At 49 years old Jamie Moyer is still competing to be in the starting lineup for the Colorado Rockies. Whats even more impressive is he's a pitcher, the second most demanding position on the baseball field besides catcher.
The reason this feat is so impressive is because it shows how advances in medicine might extend the careers of athletes in not just baseball but all sports.
Think about seeing your favorite NBA player play for 20 years or even 25 years which some say could be a trend for players who are good enough well into their careers who only retire because it gets harder to recover after each game.
Think about players being able to transcend different eras within their particular sport. You could begin to asnwer questions such as who's better because you would be able to see the athletes actually play against one another.
I'm rooting for Jamie Moyer because he's proving to people that if you take care of your body you can be active into your 50's and possibly beyond, and thats a message alot of people need to hear.
Moyer spent last year as an mlb analyst I think, but the previous year he actually pitched well for the Phillies. Pettite also shows that age isn't too much of a factor. For some reason, I feel as if pitchers can have long careers. If they can remain healthy, not consistently blowing their arms out they can last a while. Overall, good read and the advances in medicine and technology have definitely affected the length of players careers.
ReplyDeleteGood idea to ask readers to envision a 49-year-old in any other sport. Very hard to see that.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to post a link to a newspaper story along with your post.