508 Combined Wins

Two veteran lefthanders, Jamie Moyer (Phillies) and Tom Glavine (Mets), are facing each other in the Shea Stadium series finale Thursday night.

Moyer, 44, has been pitching in the majors since 1986, while the much younger Glavine (41) has been a big leaguer since 1987.  Combined, that’s 85 years of big league experience. 

Size and age aren’t as big a factor in baseball as in other professional sports.  Because of salaries, nutrition and better conditioning, baseball players today are able to play longer and longer. 

It is a real testimony to athletes, both physically and mentally, to play into their 40s.  The mental portion might be the most difficult part.

Including the 2007 season, there’s a pretty impressive pitching staff 40 and over:

Starters:
Moyer
Glavine
Greg Maddox
Curt Schilling
John Smoltz
David Wells
Tim Wakefield
Woody Williams

Bullpen:
Roberto Hernandez
Jose Mesa
Mike Timlin
Rheal Cormier
Tom Gordon
Trevor Hoffman
Mike Stanton

Disabled list:
Randy Johnson
Kenny Rogers

Undetermined list:
Roger Clemens

I’m not a big fan of pitch counts but in the case of Moyer and Glavine, it is worth mentioning.  According to a Stats Inc., formula, Moyer has thrown the most pitches of any current pitcher, 74,355; Glavine is second, 69,093. 

Just think, 143,448 combined pitches equals 508 combined wins.