Just Tell Me I Can't

An extraordinary—and surprising—memoir from Jamie Moyer, who at age forty-nine became the oldest pitcher to ever win a game in the major leagues.

“Loaded with grit and heart and soul. . . . The best book I have ever read on the psychology of that complex and marvelous creature call the pro athlete.” —Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights

When Jamie Moyer made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs, Ronald Reagan was the U.S. president. Longtime fans of the National Pastime have known Jamie Moyer’s name for more than twenty-five years, culminating with the 2012 season, when Moyer, at age forty-nine, became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game. Known for his trademark three pitches—slow, slower, and slowest—the left-handed Moyer was a pinpoint specialist whose won-lost record actually got better as he got older. In fact, he finished his career with a total of 269 wins.

But the truth is, Moyer was just about finished as a big leaguer at age twenty-nine until he fatefully encountered a gravel-voiced, highly confrontational sports psychologist named Harvey Dorfman. Listening to the “in-your-face” provocations of Dorfman, Moyer began to reinvent and reconstruct his mental approach to the game.

This memoir, as presented by Larry Platt, is not only Moyer’s story, but also a story deep inside the mysterious mental game of baseball. It is a testament to the true power of finally believing in one’s own potential. Yogi Berra once observed that “half of this game is ninety percent mental,” and Jamie Moyer’s memoir proves that old maxim to be absolutely true.

“Pitching isn’t about who throws the hardest. It’s about who can keep the ball in front of the outfielders the best. Jamie Moyer spent a quarter century doing just that, and Just Tell Me I Can’t shows how someone who threw eighty miles per hour became the thirty-fourth winningest pitcher in baseball history.” —Greg Maddux

“Whether you love baseball or don't know the infield from the outfield, this unusual memoir-told in the third person-is nevertheless riveting. . . . In many ways, Moyer's story testifies to the importance of mental discipline in baseball. . . . This is an appealing story of a sportsman with a good heart and a strong mind.” —Publishers Weekly