So his job is NOT that of a specialist. As his record indicates, Hoffman did perform well in 3 of those innings and his failure in 2 others was obviously due to random luck (slow roller and an error), so he apparently did perform well under pressure in some big games. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was [6] Dan ONeill, On Second Try, Henke Makes A Deal With Cards, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 13, 1994. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will Not everyone can do it. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. His stats impress me more than Hoffmans and he always struck me as a game changing closer. His ERA climbed to 3.79 and he clashed with Rangers manager Kevin Kennedy regarding his use. He struck out Javy Lopez to preserve the lead and then pitched the ninth (single, K, K, flyout) to preserve the now 4-1 lead. us. And I also think McGwire and Sosa dont. Now, his statistics in the 2002 postseasson were epic, arguably the best single postseason performance of all time for a hitter. This sounds dangerously close to I dont care about the numbers; he just feels/doesnt feel like a Hall of Famer to me. (Or I dont care what all you figure filberts say about Jim Rices statistics away from Fenway Park and all that other Moneyball nonsense. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. velocity and launch angle. As for the post season comparisons, kindly show me Trevor Hoffmans equivalent to the 1988 ALCS where Eckersley won the MVP by shutting down Red Sox rally after Red Sox rally. copyright=new Date(); Southwestern Montana had the best trout fishing in the nation and was probably the closest thing to heaven on Earth that I know of.. Putting them on the list is insulting. The comments here are a breath of fresh air compared to some on my blog. He might be in the Hall of Fame. [4] Simon Gonzalez, Rangers lose Henke to Cards, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 13, 1994. Nobody is kicking Ted Williams or Ty Cobb out of the Hall because they flopped in the World Series. As people are quick to point out, they have a much smaller sample size to evaluate and they have only one job: Close out close pressure packed games. The first year, they only had the ninth and 10th grades. Im still skeptical of Fingers being Hall of Fame material. Now I personally think Smoltz belongs in the Hall of Fame (although isnt the lock that Maddux and Glavine are) but he could have been in as a closer. Steve, I am not throwing Bagwell under the bus. Original Toronto Star caption: Tom Henke's overhand delivery and blazing fastball are the perfect counterpoint to Mark Eichhorn's nearly underarm motion and super slow pitches. Buchta served several years as Blair Oaks athletic director before retiring from active teaching in 1986. After winning the International League Most Valuable Player Award with a 0.88 ERA and 18 saves in 51 1/3 innings, Henke was called up to Toronto for the stretch run. He had some noteworthy failures, but in two of those series he pitched quite well, holding 1 run leads for SD in one case by striking out the side in the 9th and in another striking out the last batter of the 8th with the bases loaded and a 1 run lead. It seems to me that BBWAA Hall of Fame voters have been too hasty to embrace the relief pitcher, with Fingers and Sutter looking like mistakes. in Kansas City, MO It took me two or three years before I went out to visit the Statue of Liberty and I never took the subway." outfield. He struck out 9.8 batters over nine innings over 14 seasons in the bigs. And I have no problem with Sutter being in (although I understand the anti Sutter argument). More than any other role in baseball, the reliever needs to come up big in October. They shouldnt be in the Hall of Fame without a ticket. Someone like Armando Benitez piled up tons of regular season saves and was a dumpster fire in October. In 54 1/3 innings, he posted a 1.82 ERA and saved 36 games in 38 opportunities. Evan Longoria and Corbin Carroll hit back-to-back solo home runs to put the Arizona Diamondbacks on top 4-3. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Drafted by the Rangers in the fourth round of the 1980 June draft, Henke pitched in 41 games for the Rangers between 1982 and 1984, but he was erratic, walking 32 batters in 60 innings, including 20 in 28 1/3 innings in 1984. Eichhorn sets' em up and Henke knocks' em down. And I dont care how many saves Trevor Hoffman and John Franco piled up, they never shortened the game. It was a case where, all of a sudden, he was using me in situations for three or four innings, and thats something I hadnt experienced in a long time.[5]. "I felt like a fish out of water there. Bo Bichette hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays overcame a two-run deficit to spoil the Los Angeles Angels' home opener with a 4-3 victory Friday night. OK, maybe there was a bit of sarcasm, but its always humorous. While I dont agree with all of your points, I really have to commend you for how you try to respond to every comment and never really get snide with anyone. But right away cross John Franco and Trevor Hoffman off the list. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted His Born: I had argued with someone that the Braves would have won at least 2 more World Series if they had made John Smoltz the closer. Draft: Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 20th round of the 1979 MLB June Amateur Draft from Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), the Chicago Cubs in the 1st round (24th) of the 1980 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase from Texas State University (San Marcos, TX) and the Texas Rangers in the 4th round of the 1980 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from East Central College (Union, MO). In 40 innings, he posted a 2.03 ERA and 42 saves in 40 innings. WebTom Henke Follow team #50, RP, St. Louis Cardinals Bio Height/Weight: 6' 5"/230 lbs Bat: R Throw: R Born: Kansas City, Missouri College: East Central JC Draft: Undrafted Game Alex Call set the tone for good things to come with his first career leadoff homer. Now the 6-foot-5 right-hander was ready to return to his roots. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. But by the late 1980s, Henke was saving games along side Duane Ward and being part of a devastatingly deep Toronto bullpen. Despite strong numbers in the minors and similar numbers during his intermittent times in Texas, Henke was labeled as a pitcher who had trouble finding the strike zone (finishing with 20 walks in 28 1/3 innings with the Rangers in 1984) and appeared to be the odd man out in the Rangers' bullpen. He always taught a good work ethic, and thats what got us through, Henke added. On December 12, 1994, Henke signed a one-year, $2-million contract to serve as the Cardinals closer in 1995. Visit the main page for Tom Henke for his comprehensive regular season statistics and World Series data. A memorable moment unfolded in the fall of 1972, when a young freshman from the Taos area arrived at the school and joined the baseball team, demonstrating his impressive pitching abilities. After high school, Henke played at East Central Junior College.

