Yesterday: Age not obstacle for these players
Who was the oldest starting pitcher to win a game?
According to numerous sources, it was ex-Phillies and Souderton High School product Jamie Moyer, who achieved the milestone as a Colorado Rockie on April 17, 2012. He was 49 years old and 150 days, and broke the mark of Jack Quinn, who set the mark as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers and was 49 years and 75 days-old in 1933.
I recently wrote a story that appeared in the Jan. 4 edition of the Times News about Robert Supowit and Jim Strubinge - two of the more respected PIAA officials in the area - who have defied the odds with their longevity refereeing games. Supowit is 86 and Strubinger is 74, and neither has any inclinations about retiring in the near future.
In their cases, age doesn’t matter.
In this week’s version of my Yesterday column - reminiscing about sports and pop culture from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes before and beyond – I’ll look at some players and media figures who battled Father Time as long as they could in their professions.
Phillie Pitchers ... Besides his record-setting victory in 2012, Moyer became the oldest pitcher at 47 to hurl a complete-game shutout when he blanked the Atlanta Braves, 7-0, on May 10, 2010. He had a two-hitter with five strikeouts. It was his first complete game shutout since 2006.
A year earlier, Moyer and Toronto catcher Pat Borders combined as the oldest battery to complete a shutout as 42-year-olds.
Jim Kaat was 40 in his final Phillie season in 1979 before he was dealt to the Yankees during midseason. Kaat finished his career as a 44-year-old in 1983 when he pitched 24 innings with the Cardinals.
Jim Bunning pitched his final game overall and a Phillie as a 38-year-old in 1971. He lasted only two innings in a 7-1 loss to the Mets on Sept. 3.
Oldest Ever ... When you’re speaking of the oldest pitchers ever to throw a game, the legendary Satchel Paige has to be at the top of the list.
Paige joined the Kansas City Athletics at age 59 in 1965. He can be considered a modern -day baseball Houdini, as he reportedly could throw a breaking ball over a gum wrapper on the ground. After a lengthy career in the Negro Leagues and with the St. Louis Browns, Paige made his return to the big leagues when he was signed by Charlie Finley and made his appearance in September 1965. He threw three scoreless innings against Boston.
Other seniors on the circuit were reliever Hoyt Wilhelm, who was a well-traveled knuckleballer who ended his career with the Dodgers at age 49 in 1972. On his heels was Phil Niekro, another knuckleballer, who toiled for a few teams until he retired with the Braves at age 48 in 1987.
Aging Airways ... When thinking about announcers who lasted in the business a long time, Vin Scully initially comes to mind. Scully joined the Dodgers as a fresh college grad at 22, and created a momentous 67-year career with the club, leaving his post at the age of 89.
Besides broadcasting the Dodgers’ game, Scully became a national voice broadcasting for CBS and NBC. He used to call baseball’s Game of the Week. All-Star Games, the playoffs and more than two dozen World Series.
If you remember, he had the call on Hank Aaron’s 715th home run.
On the local front, By Saam had two stints in Philly - one with the A’s and the other with the Phils. Known as “The Man of a Zillion Words,” Saam never broadcast a Phillies’ championship moment and was called out of retirement in 1976 to call the last inning of the Phillies’ East Division-winning game against the Montreal Expos at Jarry Park in Montreal.
Bill Campbell, one of Saam’s longtime partners, began his career in broadcasting at 18, and he also called Eagles’ and Sixers’ games. Campbell was a regular contributor to KYW radio and CBS Philly, and his career spanned eight decades until his death at age 91 in 2014. Among his many claims to fame was calling Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in Hershey.
Phillie Phodder ... Each week, I will pose a Phillies trivia question with the answer revealed at the end of this column.
Here is this week’s: Against what team did Mike Schmidt make his major league debut?
Readers Write ... I received this from reader Dave Panckeri in light on undefeated Florida State being left out of the College Football Playoffs. Panckeri makes some great points about the lack of respect a number of undefeated Penn State football teams have received in the past.
“I am a new subscriber from Weatherly. Your column is my favorite of all of the writers. I am 75 years old, and I attended my first Penn State game as a sophomore on 10/14/67.
We lost to UCLA and Heisman winner Gary Beban 17-15. For the next 31 games in a row, PSU did not lose. Our next loss was to Colorado 9/26/70.
National Titles (during that span)? None.
Undefeated teams? There was 11-0 in 1968 and 1969, 12-0 in 1973, 12-0 in 1994, and 12-0 in 1986 - the latter of which was Penn State’s only title out of five undefeated teams.
And Florida State complains?
Penn State is the most discriminated against team in the last 55 years. Five undefeated teams and one title.
In 1967, PSU won its last seven regular season games, then tied Florida State 17-17 in the Gator Bowl. A year later, Penn State went 11-0 and won the Orange Bowl. They scored 358 points, and their defense gave up 110.
In 1969, perhaps the greatest defensive college team of all time went 11-0 and gave up 90 points - and scored 332.
So in 1968-69, PSU went 22-0 and scored 690 points and gave up 200. Many, many of the Penn Stater defenders were NFL mainstays and of course Franco Harris was a Hall of Famer on offense.
Franco and I were classmates. We always met at the student center to watch Jeopardy right before our class. Franco knew most of the answers! He was a totally unknown freshman when I met him. I didn’t know he played football. But he was a huge ball of muscle and a nice, quiet guy.
Anyway, from 1967-69, after my first game at Beaver Stadium until I graduated in June, 1970, Penn State did not lose a football game! Beginning with the 1967 Gator Bowl win over Florida State and counting the first win of 1970, it was a 31-game unbeaten streak.
No national titles.
It gets worse. From 1971-1974, they had a record of 43-5 with an undefeated 12-0 team in 1973.
No national titles.
They had a run of seven seasons from 1967-1974 with a total of 73 wins, seven losses, and one tie.
No national titles.
And Florida State complains about one unrewarded, undefeated season? Try four.
Sports Illustrated did a story on the top 10 college teams of all time who never won a title.
Penn State’s 1994 team was #5 all time. They were 12-0 with Kerry Collins at QB and Ki-Jana Carter running the ball. The defense was impervious, similar to the 68-69’ team. They were stuck in a bowl against a three-loss Oregon State team, who they blew away. Nebraska won with a vastly inferior team. You can check stats on that.
Anyway, thanks for the obvious hard work you put into your column and keep up the fun facts!”
Trivia Answer ... Schmidt made his major league debut against the Mets on Sept. 12, 1973. He replaced an injured Don Money in the second inning and got his first major hit – a single – off Jim McAndrew during his second at-bat.
Feedback ... Your comments, thoughts, and ideas are welcomed at tnsports@tnonline.com