James Jason Mecir (born May 16, 1970) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played for five teams over an 11-year career between and . Mecir is notable for having overcome a

club foot Clubfoot is a congenital or acquired defect where one or both feet are supinated, rotated inward and plantar flexion, downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. ...

to become an effective Major League pitcher, as well as for regularly throwing a

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...

. He spent years as a member of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

and is prominently mentioned in

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. ...

's bestselling book '' Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game''.

Career

Mecir attended

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront (area), waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega ...

, and in 1990 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. He was selected by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

in the third round of the 1991 amateur draft. He played for Seattle in , the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in and , the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

from to , the Oakland Athletics from to , before spending the last year of his career with the Marlins. He announced his retirement on October 2, 2005, following the Marlins' last game of the season. Mecir was inducted into the

Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame The Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame is an American sports hall of fame based in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. The non-profit was established during 1990 to honor outstanding people, living or deceased, who have gained prominence and made s ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York, in the Baseball Category with the Class of 2011.

Adversity

In , 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 with a right leg that was one inch shorter than his left leg and a right calf that was only half the size of his left calf. On May 15, 2005, Mecir pitched poorly in a game against the Padres, and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

analyst

John Kruk John Martin Kruk (born February 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. Kruk played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago White Sox from through . D ...

cited Mecir's limp (not knowing about his birth defect) when Mecir walked to the mound. Kruk presented this as evidence that the Marlins were negligent for asking Mecir to pitch (while Mecir appeared to be injured). Kruk came under heavy public criticism for being insensitive, even though Kruk was unaware. However, Mecir did not take offense when informed of the remark.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mecir, Jim 1970 births Living people Seattle Mariners players New York Yankees players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Oakland Athletics players Florida Marlins players Eckerd Tritons baseball players Falmouth Commodores players Baseball players from Queens, New York Major League Baseball pitchers San Bernardino Spirit players Riverside Pilots players Jacksonville Suns players Tacoma Rainiers players Columbus Clippers players Sacramento River Cats players