OT: How Jamie Moyer almost became an Owl

Editor's Note: This is probably the only non-Temple football story you'll ever read on this site. This is a completely true story. Skip Wilson has told it many times in my presence at banquets over the years.
By Mike Gibson
One of the benefits of being a sportswriter is being able to help the kids, in ways large and small.
Sometimes even when you are not much more than a kid yourself.
I was a 22-year-old kid sports writer for the Doylestown Intelligencer when I was able to help out another kid, a 17-year-old pitcher at Souderton High School named Jamie Moyer.
Being the newest member of the sports staff, my job was to cover the games of the outlying circulation high school teams that spring so I saw a lot of Moyer's senior year at Souderton, in addition to covering games involving Souderton rivals Pennridge and Quakertown.
During the summer, another part of my job was covering American Legion baseball via phone roundups every night.
That would put me on the phone with Jamie's dad, Jim Moyer, who was the head coach of the Souderton American Legion team.
Now Jim Moyer is just about the nicest guy you'll ever talk with, either in person or on the phone.
Often, my conversations with the older Moyer would go for 10-, 15- and 20-minutes, grabbing the routine information involving hits, errors and how the runs scored.
"Do you have a feel on where Jamie's getting drafted," I asked Jim.
"I don't think he is," Jim said. "In fact, he's getting very little interest from the colleges. We're kind of concerned."
"WHAT!!!!!!" I said. "He's the best high school pitcher I ever saw."
And, despite the fact I was only 22, I saw future Toronto Blue Jays' pitcher Tom Filer (7-0 for the Blue Jays in 1985) pitch for Archbishop Ryan and future Chicago Cub George Riley (Southern) and Moyer was better than both.
That led me to do a story on Moyer and why he would not be drafted.
"To be honest with you, Mike, he's a good high school pitcher, but he just doesn't throw hard enough," Phillies scout Jack Toy, who lived in Warrington, told me.
I quoted Toy and a few other pro scouts.
They all said Moyer's 10-0 record, 0.65 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 72 innings meant little because Moyer's fastball didn't measure up on the radar gun.
I basically did a story, quoting Jamie, Jim, and Jack Toy.
My major point in the story was that all the kid has proven since Little League is that he can get people out.
That should weigh more than any radar gun.
The next night I got a phone call from old friend Skip Wilson, the baseball coach at Temple. Skip often picked up the Intelligencer near his home and took a particular interest in my career since I covered his teams for The Temple News.
"Mike, do you have Jim's phone number?" Skip said. "I have a partial (scholarship). I want to set something up."
Wilson then set up a time to meet with the Moyers.
Shortly after that, I got a call from Jim Moyer.
"Thanks for that story," Jim said. "George Bennett, the St. Joe coach, is interested, too. He said he heard Skip's coming over and he wants to come over to."
"Don't you know, I'm coming out of their house and that son-of-a-gun is coming in?" Wilson told me later, only he didn't say gun.
Bennett, who would later become Villanova coach, could offer more than Wilson could and that's the only reason Moyer became a Hawk instead of an Owl.
I might have helped just a little, but Jamie did the rest all by himself.
And now he's come back home.
Good luck, Jamie.