Buried among the Derek Jeter and the Yankees “will they” or “won’t they” headlines is the news that fellow free agent Jamie Moyer is going under the knife Wednesday to repair his injured left elbow.
This…according to a post on The Moyer Foundation’s Facebook page Monday night:
It’s official – Jamie is having surgery Wednesday and we are cautiously optimistic superman will make a comeback! – Karen and Jamie
But here’s the kicker, the 48-year-old is having Tommy John surgery and will, in all likelihood, be looking at sitting out the entire 2011 season. Meaning…he’ll be 49 when he suits up (assuming he finds a team) for Spring Training 2012!
And if/when he does make a comeback at age 49…he’ll be only one of four pitchers (Satchell Paige, Jack Quinn and Hoyt Wilhelm were the others) to take the mound that close to the half century mark.
You’ll remember that Moyer originally hurt his elbow this summer after leaving a game in July with elbow pain. A couple days later, it was determined that the lefty had both a sprained ulnar collateral ligament and a strained flexor pronator tendon in his throwing elbow.
Earlier this month, while Moyer was attempting a comeback in the Dominican Winter League, he re-injured the same elbow.
Moyer went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA in 19 starts this past season and it was unlikely that his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies were going to re-sign him. For his career, he has compiled 267 wins…good for ninth all-time among left-handers.
Oh, in case you were wondering…the only other instance of a pitcher north of 40 coming back after Tommy John surgery was John Franco.
The reliever was 42 when he returned from the procedure. He pitched three more seasons, putting together a 2-11 record and a 4.63 ERA in 95 inning.
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