Catching up with Brett Myers

Former Phillies right-handed pitcher Brett Myers had a very interesting playing career. Now, he’s still playing, but something other than baseball.

Myers was the Phillies’ first-round pick (12th overall) in the 1999 Draft out of Englewood High School in Jacksonville, Fla.

After signing with the team and spending a couple of years in the Minor Leagues, Myers made his big league debut on July 24, 2002.

He was originally a starter, but switched to the closer’s role in 2007.

• Phillies Alumni

“Pat Gillick came to visit me at my home in the offseason,” said Myers. “And I expressed my desire to become a closer, if the team needed one.”

As it turns out, Phillies closer Tom “Flash” Gordon was injured early in the 2007 season and had to spend time on the IL. Myers replaced him as the closer and remained in that role even after Gordon returned.

Myers was on the mound for the final out as the Phillies won the 2007 National League East pennant, the first of five consecutive divisional titles.

The righty returned to the starting rotation the following season, when the Phillies acquired closer Brad Lidge from the Astros. Myers remained with the club through 2009, which included two World Series years.

In addition to being a very solid pitcher, Myers will long be remembered for his plate appearance in the 2008 NLDS against Brewers ace CC Sabathia, in which he worked a walk after an exceptionally long duel that set the stage for Shane Victorino’s clutch grand slam, considered the emotional turning point in the series by many.

In 2010, former Phillies general manager Ed Wade signed Myers as a free agent with the Astros, where he pitched for three seasons before being dealt to the White Sox at the Trade Deadline. He signed with Cleveland the following year, but was injured early and spent most of the year on the IL. The 2013 season turned out to be his final campaign, as he never returned to the game following his injury.

While traveling with the Phillies during all those years, Myers spent a lot of his free time on the road in the company of his guitar. Soon, he and former Phillies director of video coaching Kevin Camiscioli were having postgame jam sessions in their hotel rooms.

“Kevin Camiscioli actually taught me how to play the guitar,” said Myers. “I knew a couple of basic chords, but Kevin really taught me how to play and how to write songs. We spent a lot of time playing together.”

Myers continued to gain more knowledge and even dabbled in some song writing. He met a man by the name of Damien Starkey who had followed him on Facebook. A baseball fan, Starkey worked as a professional music producer and bass player. The two met over a round of golf and hit it off right away.

Starkey recognized that Myers had musical talent and suggested that he record an EP. Myers was stunned. He thought he was only writing the songs, but at Starkey’s urging, he became a singer, recording the album Backwoods Rebel, released in 2015.

Myers has since recorded several additional albums, such as You’re Welcome, Wrong Side of the Tracks, Baptized in Gasoline and Home Brewed. He made his first public appearance as a live singer while performing at halftime of an Arena Football League game in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Southern Rock/Country artist has since opened for the band Molly Hatchet and was scheduled as the opening act for a concert by country icons Travis Tritt and Lynyrd Skynyrd before the COVID-19 pandemic caused that show to be canceled. Coincidentally, Myers used the moniker Lynyrd Skynyrd as his hotel alias while traveling during his MLB career.

So, once a former professional ballplayer and now a professional musician.

Myers still lives in Jacksonville, Fla., with his wife Kim, whom he met while playing for Double-A Reading, and their four children.

It’s been fun catching up with former Phillies pitcher Brett Myers No. 39.

Frank Coppenbarger spent 50 years in baseball, including the last 30-plus with the Phillies, first as equipment manager then director of travel and clubhouse services. He retired three years ago and currently is coaching high school baseball in Ocean City, N.J.