Just Tell Me I Can't: Middle Aged and Crazy
Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 4:05 am
We don't often think of professional athletes improving with age, but Jamie Moyer was a better pitcher in his 40s than he was in his 20s. Moyer became the oldest pitcher to win a Major League Baseball game when, in April 2012, at the age of 49 years, 150 days, he pitched the Colorado Rockies to a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres.
Moyer's story isn't just the tale of a talented guy who hung on to his game a little longer than others. He managed to gain control of the mental side of his sport — and he did it with the help of a gruff, self-taught sports psychologist named Harvey Dorfman. Moyer pitched for eight teams, but his best years were with the Seattle Mariners, where he became an all-star, and the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was a starter in a World Series run.
Moyer chronicles his journey in a new book, Just Tell Me I Can't: How Jamie Moyer Defied the Radar Gun and Defeated Time. The memoir, which he co-wrote with writer Larry Platt, is full of inside-baseball tales: how he got inside hitters' heads, worked umpires to get a better strike zone, and learned to use his teeth — yes, his teeth — to tell his catcher he was changing the location of the pitch he was throwing.
The audio story at the link is very cool from a sports and life psychology perspective, even if you're not a baseball fan.