Jamie Moyer is the oldest pitcher ever to win a major league baseball game. His long, arduous journey to earn that achievement is what drives Just Tell Me I Can't, a memoir Moyer co-wrote with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Larry Platt. Moyer's passion and tenacity for the game shines on every page of this detailed chronicle of what it takes to come back, time and again, amid the pressures of professional baseball--namely how Moyer, with a surgically rebuilt pitching arm, pushed past naysayers to make one last heroic stand on the mound for the Colorado Rockies when he was 49.
The book delves into the psychology behind the art of pitching. Moyer, a cerebral ballplayer, was devoted to mastering the "ever-elusive mental side" of the game to prolong his career. He credits and pays homage to Harvey Dorfman, a wise, gruff, tough-love coach and heralded sports psychologist who, over the course of 20 years, helped the aging, physically challenged Moyer to shed his fear, doubt and lack of self-confidence. Dorfman's no-nonsense ethic of awareness and action motivated Moyer to reinvent his thought processes, believe in himself and capitalize on his strengths. With an 81-mile-per-hour fastball and a changeup pitch that "lived on the back corners of home plate," he eventually won more games in his 40s than in his 20s. The remarkable story of his long career--and Dorfman's influence--is sure to inspire athletes and baseball fans. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines