Jamie Moyer has always seemed like a classy, selfless ball player, but it looks like his true colors came out when he went to the press yesterday to complain about his demotion to the bullpen. I won’t condemn a pitcher for saying they want to be a starter. If Moyer had just said, “I want to be a starter, but I’m a team player and I do what I’m told,” that would have been fine. But he went way past that in his statements yesterday, and there are a number of them that were clearly out of line and counter-productive.
First of all, Moyer claims that he was “misled” by the Phillies because when he was signed, Ruben Amaro “kind of parlayed” to him that “this type of situation would not happen”. Now, if you’re going to come out and insinuate that someone is a liar, which is what he’s doing here, then you better have some more specific evidence than he “kind of parlayed” it to you. I believe that Amaro told him when he signed that the Phillies had every intention of using him as a starter for the duration of the contract. Do I believe that Amaro said, “No matter what, no matter how bad you pitch, we will keep you in the rotation”? No, I don’t believe he said that. This is professional sports and if you don’t perform there are consequences. Even if, as Jamie pointed out, you’ve “been in this game long enough that the respect factor should be there”. I think the “respect factor” is there, but that doesn’t mean the team stops trying to win.
Another big problem I have with Moyer’s comments is that it suggests to me that his number one priority is being a starting pitcher, not being on a winning team. Was he disappointed when the team traded for Cliff Lee, a Cy Young winner in his prime? Was he disappointed when the team signed Pedro Martinez, a future Hall-of-Famer who is NINE years younger than Moyer? Does he really think that he deserves the rotation spot over Happ? Or Blanton? Or Hamels? It’s hard to imagine what he thinks would be the better move for the team. And if his top priority was remaining a starter, maybe he should have signed with the Pirates.
Finally, Jamie said repeatedly that he “refuses to be a distraction.” Well, if there’s a list of How to Be a Distraction to Your Team, calling the front-office liars and whining about a demotion is probably right near the top of the list. In the end, hopefully he uses this as motivation and prepares himself to pitch well out of the pen and is ready to step back into the rotation if needed.
Again, Pedro makes his debut tonight. It will be cool to see him in a Phillie uniform. When he was in his prime, he was probably the best pitcher I’ve ever seen. In 1999-2000 with the Red Sox, he went 41-10 with a 1.89 ERA, in the American League, in the thick of the Steroid Era! Of course, that was many years ago now. For whatever it’s worth, tonight will be the first time since Mike Schmidt retired that we will look at a player in a Phillies uniform and say, “That guy has had a Hall-of-Fame career.”
well, Doogan, i wish there was something i could say about this, but you pretty much said EXACTLY what i would have liked to convey, and you said it much better than i would have. the insinuation that the phils renegged on a promise in the contract is laughable. the only person who can be accused of renegging is the 46-year old with the WORST ERA in baseball
oh, and i agree that Pedro in his prime was the best pitcher i have ever seen as well. Maddux was great for a much longer period of time and is always my answer to the question, “who is the best pitcher of your lifetime.” but, Pedro, at his peak, was better than Maddux ever was…or anyone else i’ve ever seen. sadly, i’m not expecting ’99 Pedro tonight
“Jamie Moyer has always seemed like a classy, selfless ball player, but it looks like his true colors came out when he went to the press yesterday to complain about his demotion to the bullpen.”
Are you serious? The guy has played just under a hundred seasons in the majors and he slips up once and your going to call THAT his true colors. Not to over exaggerate but what if someone took away your ability to walk- don’t you think you would be a little pissed- and maybe initially react in a negative manner toward that person despite your otherwise solid character? Not walking isn’t the same (admittedly not the best example)- but it’s something you’ve done your WHOLE life- and I’d be willing to bet you enjoy, if not LOVE it.
I fully admit he handled it poorly- but cut the guys some slack. His initially reaction to the situation might be as bad as yours quick judgment of him.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I got no problems with a guy reacting poorly to a tough situation if he doesn’t bring it up again and pitches the best he can in the role he was given for the rest of the season.
I’m not ready to throw that stone.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I got no problems with a guy reacting poorly to a tough situation if he doesn’t bring it up again and pitches the best he can for the rest of the season. I’m not ready to throw that stone.
I understand where you’re coming from in not wanting to throw that stone, and I honestly like hearing the other side of this. But Waters, you know me and you read this blog often. I go out of my way to cut slack to players on the teams I love. And this wasn’t a quick decision on my part, Moyer said these comments on Tuesday and I didn’t write this post until Wednesday afternoon, specifically because I wanted to think it over and see if my initial reaction of disgust was wrong. I still don’t think it was. He can be mad, but calling the GM a liar is way out of line, and sitting there and acting like you “refuse to be a distraction” when that is exactly what you’re doing is just hypocritical and immature, especially for a 46-year-old man. Brett Myers was sent to the MINORS last year and he didn’t come close to saying things like this. Granted, Myers was worse last year than Moyer has been this year, but Moyer has been bad. And he hasn’t even really just said, “I’ve been bad”. He tempered that by saying, “I could’ve been better this year, but I’ll bet all 24 guys on the team would say the same.” That may be true, but the other guys aren’t sitting there with the worst ERA in the league.
I do LOVE this website and check in often to quite often.
I just think it is rough to say that those are his “true colors”. That was my main point. There is no question Jamie Moyer response was WAY out of line and inappropriate.