Can’t” is a memoir about Moyer, who had to put forth tremendous efforts to deal with doubts about his success as a baseball player throughout his career. He and writer Larry Platt coauthored it.As a pinpoint specialist, Moyer challenged the conventional wisdom of most baseball skippers and fans, who tend to put the fastball velocity first.He kept “hitters off balance by consistently hitting the plate’s black corners” to outrival his hard-throwing competitors who threw “white on white,” the white ball over the white part of the plate.Moyer not only defied the radar gun but also defeated time as his records improved with age _ he was a better hurler in his 40s than he was in his 20s.In 2012, then 49-year-old Moyer chalked up a win to become the oldest pitcher to win a Major League Baseball game. During his 25-year MLB career, he racked up 269 wins.In his late 20s, Moyer was practically forced to retire due to mediocre performances, but he managed to carry on thanks in no small part to his mental skills coach named Harvey Dorfman.This 2013 book starts at the meeting between the two in late 1991. Moyer relied on Dorfman’s mental coaching throughout his 30s and 40s. That’s why he could keep throwing despite allowing 522 home runs, the all-time MLB record.“It’s the story of two men, professional sports’ ultimate odd couple, the unlikely All-Star pitcher with his 80-mile-per-hour (129-kilometer-per-hour) fastball, and the unlikely psychologist with his in-your-face observations and absence of sentiment,” the book notes.이 기사를 공유합니다
Hillary Lee
(homin30@hanmail.net)