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Just Tell Me I Can't: How Jamie Moyer Defied the Radar Gun and Defeated Time
Long-time fans of the National Pastime have known Moyer's name for more than 25 years. That's because he's been pitching in the bigs for all those years.
With his trademark three pitches - slow, slower, and slowest - the left-handed Moyer is a pinpoint specialist whose won-lost record actually got better as he got older -- from his 20s to his 30s and into 40s. He's only a few wins shy of 300 for his amazing career.
But this is where the book takes an unusual turn. Moyer was just about finished as a big leaguer in his mid-20s until he fatefully encountered a gravel-voiced, highly confrontational sports psychologist named Harvey Dorfman. Listening to the "in-your-face" insights of Dorfman, Moyer began to re-invent himself and reconstruct his approach to his game. Moyer went on to become an All-Star and also a World Series champion.
Yogi Berra once observed that "Half of this game is 90% mental." And Moyer's memoir proves it.
With his trademark three pitches - slow, slower, and slowest - the left-handed Moyer is a pinpoint specialist whose won-lost record actually got better as he got older -- from his 20s to his 30s and into 40s. He's only a few wins shy of 300 for his amazing career.
But this is where the book takes an unusual turn. Moyer was just about finished as a big leaguer in his mid-20s until he fatefully encountered a gravel-voiced, highly confrontational sports psychologist named Harvey Dorfman. Listening to the "in-your-face" insights of Dorfman, Moyer began to re-invent himself and reconstruct his approach to his game. Moyer went on to become an All-Star and also a World Series champion.
Yogi Berra once observed that "Half of this game is 90% mental." And Moyer's memoir proves it.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2013
15 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
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January 15, 2024
The temperature reads below freezing in much of the northern United States. Football games are being postponed by the threat of a blizzard. With a snowstorm raging outside, the fan in me knows that we have reached the halfway point in the baseball offseason: Cubs Convention. Always taking place during the third weekend in January, following the sold out event, days start getting longer, and time moves closer to the start of spring training. It is at this time that I become giddy with excitement over the upcoming season, so I used this time marker to read my first baseball book of the new year, one ironically about a pitcher who defied time, the first team sport athlete of the 21st century to do so. With every baseball player my age all but retired, Nelson Cruz not withstanding, I decided to pick the brain of Jamie Moyer, a Cubs pitcher during my childhood and ageless wonder on the mound, to find out how he lasted as long as he did in the majors.
Jamie Moyer is the pride of Souderton, Pennsylvania, a small town of 6,000 about an hour outside of Philadelphia, the best athlete the town produced having thrown three no hitters in high school. He was never a power pitcher not even as a kid, and a good day had him topping the radar gun around 80. For a pitcher like him to come closer to making the majors, he would have to paint the corners of the plate and play a proverbial cat and mouse game with hitters. Scouts told him he would never make it with a fastball topping 82 miles per hour, and the dream of the major leagues seemed light years from Souderton, that is until he got drafted by the Cubs in 1986. It would take him nearly ten years as a pitcher nearly the age of thirty five until he hit his stride and became a bonafide star at an age when most players hang up their cleats for good. After being rejected from three teams and offered a job in the Cubs organization as a pitching coach, Moyer, rather than giving up, wanted another chance. Little did he know that his career would last another two decades, making him a recurring highlight on Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight as a testament to his longevity. At a time when muscle memory and pliability were a thing of the future, how did Jamie Moyer become a star pitcher in his late 30s? The answer: sports psychology.
Harvey Dorfman was an asthmatic kid from Queens who never had a chance to play organized sports as a kid. In college he defied doctor’s orders and played goalie, taking deep breaths when the ball reached the other side of the field. His career was short lived, and after a stint as the girls basketball coach at Burr and Burton Academy in Vermont, Dorfman turned to a career in sports psychology. It was not seen as manly for athletes to go to a shrink until the rise of sabermetrics put a value on every minute detail possible. Use of psychologist to ward of the yips in between starts became a permissible practice. Moyer’s idol, Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, had his own “shrink” in the 1970s. The use of positive affirmations and breathing exercises lengthened his career. When Moyer faced an outright release, he figured that he had nothing to lose from a weekend at Dorfman’s. The New Yorker would get in the face of his clients and give them positive feedback, exorcising demons, creating an inner zen, that would lead to making their athletic pursuits an uplifting experience. Meeting with Dorfman for over a year changed the trajectory of Moyer’s career. Instead of allowing little mistakes to beat him, he drew on his newfound inner voice and positive affirmations to be ahead in the head games between pitchers and batters. It so happened that as a pitcher who lived on the black of the plate, he also excelled at changing speeds. It just took him longer to find the right team and manager to make it happen. In 1996, Moyer got traded to Lou Pinella’s Seattle Mariners, changing the course of his career, and vaulting him into the upper echelon of starting pitchers. He just needed that chance.
