Pitcher Jamie Moyer in Philly, but his foundation safe at home

Longtime Mariners pitcher Jamie Moyer may now be throwing strikes for the Philadelphia Phillies, but his heart remains in Seattle.

Despite being traded from Seattle earlier this month, Moyer and his wife, Karen, say the Moyer Foundation they began in 2000 to help children in distress will remain a local fixture.

The Magnolia-based foundation has raised more than $9 million since its inception for children who have been abused, who have a life-threatening illness or face other challenges.

The Moyers said that work will continue in the Seattle area.

"[The trade] doesn't mean that our passion for our mission is less," said Karen Moyer, who works at the foundation almost daily.

Jamie Moyer, 43, joined the Mariners in 1996 and became one of the team's most popular players, winning 145 games. Despite last week's trade to the Phillies for two minor-league pitchers, the Moyers said they have no plans to leave their Seattle home.

Jamie Moyer was rarely involved with day-to-day foundation business when he was a Mariner. Speaking by phone from Philadelphia, he said he'll continue to chip in any way he can, including by filming personal messages for the children the foundation helps.

Among the foundation's efforts is the annual Catch a Cure for Cancer fundraiser, with events this weekend. Fundraiser proceeds benefit The Gregory Fund for early-cancer-detection research at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and The Moyer Foundation.

Last year's Catch a Cure for Cancer weekend raised more than $250,000.

The Gregory Fund, started by the foundation and Fred Hutchinson, is named for Greg Chaya, 16, a leukemia survivor who flew in from Pennsylvania Thursday for this weekend's fundraiser.

The Moyers met Chaya in 1993 when Moyer was playing for the Orioles. The Moyers had been married by Chaya's priest, who asked if the couple would visit the boy, then a 2-year-old cancer patient, in a Baltimore hospital.

Chaya well remembers the impact meeting a Major League ballplayer had on him.

"For someone like that, at that time a pro-baseball player, to come see me — that meant a lot to me," Chaya said.

He recovered in 1993 after a bone-marrow transplant, but relapsed in 1994. After a second transplant that year, this one from Fred Hutchinson, the cancer never returned.

Now, Chaya talks to Moyer twice a month, and their families are close. The boy will often call the pitcher to cheer him up after a bad game.

When Chaya was sick, conversation would revolve around his health. Now he tells Moyer about his life.

"I'm pretty good in school, I don't mind it. I like to play video games," Chaya said. "I love sports. I play golf now. I used to hate golf. I'll play anything."

His life, in many ways, is like any other teenager's. But beneath a quick, sarcastic wit, there is a maturity that belies his age. He turns solemn when asked about what it means that the Moyers started the fund to help kids like him.

"It's an honor," he said. "It's really hard to explain. ... They decided to go that one extra step."

Jamie Moyer said knowing Chaya has helped him put his own life in perspective, to appreciate his work and family more. Chaya's story reminds Moyer to stop "sweating the small stuff," he said.

"Seeing the battle that he's fought, it just gives you hope for other patients and people that have illnesses. ... You've got to believe," he said.

Charlotte Hsu: 206-464-8349

or chsu@seattletimes.com