Lefties Are Right

First of all, I want to thank so many of our listeners for coming out to the KBOI Business Breakfast this morning.  It was fun to share several stories about broadcasting and the team's I have covered with those of you in attendance.  It was also great to meet so many Bronco fans who listen to the game.  People in this community are so supportive of the team and have been so nice to me.  So again I say thanks.

One of the things that baseball does better than other sports is comparing current players with former players through stats.  No other sport can talk about what happened in 1913 and 2013.  The other pro leagues aren't is old and the rules have changed a lot more than baseball.

One of the things that baseball does worse than other sports is promoting its new stars.  The sport is based on individual play and MLB needs to market its players better – especially the new ones.

That being said I will bet many of you don't know the name, Matt Moore.  He is a lefthanded pitcher with the Tampa Bay Rays.  When I hear someone say this player has done something for the first time since Babe Ruth…I immediately take notice.  Moore is in his second full season with the Rays and has been awesome this year.  He went 11-11 last season with a 3.81 ERA.  This year he is the youngest lefty since Babe Ruth open a season 8-0.  Babe was a pitcher for the Red Sox in 1917 when he did it.  He goes for 9-0 this week against the Yankees and their ace C.C. Sabathia.

While thinking about Moore's start, it brought to mind two other young lefties that not only had great rookie seasons but were promoted by baseball and generated big crowds whenever they pitched.  In 1971, Vida Blue was in his first full season with the Oakland A's and won both the Cy Young Award and the MVP.  He went 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA as a 21 yearold.

Ten years later in 1981, Fernando-mania hit LA.  Fernando Valenzuela first year saw him go 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA and a Cy Young Award.  The-20 yearold was the biggest pitching sensation since Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.  Valenzuela led the Dodgers to the World Series and Blue led the A's to the playoffs.  Both lefties were the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game.  

Will either of these be accomplished by the 23-year old Moore?  Only time will tell. A little more on the Rays lefty, he was drafted out of high school in the 8th round in 2007.  Tampa Bay held the first pick that year, too, and took another lefthander in David Price.  What a draft for them. A lot of other teams passed that year on Moore, who was from Moriarty, New Mexico.  Only 9 of the 30 players taken in the first round have played 100 or games to date.    

Major League Baseball needs to promote Moore's outing on either ESPN or Fox.  There are a lot of great stars out there that no one knows.  Matt Moore is one of them.