Moyer pitched until he turned fifty. He would have pitched even longer because he had the full support of his wife and older children. Teammates of his oldest son even became teammates of his in the last year of his career, which is unreal when one thinks of the average length of most athletes’ careers. The key to Moyer’s longevity has been his adhering to Dorfman’s teachings, his reliance on four pitches and staying ahead of the sabermetrics game, and simply good luck and genetics. At age 48 when most pitchers are long into retirement, Moyer underwent Tommy John surgery, and then he did the unthinkable and made it back to the mound eighteen months later. On a bottom dwelling Rockies team with a fastball barely touching eighty, Moyer by metrics speak was the ace of the team in 2012. Some of his teammates hadn’t even been born when he started his career. At 49 years 250 days old, Moyer the ageless wonder became the oldest pitcher to ever win a major league game. His career ended the way he wanted it to, something few athletes have a say in. By adhering to the same routines over his entire career, Moyer was able to sustain that long of a career. I’m not quite that age and have the usual aches and pains. I can’t fathom how Moyer at age 46 pitched in a World Series game. I may have one sports idol who sustained his career into his fourties, but after reading Moyer’s account of his career, I just may have gained a second one.
I wish Jamie Moyer would come back to Cubs convention. I am probably one of few who remembers him from bad Cubs teams in the late 1980s. He did not become a star until long after the Cubs gave up on him, and he won a World Series with the Phillies before the Cubs won theirs eight years later. Pitchers like Moyer who change speeds and rely on head games are few and far between these days. The Cubs have one now, the Professor, who came back from his own injury last year and is still baffling hitters with his mid eighties fastball. At thirty four he has a ways to go until he matches Moyer for longevity and with his mental acumen maybe he will be the one to do it. Playing at fifty doesn’t seem all that far fetched anymore. Players are eating healthier and are aware of a technique called pliability that allow them to recover quicker from competition. Still a player who relies on the corners and changing speeds topping out at 84 is a unicorn, and Moyer played so long that those around the game joked that he must have roamed the earth with the dinosaurs. Reading accounts like these makes me pine for baseball season to start. Now that Cubs Convention is over, like Jamie Moyer I am adopting a glass half full outlook- the season will be here before I know it and with it a chance for a player to reinvent himself as he approaches middle age and make a hero out of all of us.
4 stars
Jamie Moyer is the pride of Souderton, Pennsylvania, a small town of 6,000 about an hour outside of Philadelphia, the best athlete the town produced having thrown three no hitters in high school. He was never a power pitcher not even as a kid, and a good day had him topping the radar gun around 80. For a pitcher like him to come closer to making the majors, he would have to paint the corners of the plate and play a proverbial cat and mouse game with hitters. Scouts told him he would never make it with a fastball topping 82 miles per hour, and the dream of the major leagues seemed light years from Souderton, that is until he got drafted by the Cubs in 1986. It would take him nearly ten years as a pitcher nearly the age of thirty five until he hit his stride and became a bonafide star at an age when most players hang up their cleats for good. After being rejected from three teams and offered a job in the Cubs organization as a pitching coach, Moyer, rather than giving up, wanted another chance. Little did he know that his career would last another two decades, making him a recurring highlight on Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight as a testament to his longevity. At a time when muscle memory and pliability were a thing of the future, how did Jamie Moyer become a star pitcher in his late 30s? The answer: sports psychology.
Harvey Dorfman was an asthmatic kid from Queens who never had a chance to play organized sports as a kid. In college he defied doctor’s orders and played goalie, taking deep breaths when the ball reached the other side of the field. His career was short lived, and after a stint as the girls basketball coach at Burr and Burton Academy in Vermont, Dorfman turned to a career in sports psychology. It was not seen as manly for athletes to go to a shrink until the rise of sabermetrics put a value on every minute detail possible. Use of psychologist to ward of the yips in between starts became a permissible practice. Moyer’s idol, Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, had his own “shrink” in the 1970s. The use of positive affirmations and breathing exercises lengthened his career. When Moyer faced an outright release, he figured that he had nothing to lose from a weekend at Dorfman’s. The New Yorker would get in the face of his clients and give them positive feedback, exorcising demons, creating an inner zen, that would lead to making their athletic pursuits an uplifting experience. Meeting with Dorfman for over a year changed the trajectory of Moyer’s career. Instead of allowing little mistakes to beat him, he drew on his newfound inner voice and positive affirmations to be ahead in the head games between pitchers and batters. It so happened that as a pitcher who lived on the black of the plate, he also excelled at changing speeds. It just took him longer to find the right team and manager to make it happen. In 1996, Moyer got traded to Lou Pinella’s Seattle Mariners, changing the course of his career, and vaulting him into the upper echelon of starting pitchers. He just needed that chance.
