Short Hops: When I'm 64

When I’m 64

How old is Jamie Moyer? So old that the pitcher he beat in his first major league start — Steve Carlton — is about to celebrate his 64th birthday. So old that the Cubs tried to hire him as a coach 15 years ago. So old that when he broke into the bigs, his father-in-law, Digger Phelps, still had five years of coaching left at Notre Dame. And at 45, he’s so old that he:

• Is one of six pitchers to have defeated every current team.

• Became, in June, the oldest non-knuckleballer since at least 1955 to strike out nine batters in a game.

• Will tie Phil Niekro’s record for victories by a 45-or-older pitcher if he beats the Nationals this weekend.

• Is about to become the oldest pitcher with qualifying innings to record an ERA below 4.00.

A Walk, A Whiff — and a Jack

On both Sunday and Tuesday, Jack Cust hit a home run, drew a walk and struck out in the same game — more of what his A’s teammates have come to refer to as the “Cust Trifecta.” Opposing defenses call it a “rest.” The well-traveled slugger, who’s already set the AL season strikeout record, puts the ball in play less than 57 percent of the time thanks to what he calls “the three big things in my stat book.” At the moment, those three big things total 31, 107 and 191, respectively.

Surprisingly, however, Cust’s half-dozen hacker’s hat tricks on the year are only fifth-most in the majors this season, and he’s not close to the top of the list. The astounding 15 such games by both Carlos Pena and Ryan Howard dwarf even the career high of the ultimate all-or-nothing icon, Rob Deer, whose had 12 in 1986. Also ahead of Cust in 2008: Alex Rodriguez with nine and Adam Dunn with eight.

HIT AND RUN

Short Hops’ recurring installment of slapdash observation and imprudent opinion:

Brad Zeigler’s run of 156 2/3 innings pitched without allowing a homer in the minors or majors over the past two seasons ended spectacularly this past week. The soft-tossing sidearmer served one up to Mark Teixeira on the 17th and another to Hank Blalock five days later, resulting in the first two blown saves of his career.

The Astros got back in the race by winning 14 of 15 through September 11, then promptly were outscored 38-5 in a five-game losing streak to fall by the wayside.

Now that they've tied the 1933-48 Phillies at 16, the Pirates will — by this time next year — stand alone as the professional sports franchise with the most consecutive losing seasons.

The Yankees were curiously selective about the names and highlights they busted out during a tribute to the greatest of pinstripers during the Stadium’s grand finale. Admitted users Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte were cited; Roger Clemens was not. Neither was Joe Torre. We always suspected Joe was mainlining Focus Factor back there in his office.

QUOTABLES

“The flagpole.” — What a dead-serious Mike Mussina said was the one thing he wanted as a Yankee Stadium souvenir.