WebTom Henke. Nice article! John Smoltz 63.9, Dennis Eckersley 58.7, Mariano Rivera 52.9, Hoyt Wilhelm 41.3, Goose Gossage 40.0, Trevor Hoffman 30.7, Lee Smith 30.3, Billy Wagner 29.7, Firpo Marberry 29.4, John Franco 25.8, Bruce Sutter 25.0, Kent Tekulve 24.8, Rollie Fingers 24.4, Dan Quisenberry 24.3, Tom Henke 23.1, Doug Jones 21.5, Rick Aguilera 21.3, Jeff Montgomery 21.1, John Wetteland 20.8, Jeff Reardon 20.3, etc. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to When Walt came aboard, he said he was going to address the pitching and he certainly has done that.[9], Although Jackson went just 2-12 with a 5.90 ERA and the Cardinals went just 62-81 during the strike-shortened 1995 season, Henke was all the Cardinals could have hoped for. As great as Rivera has been, he blew 4 games in post-season play, all of which led to the opposition winning the series. Just a couple weeks shy of his 37th birthday, baseball had taken Tom Henke from Texas to Toronto and back again. September 30, 1995 Yes, relievers of that era deserve some consideration for being asked to complete multi-inning saves, but the fact is their save percentages were only average as compared to the other closers of their era (or in the case of Gossage, far worse).

Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement I dont know if I would put them above Fingers, but they certainly had damn fine careers. December 21, 1957 In November 2018, Henke was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. thrown with. But how is Dennis Eckersley NOT a mediocre starter who became a dominant reliever? and 32 degrees. I wrote that and MAN the Met fans showed their class! The greatest relievers in history are Rivera, Fingers, Wilhelm, Eckersley and Gossage.

I concede he was generally not effective in the post-season, but that is simply not enough to make any difference in my evaluation of him. The greatest relievers in history are Rivera, Fingers, Wilhelm, Eckersley and Gossage., Lets assume this is true. But in any Hall of Fame discussion they are the red shirted Ensign beaming down to the planet with Kirk and McCoy. Even when someone doesnt agree with me and we may have a debate and never find a middle ground, it is coming from a place where two people who clearly know baseball disagree about something. I disagree about the average pitcher becoming a star reliever. He blew big game after big game to the point where you could feel opposing teams getting giddy when he started warming up. If I do play, it will be with the Cardinals, but right now I dont think I want to play.[10]. Prior to his mid-season callup, Henke posted an 0.88 ERA, a 0.60 WHIP, 60 K, and 18 SV in 51.1 IP. When you are in the top 5 all time, you belong in the Hall of Fame. The Tom Henke All-Star stats seen below include his All-Star year-by-year hitting stats, All-Star fielding stats, and All-Star pitching stats (where applicable). When Henkes career turned a corner as a 27-year-old middle reliever for the 1985 Division Champion Blue Jays, he looked like a late bloomer. Henke was drafted on June 5, 1979, by the Seattle Mariners in the 20th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign. Sutter had the nifty ERA, but also a poor save percentage (74.8) and lacked longevity. I wanted to play in Texas, St. Louis, Kansas City, or maybe Cleveland, and St. Louis and Cleveland were the most interested.[4]. I dont agree with your emphasis on coming up biggest in the biggest games. For curves and change-ups you're absolutely right. You saw what happened with Mike Perez. 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