Moyer pitched until he turned fifty. He would have pitched even longer because he had the full support of his wife and older children. Teammates of his oldest son even became teammates of his in the last year of his career, which is unreal when one thinks of the average length of most athletes’ careers. The key to Moyer’s longevity has been his adhering to Dorfman’s teachings, his reliance on four pitches and staying ahead of the sabermetrics game, and simply good luck and genetics. At age 48 when most pitchers are long into retirement, Moyer underwent Tommy John surgery, and then he did the unthinkable and made it back to the mound eighteen months later. On a bottom dwelling Rockies team with a fastball barely touching eighty, Moyer by metrics speak was the ace of the team in 2012. Some of his teammates hadn’t even been born when he started his career. At 49 years 250 days old, Moyer the ageless wonder became the oldest pitcher to ever win a major league game. His career ended the way he wanted it to, something few athletes have a say in. By adhering to the same routines over his entire career, Moyer was able to sustain that long of a career. I’m not quite that age and have the usual aches and pains. I can’t fathom how Moyer at age 46 pitched in a World Series game. I may have one sports idol who sustained his career into his fourties, but after reading Moyer’s account of his career, I just may have gained a second one.
I wish Jamie Moyer would come back to Cubs convention. I am probably one of few who remembers him from bad Cubs teams in the late 1980s. He did not become a star until long after the Cubs gave up on him, and he won a World Series with the Phillies before the Cubs won theirs eight years later. Pitchers like Moyer who change speeds and rely on head games are few and far between these days. The Cubs have one now, the Professor, who came back from his own injury last year and is still baffling hitters with his mid eighties fastball. At thirty four he has a ways to go until he matches Moyer for longevity and with his mental acumen maybe he will be the one to do it. Playing at fifty doesn’t seem all that far fetched anymore. Players are eating healthier and are aware of a technique called pliability that allow them to recover quicker from competition. Still a player who relies on the corners and changing speeds topping out at 84 is a unicorn, and Moyer played so long that those around the game joked that he must have roamed the earth with the dinosaurs. Reading accounts like these makes me pine for baseball season to start. Now that Cubs Convention is over, like Jamie Moyer I am adopting a glass half full outlook- the season will be here before I know it and with it a chance for a player to reinvent himself as he approaches middle age and make a hero out of all of us.
4 stars
February 1, 2018
In the introduction, Platt describes this book not so much as the "This is how this athlete started, these are the teams he played for" sports biography, but, as he says, "moments of critical challenge throughout [Moyer's] long career: in short, a chronicle of his continuing education." Not just about Moyer, though, the book "is also the story of what pitching is--the mystery and mastery of it, as seen through the eyes of its most cerebral, seeking student. It's a story deep inside the ever-elusive mental side of sports."
In fact, not only is this book about Jamie Moyer and his journey, but it also ends up being a tribute to Harvey Dorfman, a "mental skills coach," as Wikipedia calls him, who worked with a lot of athletes, so he's sort of a sports psychologist. Through Jamie's recounting of what he learned from Harvey -- control what you can control, focus on one task at hand, etc. -- this book could almost be considered a self-help guide to positive thinking, outwitting bad thoughts and negative energy, and turning any situation into a winnable mental game.
By the way, Baseball Writers/Hall of Fame voters: Moyer's stats and his longevity, and the fact he did it with his dominating changeup and his "Ooh, la-la" 81 mph fastball, should get him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. #MoyerHOF
And for your viewing enjoyment, my favorite Moyer/Mariners commercial:
https://youtu.be/gjH5sf2RedI (The old Jamie Moyer changeup. You *gotta* swing at that!)
In fact, not only is this book about Jamie Moyer and his journey, but it also ends up being a tribute to Harvey Dorfman, a "mental skills coach," as Wikipedia calls him, who worked with a lot of athletes, so he's sort of a sports psychologist. Through Jamie's recounting of what he learned from Harvey -- control what you can control, focus on one task at hand, etc. -- this book could almost be considered a self-help guide to positive thinking, outwitting bad thoughts and negative energy, and turning any situation into a winnable mental game.
By the way, Baseball Writers/Hall of Fame voters: Moyer's stats and his longevity, and the fact he did it with his dominating changeup and his "Ooh, la-la" 81 mph fastball, should get him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. #MoyerHOF
And for your viewing enjoyment, my favorite Moyer/Mariners commercial:
https://youtu.be/gjH5sf2RedI (The old Jamie Moyer changeup. You *gotta* swing at that!)
August 20, 2016
I read part of this book at Safeco field when Moyer was on hand for Griffey's number retirement ceremony, which was quite cool. The book is framed incorrectly however, as Moyer's wrier inexplicably disparages Favre and Clemens in the intro, saying they were "diminished" by their comebacks, (Favre was a top 5 QB in the 2nd year of his comeback and went to the NFC title game; Clemens led the league in ERA and went to the World Series. Clearly Moyer's writer has a different definition of "diminished" than most), and then spends every other chapter cataloging Moyer's comeback as a 49-year old who had missed more than a year with injury. Moyer's comeback was quite bad with an ERA over 5 and a WHIP near 2, making the whole "diminished" angle baffling, as the subject of the book did not exactly help himself by making one last try.
