Jim Salisbury | A night to honor mound's old men

A record was matched last night in major-league baseball, and we're not talking about the 9,000-foot home run that Ryan Howard hit against the Cincinnati Reds.

Six of the 30 starting pitchers who took to the mounds of America were in their 40s.

Boys of summer? Nah, these were the old men of summer. (And to think, Viagra ended its five-year run as an MLB sponsor this season. Tough timing.)

Jamie Moyer (44), Roger Clemens (44), Greg Maddux (41), Tom Glavine (41), John Smoltz (40) and Woody Williams (40) got the call for their respective teams. A seventh fortysomething pitcher was supposed to start, but Detroit's Kenny Rogers (42) was rained out of his turn. Seven pitchers in their 40s have never started on the same day. Maybe the new record will be set next week.

The seven aforementioned pitchers entered yesterday with 1,743 wins, 42 trips to the All-Star Game, and 14 Cy Young Awards.

That's a pretty good group.

These guys have been around so long, they not only remember Ken Griffey Jr.'s dad, they pitched against him.

They were born in the 1960s, that time of free love, and they all got Frampton Comes Alive one year for Christmas. They remember how hot Marcia Brady was and how ugly the AMC Pacer was.

Last night, they faced lineups that included players half their ages. They pitched in some cities where the heat and humidity were oppressive. And they did it at the highest level the game can offer, not in some Sunday morning over-40 league. We can all think about that Saturday morning when we get winded pulling that lawn-mower cord three times.

"It's incredible," said Larry Andersen, the former Phillies pitcher turned broadcaster.

Andersen has walked in these moccasins. He pitched until he was 41 and usually had a couple of beers afterward. Late in his career, however, Andersen was one of those guys who faced a batter or two per outing. He couldn't imagine having to start a game at that age in 92-degree heat and dripping humidity, as Moyer did last night.

"I would have had to have had a medic standing by," Andersen said. "I walked out to the car today and thought I was going to pass out. If I was Moyer's age, I think I could have made it out to the mound, but I'm not sure I would have made it back. And covering first? You got it, first baseman!"

There were some pretty good performances on Oldies Night.

Maddux won his 340th game as the Padres beat the Giants. Smoltz pitched five shutout innings against the Nationals. Glavine pitched a rain-shortened shutout for the Mets.

The two oldest - Clemens and Moyer - pitched 100 miles apart. Clemens was beaten in Baltimore. In Philadelphia, Moyer gave his team another strong outing before the bullpen reduced the game to ashes.

Moyer titillated the crowd of 31,803 with no-hit possibilities before Josh Hamilton stroked the Reds' first hit with two outs in the sixth. Brandon Phillips followed with a single before Moyer struck out his eighth batter to end the frame.

At that time, Moyer led, 3-0, thanks to Howard's monstrous three-run bomb in the fifth. The shot cleared the batter's eye in center field and was last seen grabbing a slice at Peace A Pizza on Ashburn Alley. The drive was estimated at 505 feet.

Moyer hit the wall in the seventh. He opened the inning by allowing three consecutive baserunners, and the bullpen couldn't prevent any of them from scoring as the Reds rallied for six runs. The Phils fought back with three to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, but the Reds took the lead with a run in the eighth and finalized a 9-6 win with two in the ninth. The Phillies had threatened to tie it in the bottom of the eighth, but came up empty after a 42-minute rain delay.

It was a strange weather night. Heat and humidity early. Wind, lightning and rain late.

In between, Moyer did what he usually does. He kept the Phillies in the game.

Doing that at 44 is no accident. Moyer changes speed with the best of them, constantly upsetting a hitter's timing. Mentally, he prepares for each start like a med student studying for a final exam. Physically, he is in impeccable shape. Unless you're a freak like David Wells, conditioning is one of the keys to pitching into your 40s.

"Nowadays, weight training is like a postgame beer was for us," Andersen said.

Let's raise one to Moyer, Clemens, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and Williams, the six fortysomethings who took to the mounds of America last night.

And pour one for Ryan Howard, too. Man, that was some shot.