Jim Mecir

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Full Name: James Jason Mecir Primary Position: P Height/Weight: 6' 1"/195 First Game: September 4, 1995 Birthdate: May 16, 1970 Final Game: September 28, 2005 Birthplace: Bayside, New York MLB Experience: 11 years Bat/Throw: Both/Right

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Born on May 16, 1970 in Bayside, New York, Jim Mecir (James Jason Mecir) played for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Oakland Athletics and Florida Marlins over the course of his 11 year career. Mecir broke into the bigs on September 4, 1995 with the Seattle Mariners, and put up a 3.11 ERA in 84 innings pitched in 1998, his rookie year.

Most people believe that Jim Mecir's best season was 2000, when he posted a 2.96 ERA, won 10 games and struck out 70 batters.

Mecir is notable for having overcome a birth defect (namely club feet) to become an effective Major League pitcher, as well as for being the last pitcher to regularly throw a screwball. He spent 4½ years as a member of the Oakland Athletics, and is prominently mentioned in Michael Lewis's bestselling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.

In 2003, Mecir received the Tony Conigliaro Award, given annually to the player who most effectively overcomes adversity to succeed in baseball. Mecir was born with two club feet; despite several childhood surgeries that enabled him to walk, he was left unable to properly push off the rubber with his right foot. He was forced to develop an unorthodox delivery that gave him an unusually violent screwball. He was one of the last screwball pitchers active in the major leagues.

Mecir was inadvertently involved in a controversy which began on May 15, 2005. On that Sunday, Mecir pitched poorly in a game against the Padres, and ESPN analyst John Kruk cited Mecir's limp when he walked to the mound as evidence that the Marlins were negligent for asking Mecir to pitch while he appeared to be injured. Kruk was apparently unaware of Mecir's birth defect, and he came under heavy public criticism for being insensitive, although Mecir himself did not appear to take offense when informed of the remark.

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• Selected by Seattle Mariners in the 3rd round of the free-agent draft (June 3, 1991 - signed June 4, 1991).
• Traded by Seattle Mariners with Tino Martinez and Jeff Nelson to New York Yankees in exchange for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock (December 7, 1995).
• Traded by New York Yankees to Boston Red Sox (September 29, 1997) completing trade in which New York Yankees traded Tony Armas and a player to be named later to Boston Red Sox in exchange for Mike Stanley and Randy Brown (August 13, 1997).
• Selected by Tampa Bay Devil Rays from Boston Red Sox (36th pick overall) in the expansion draft (November 18, 1997).
• Traded by Tampa Bay Devil Rays with Todd Belitz to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Jesus Colome (July 28, 2000).
• Granted free agency (October 28, 2004).
• Signed by Florida Marlins (February 2, 2005).
• Granted free agency (November 9, 2005).

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