The good part was the history of Moyer before the Rockies - a guy with average stuff who was handed his hat twice by MLB and whose father-in-law offered to get him a job selling RVs ... all before he then went on to pitch another 15 seasons and establish himself as an above average pitcher by mixing speeds and painting the corners, good enough to win 269 games and to earn entry into the mythical Hall of Very Good. That said I think most people around Moyer would describe him as a better person than player, with a large family and a huge foundation for kids who've lost a parent. Moyer's a very likable guy for whom I was happy to cheer as he won a World Series in his mid-40s. The book itself - just OK.
The good part was the history of Moyer before the Rockies - a guy with average stuff who was handed his hat twice by MLB and whose father-in-law offered to get him a job selling RVs ... all before he then went on to pitch another 15 seasons and establish himself as an above average pitcher by mixing speeds and painting the corners, good enough to win 269 games and to earn entry into the mythical Hall of Very Good. That said I think most people around Moyer would describe him as a better person than player, with a large family and a huge foundation for kids who've lost a parent. Moyer's a very likable guy for whom I was happy to cheer as he won a World Series in his mid-40s. The book itself - just OK.
September 19, 2013
Early on in this book, Larry Platt recounts how Jamie Moyer had some reservations about this project. He had read memoirs by other players and wasn't sure he was a memoir kind of guy. But this isn't your typical sports saga and this book does tease out many of the things that make Jamie Moyer such a compelling subject. Not the least of which is that he is a genuinely likable human being. Never flashy, but so rewarding to root for (as I learned as a Seattle Mariners fan). This recounting of how Moyer struggled and mastered the mental side of baseball brings insights that are widely applicable to any endeavor. Often inspiring me to reflect on how I approach the challenges in my own life as well. All of this is combined with his ability to keep things in perspective.
Aside from a few proofreading errors, the writing is sharp and delivers this material with a great sense of pacing and respect for the people involved in this story.
It's a cliche to insist that a baseball book is more than a book about baseball. And this one is. One doesn't need to be a fan to get a lot out of this book, but being one will allow one to appreciate what this one is about. The lessons Moyer learned about the "mental game" will stay with me for a long time after encountering them here.
Aside from a few proofreading errors, the writing is sharp and delivers this material with a great sense of pacing and respect for the people involved in this story.
It's a cliche to insist that a baseball book is more than a book about baseball. And this one is. One doesn't need to be a fan to get a lot out of this book, but being one will allow one to appreciate what this one is about. The lessons Moyer learned about the "mental game" will stay with me for a long time after encountering them here.
April 25, 2014
I have been a long-time fan of Jamie Moyer's for his work both on the diamond and off. My son has been a beneficiary of Moyer's Camp Erin. Nevertheless, I wasn't sure I could get through reading a memoir of a professional athlete's life. In the end, nothing in this book did anything to dampen my respect for Jamie Moyer and I learned a great deal about baseball and pitching. I have new respect for the mental game of baseball and I think this is a must read for anyone who plays the game or loves the game.
May 7, 2018
Really excellent book, not at all the standard linear sports bio and tell-all. Juxtaposes key points in Jamie's career with the psychology he learned from Harvey Dorfman. Showcases and explains the determination of this pitcher to own his game and recover from injuries and surgeries.
When I heard about this book, I knew I wanted to read it. I followed Jamie's career in Seattle and often umpired his oldest son in Magnolia youth baseball - he even attended some of those games. If you had told me then that Moyer would go on to become the oldest pitcher to record a major league win, I wouldn't have been surprised.
Rehab from Tommy John surgery is the main narrative, with flashbacks to earlier key points in his career. The lessons he learned from Dorfman are placed in context, and are more powerful because of it. He frequently references The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance and The Mental ABC's of Pitching: A Handbook for Performance Enhancement. The story does get down to batters faced at times, but this is not catalog of games. The appendix covers his career stats and his five easiest and toughest batters faced.
This book was hard to put down, and primarily that was to umpire baseball games. The story was interesting and well told. I can really appreciate the positive approach Moyer takes to his craft, and just how much of this game is really mental. Highly recommended!
When I heard about this book, I knew I wanted to read it. I followed Jamie's career in Seattle and often umpired his oldest son in Magnolia youth baseball - he even attended some of those games. If you had told me then that Moyer would go on to become the oldest pitcher to record a major league win, I wouldn't have been surprised.
Rehab from Tommy John surgery is the main narrative, with flashbacks to earlier key points in his career. The lessons he learned from Dorfman are placed in context, and are more powerful because of it. He frequently references The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance and The Mental ABC's of Pitching: A Handbook for Performance Enhancement. The story does get down to batters faced at times, but this is not catalog of games. The appendix covers his career stats and his five easiest and toughest batters faced.
