Jamie Moyer Change-Up Arrives At Home Plate After Long Journey

PHILADELPHIA—Following a 60-foot, six-inch voyage that began at the distant pitching rubber, a Jamie Moyer-thrown change-up arrived at home plate for a called third strike nearly 147 seconds after it was thrown. “There were a few minutes when I thought it would never get here,” said Phillies catcher Chris Coste, who had to rise from his squatting position to stretch twice during the pitch’s journey in order to keep the feeling in his legs. “First Ryan [Howard] almost cut it off to catch the runner going to second, then decided against it, then was about to grab it again before I shouted to him that it might count as a balk. Then the batter took a swing, backed up and took another swing before striking out when it hit the outside corner.After that, I had to wait in the catcher’s box for what felt like forever when the runner decided to try to score all the way from first.And then you saw how [centerfielder] Shane [Victorino] almost ruined the whole thing when he ran past the pitch because he thought the inning was over. Thank goodness Jamie’s change-up had that very, very late movement so that it eventually dipped around Shane and right into the sliding runner’s path.” Moyer later revealed that the pitch was a fastball.