This book was hard to put down, and primarily that was to umpire baseball games. The story was interesting and well told. I can really appreciate the positive approach Moyer takes to his craft, and just how much of this game is really mental. Highly recommended!
January 27, 2026
The book itself and how it was written is just ok. I feel like Jamie's story was too focused on what the author calls his comeback. Because I knew Jamie growing up, I wanted to like the book. It was especially fun reading about other players who I knew in school. I feel the focus was off and it didn't exemplify Jamie's true feats. There are hints of Jamie's personality, but it seems that horn wasn't tooted enough. I was yearning for more about his life, his struggles (not just the mental ones) and his foundation. The book mentioned more than once that Jamie always took the time to sign autographs - every last one of them. I wanted more about that Jamie.
November 19, 2025
This was a fascinating book about Jaime Moyer's very long career in baseball with several different teams, including, of course, the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies! The only negative I can say about this book was that it was not written in chronological order. The chapters would go for example, 2012 then go back to 1997 then forward again to 2011 when I think they should have gone from the beginning of his career to the very end of his career in date order. Otherwise, this was a very well written book, mostly written by Larry Platt!
January 1, 2018
Not bad. For some reason I forgot Moyer is the oldest player to ever win an MLB game. I always just figured with was Satchel Paige. The book is different from a typical memoir as it goes back and forth from 2011/2012 when he was attempting one last comeback with the Colorado Rockies and a few minor league teams, to also going through his MLB career, which started in the mid 1980s and took him through trips with clubs such as the Cubs, Rangers, Orioles, Mariners and Phillies. He had the most success with the Mariners and Phillies and I enjoyed reading that portion of the book the most. The parts of the book where Moyer and author Larry Platt talk about Moyer's approach to the game made the book a little different, but also boring at times as it seemed to have a little overkill. Overall, it seems that Moyer is not only a very good pitcher for years, but also a good person. An inspiring book in that just because you're old, doesn't mean your dreams die. He won over 150 games after the age of 35.
March 31, 2016
Not your typical sports bio!
February 28, 2017
More often than not, sports memoirs can be a bit dull and cover some of the same old tropes over and over again. Fortunately, "Just Tell Me I Can't" breaks that mold by delving deep into the topic of sports psychology (a big part of Jamie Moyer's career) in order to help understand the motivation behind a man pitching until the age of 49.
This book tells two concurrent narratives all the way through. First, it introduces Jamie Moyer just as he is severely injuring his arm during the 2010 season. He is in his mid-forties and yet still trying to rehab and make a return for the 2012 season. As that story unspools, the narrative flashes back to certain key points that happened earlier in Moyer's career.
As I said, this is no ordinary sports memoir, primarily because Jamie Moyer is no ordinary athlete. Besides the whole old-age angle, Moyer's story is actually most interesting when dealing with his relationship with notably sports mentalist/psychiatrist Harvey Dofrman, whose insights turned a struggling journeyman pitcher into an All-Star and eventually World Champion. It is utterly fascinating to hear Moyer describe the unique link between his performance and his mental state/thoughts.
Simply put, this is a book that hooked me in from the very beginning and didn't take me all that much longer to finish! After reading relatively boring or unimaginative bios on figures like Mariano Rivera & Pedro Martinez in recent months, "Just Tell Me I Can't" was a breath of fresh air, as it not only gave a great accounting of Moyer's career, but did so in such a way that followed a new/interesting narrative structure that made it an exciting story. I wish more sports memoirs would take this kind of approach.
This book tells two concurrent narratives all the way through. First, it introduces Jamie Moyer just as he is severely injuring his arm during the 2010 season. He is in his mid-forties and yet still trying to rehab and make a return for the 2012 season. As that story unspools, the narrative flashes back to certain key points that happened earlier in Moyer's career.
As I said, this is no ordinary sports memoir, primarily because Jamie Moyer is no ordinary athlete. Besides the whole old-age angle, Moyer's story is actually most interesting when dealing with his relationship with notably sports mentalist/psychiatrist Harvey Dofrman, whose insights turned a struggling journeyman pitcher into an All-Star and eventually World Champion. It is utterly fascinating to hear Moyer describe the unique link between his performance and his mental state/thoughts.
Simply put, this is a book that hooked me in from the very beginning and didn't take me all that much longer to finish! After reading relatively boring or unimaginative bios on figures like Mariano Rivera & Pedro Martinez in recent months, "Just Tell Me I Can't" was a breath of fresh air, as it not only gave a great accounting of Moyer's career, but did so in such a way that followed a new/interesting narrative structure that made it an exciting story. I wish more sports memoirs would take this kind of approach.
September 14, 2020
This is the testimony of Jamie Moyer, a major league baseball pitcher for 25 years with the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, and Colorado Rockies. As a pitcher, he was not a fireballer but rather a crafty pitcher who was used pinpoint location and determination to remain in baseball for many years. Many told him that he could not achieve success in baseball but by his perseverance and faith, he did.
Moyer assembled impressive results such as winning 269 games and pitching to approximately 9% of all players to compete in Major League Baseball. Those in Philadelphia and Seattle will especially appreciate his stories, as he spent the most time with these organization. He was also on the World Series championship team for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team he supported in his growing up years in Souderton, PA.
Jamie Moyer's interests extend much further than baseball, though. He is a family man with interests in his children. He and his wife Karen also began Moyer foundation (now Eluna) which has raised $22 million dollars for children in distress.
The book reads easily. Those who are familiar with baseball will recognize the many people within the game that Moyer met. It is inspiring, too. The book begins with a quotation from Satchel Paige, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" This book tells that aspect of Moyer's life, pointing out Moyer's late career achievements and struggles. He is the oldest pitcher to win a Major League baseball game.
It is a light read and an inspiring story.
Moyer assembled impressive results such as winning 269 games and pitching to approximately 9% of all players to compete in Major League Baseball. Those in Philadelphia and Seattle will especially appreciate his stories, as he spent the most time with these organization. He was also on the World Series championship team for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team he supported in his growing up years in Souderton, PA.
Jamie Moyer's interests extend much further than baseball, though. He is a family man with interests in his children. He and his wife Karen also began Moyer foundation (now Eluna) which has raised $22 million dollars for children in distress.
The book reads easily. Those who are familiar with baseball will recognize the many people within the game that Moyer met. It is inspiring, too. The book begins with a quotation from Satchel Paige, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" This book tells that aspect of Moyer's life, pointing out Moyer's late career achievements and struggles. He is the oldest pitcher to win a Major League baseball game.
It is a light read and an inspiring story.
March 5, 2018
I am a huge Jamie Moyer fan, having watched him plan for the Seattle Mariners. I loved that he had such “slow” pitches but was able to consistently get batters out. Such a contrast to the flamethrowers of the day.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who didn’t have a decent knowledge of his playing—as a biography it seems to lack a lot of background. I suspect that is partly because it switches between past and present a lot.
I am now intrigued to learn more of Harvey Dorfman and the mental game of baseball.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who didn’t have a decent knowledge of his playing—as a biography it seems to lack a lot of background. I suspect that is partly because it switches between past and present a lot.
I am now intrigued to learn more of Harvey Dorfman and the mental game of baseball.
August 22, 2017
I usually speed through baseball autobiographies, but this one on the oldest MLB pitcher to record a win was not that compelling. A good portion of the first part of the book dwelt with the pitcher's mental guru. And though it claimed to be written by the pitcher in question, Jamie Moyer, it was written as a biography by the co-author. I admire Moyer but not so much this book.
December 25, 2022
Moyer has one of the most fascinating and hard to believe careers in all of sports. The longevity of his career is difficult to comprehend. The book does a great job shedding some light on his story and how it came to be, including major influences along the way. It bounces back and forth through time in a way that is sometimes confusing, but mostly works well.
June 2, 2023
A must read baseball book! The in depth discussion of the relationship between Moyer and Harvey Dorman is excellent.
The book is unique as it focuses less on Moyer’s career and more on his preparation and approach to pitching. Great insights all the way through, particularly on his final return to the minor leagues.
I wish I’d read it sooner.
The book is unique as it focuses less on Moyer’s career and more on his preparation and approach to pitching. Great insights all the way through, particularly on his final return to the minor leagues.
I wish I’d read it sooner.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2017
Jamie Moyer is one of my heroes. Good insight into the need to work hard, the importance of the mental game, and the strength of character needed to get past all the naysayers who tell you you can't do something because you do not match the current paradigm.
May 31, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Even if you are not a baseball fan or even a sports fan, you should read this. It is about overcoming doubters and learning to trust yourself even when things are not going the way you want them too.
March 15, 2022
Great story that touched on the good and the bad throughout Moyer’s baseball career. Overall it was a bit choppy as it bounced around. I feel that the chapters were written as stand alone stories as they often rehashed items from previous chapters.
July 5, 2022
Loved reading about one of the most underrated pitchers of this generation! I love Jamie Moyer but know next to nothing about the advanced statistics/mental game behind pitching, so this book was a lovely combination of one of my favorite sports idols and the game he played.
February 24, 2022
Really good. It is not an extensive history of Moyer's life, it is more focused on the challenges he faced and his approach.
July 30, 2024
Another one that I’m biased about since I graduated High School with Jamie. A very fun read.
November 14, 2025
This is an excellent baseball book, a lesson in perseverance, dedication to principles, and a willingness to adapt. A great read.
January 28, 2026
enjoyed the read!
October 1, 2016
perhaps the best baseball book I've read.
September 25, 2014
Early on in Jamie Moyer’s autobiography, we are introduced to a character, a sports psychologist, in much the same way that the Soprano’s started with Tony’s appointment with Dr. Melfi. I recall the main theme of the Soprano’s was the mobster/psychiatrist relationship -- how openly talking about business was not allowed in Tony’s profession, yet the therapy offered a way to learn about himself and to fix his anxieties. I got that kind of vibe in this book as well. Moyer’s Melfi is Harvey Dorfman, who works with Moyer on the mental side of his game and who shows up time and again throughout the book, in person, through quotes, and with remembrances of those who knew him. Dorfman's teachings on taking responsibility for your situation and mindfulness were illustrated here with many Yoda-like quotes, so many I started picturing Dorfman as looking like Yoda. This is Moyer’s autobiography, but Harvey should be credited for at least 20% of the ink, so much that it started to feel almost religious by the end.
This should tell you this book is focused on the mental game, the details of how Moyer pitches, practices, and talks himself into coming back pitch after pitch, game after game, injury after injury. There is a lot of detail on this process throughout the years, yet the writing kept this interesting to me. Also mixed in were stories about Moyer’s charity work, and this was quite touching. The book is not chronological, yet I found it easy to read. It was quite odd to find Moyer pitching for a different team almost every time a chapter changes, but for someone as well travelled, it is to be expected. As a Cub fan, there wasn’t much on the Cub years, and for good reason – he wasn’t the pitcher that he grew into later.
When I was growing up, I heard that baseball was a young man’s game, and I guess that stuck with me. I decided that as long as I was younger than a professional baseball player, I’d still be considered young. And I posted that as my birthday status on Facebook for a few years – still young because Moyer, who is a few months older than me, was still pitching. I cheered on his last comeback in 2012 and was disappointed when he walked away from the Las Vegas AAA team he was pitching with later that year. This book, taken in its entirety, explains that episode better than the articles I read at the time. And while I’m still looking for a new status message for my birthday, Moyer’s story gives hope that while age will do its damage, thoughtfully playing the game holds it back a while. As in baseball, so in life.
This should tell you this book is focused on the mental game, the details of how Moyer pitches, practices, and talks himself into coming back pitch after pitch, game after game, injury after injury. There is a lot of detail on this process throughout the years, yet the writing kept this interesting to me. Also mixed in were stories about Moyer’s charity work, and this was quite touching. The book is not chronological, yet I found it easy to read. It was quite odd to find Moyer pitching for a different team almost every time a chapter changes, but for someone as well travelled, it is to be expected. As a Cub fan, there wasn’t much on the Cub years, and for good reason – he wasn’t the pitcher that he grew into later.
When I was growing up, I heard that baseball was a young man’s game, and I guess that stuck with me. I decided that as long as I was younger than a professional baseball player, I’d still be considered young. And I posted that as my birthday status on Facebook for a few years – still young because Moyer, who is a few months older than me, was still pitching. I cheered on his last comeback in 2012 and was disappointed when he walked away from the Las Vegas AAA team he was pitching with later that year. This book, taken in its entirety, explains that episode better than the articles I read at the time. And while I’m still looking for a new status message for my birthday, Moyer’s story gives hope that while age will do its damage, thoughtfully playing the game holds it back a while. As in baseball, so in life.
February 22, 2015
JUST TELL ME I CAN’T is the story of Jamie Moyer and how he was able to succeed as a major league pitcher. Moyer never had the blazing fastball that major league scouts want to see. What he did have was a tremendous drive to win, an analytical mind that he devoted to bettering his craft, and the ability to locate his pitches so as to minimize a batter’s strength. Unfortunately for Jamie, early in his career he would sometimes give in to self doubt and pitch without conviction, that is until he began following the inner mental game of sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman. Basically, Harvey was able to get Jamie to be more confident and aggressive with the skill set that he possessed. Dorfman got Jamie to pitch inside to batters, to use his change-up as a weapon and believe in his ability to get batters out no matter who he was facing. Jamie’s slow, slower, slowest pitching style frustrated batter after batter and led to a twenty five year career in the major leagues.
Living in Seattle, I was able to see Moyer at his best when he played for the Mariners. It was amazing to see all of the weak fly balls and ground ball outs he was able to induce by getting batters to swing at the pitches he wanted them to hit—pitches that were always just a little out of the hitters zone and with a slightly different tempo. Moyer out thought the batters he faced by seeing their reaction to every pitch he threw and planning the next pitch based on that reaction. It was a thing of beauty to watch. As Greg Maddux said, “Pitching isn’t about who throws the hardest. It’s about who can keep the ball in front of the outfielders the best.” This is a wonderful book for any fan of America’s pastime; a story that makes you recognize that the route to success is sometimes the road less traveled.
Living in Seattle, I was able to see Moyer at his best when he played for the Mariners. It was amazing to see all of the weak fly balls and ground ball outs he was able to induce by getting batters to swing at the pitches he wanted them to hit—pitches that were always just a little out of the hitters zone and with a slightly different tempo. Moyer out thought the batters he faced by seeing their reaction to every pitch he threw and planning the next pitch based on that reaction. It was a thing of beauty to watch. As Greg Maddux said, “Pitching isn’t about who throws the hardest. It’s about who can keep the ball in front of the outfielders the best.” This is a wonderful book for any fan of America’s pastime; a story that makes you recognize that the route to success is sometimes the road less traveled.
March 14, 2016
I picked this up to read a baseball book. I put down a book about life and fortitude and how to fight stinkin' thinkin'.
Jamie Moyer's baseball career was indubitably unique. Never a "power" pitcher, he made it to the big leagues, and didn't have great success initially. But once he began to conquer the negative thoughts we all have his career began to turn around, to the point where he retired on his terms having set several baseball records. His career illustrates the wisdom of the late Yogi Berra's quote "Baseball is 90% mental and the other half if physical." It was not the physical that made Moyer an elite pitcher, it was the mental.
I have always enjoyed baseball, because so much of life can be compared to baseball, and vice versa. This book adds to that paradigm, showing how alone a pitcher can be and how important personal confidence and the right thought processes are to success.
This is a book I will give to my wife to read. As a mental health counselor who is knowledgeable about baseball but hardly a fan she will likely enjoy it for a different reason, but certainly fear of failure and lack of confidence is a large part of what she encounters in human nature.
A quick read, I wavered between four and five stars; the only difficulty I had with the book was in the moving back and forth in time from Moyer's last comeback to other key points in his career. It was distracting and in a couple of cases I had to look twice to see where we were in the story. I would have given a 4.8 stars because it really was not a major distraction and the story was compelling, the insights into baseball and a pitcher's mind were interesting, and the book a good read.
Jamie Moyer's baseball career was indubitably unique. Never a "power" pitcher, he made it to the big leagues, and didn't have great success initially. But once he began to conquer the negative thoughts we all have his career began to turn around, to the point where he retired on his terms having set several baseball records. His career illustrates the wisdom of the late Yogi Berra's quote "Baseball is 90% mental and the other half if physical." It was not the physical that made Moyer an elite pitcher, it was the mental.
I have always enjoyed baseball, because so much of life can be compared to baseball, and vice versa. This book adds to that paradigm, showing how alone a pitcher can be and how important personal confidence and the right thought processes are to success.
This is a book I will give to my wife to read. As a mental health counselor who is knowledgeable about baseball but hardly a fan she will likely enjoy it for a different reason, but certainly fear of failure and lack of confidence is a large part of what she encounters in human nature.
A quick read, I wavered between four and five stars; the only difficulty I had with the book was in the moving back and forth in time from Moyer's last comeback to other key points in his career. It was distracting and in a couple of cases I had to look twice to see where we were in the story. I would have given a 4.8 stars because it really was not a major distraction and the story was compelling, the insights into baseball and a pitcher's mind were interesting, and the book a good read.
June 15, 2014
Because I am a Seattle Mariners fan and Jamie Moyer will always have a special place in our hearts, I enjoyed this book. A literary masterpiece it is not, but it is a fascinating story of how grit, determination, and hard, hard work paid off in a long and unlikely career in baseball.
While I know it is the tradition in this genre, it irks me just a bit that Moyer is listed as the primary author of this book, when within its pages there is no such pretense. Larry Platt wrote this book and never pretends otherwise. It should have been sold as such; this would not have made the book any more or less relevant and would have been more honest. Besides, I doubt that Moyer could have written a book that was nearly as engaging.
As with all such books (though I have read few), the storytelling is somewhat formulaic and plodding. Fortunately, the subject matter is interesting enough to overcome this deficit. If you are interested in baseball and want an inspirational read, pick this one up.
While I know it is the tradition in this genre, it irks me just a bit that Moyer is listed as the primary author of this book, when within its pages there is no such pretense. Larry Platt wrote this book and never pretends otherwise. It should have been sold as such; this would not have made the book any more or less relevant and would have been more honest. Besides, I doubt that Moyer could have written a book that was nearly as engaging.
As with all such books (though I have read few), the storytelling is somewhat formulaic and plodding. Fortunately, the subject matter is interesting enough to overcome this deficit. If you are interested in baseball and want an inspirational read, pick this one up.
November 17, 2013
Jamie Moyer was a pitcher for the Orioles when I was growing up. He moved to Seattle and was always a source of interest for me - one of those pitchers who you casually follow as he moves on. When I lived in Seattle, I was familiar with his foundation and I was happy to see him win the World Series with the Phillies. This book follows his career and focuses on his mental game as he pitched in the majors for over 20 years. His work with a sports performance specialist, Harvey Dorfman, and the impacts of Harvey on his career are a main focus of the book. I thought the book was interesting and inspirational, especially for people who are fighting the battle against aging. A great book to read.
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