He's not a closer. What drives me nuts is the guy really has one pitch in the 9th and he throws it right down broadway to a team that can only hit pitches right down broadway in the Reds.
If you bring in any other pitcher with at least a LITTLE movement on the fastball the Reds won't hit it. Farnsworth seems to have gotten that memo with his two innings of pretty good ball (he used to be another one 99 mph right down the middle).
sb
If you bring in any other pitcher with at least a LITTLE movement on the fastball the Reds won't hit it. Farnsworth seems to have gotten that memo with his two innings of pretty good ball (he used to be another one 99 mph right down the middle).
sb
the problem overall, the Cubs are ll or nothing...atleast Dusty had ther brains to move Nomar into the #2 hole...I could'nt believe he was using Lee batting second...the softball lineup looks good but itwon't work in the long run...The Cubbies are too one dimensional, thats why the can't stay hot long....Even Patterson the leadoff hitter strikes out a ton...the lineup has no balance.
you guys I hate to sound like a total geek but i actually wasted a draft pick on this guy I was so excited to have him as a part of my team as middle reliever he really helped my whip and era numbers and occasionaly picked up a W so you can imagine my excitement when he became a closer so now he can help in the save cat but now its the FB playoffs and he has done nothing but suck ass its just my luck i even thought he had a cool name like hersey hawkins even better its 'latroy hawkins' but he tottaly sucks turd where did that awesome stuff he had 2 months ago completely out the window. . thanks a lot latroy:hammerit
yea i have ke jhonson i figured itd be a sweet pickup since its b-mores only good wide out he has like 4 fantasy points total for the season.
lewis is their only real fantasy player. .maybe the kicker although baltimore D isnt bad. .i stopped watching WGN i switched to YES to see my man santana did i tell you how much i love this guy ? make the yanks look stupid but now its 6 and the sox pre game is on eck is very good at game anaylisis in boston we get an hour pre game the skanks only get a half hour ok we hant won anything since we made fire rubbing two sticks together but lets go
lewis is their only real fantasy player. .maybe the kicker although baltimore D isnt bad. .i stopped watching WGN i switched to YES to see my man santana did i tell you how much i love this guy ? make the yanks look stupid but now its 6 and the sox pre game is on eck is very good at game anaylisis in boston we get an hour pre game the skanks only get a half hour ok we hant won anything since we made fire rubbing two sticks together but lets go
He should be traded to colorado for ChaconBrock Landers said:I guess there is a reason this *CENSOR**CENSOR**CENSOR**CENSOR**CENSOR**CENSOR* wasn't a closer in Minnesota, he is ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL!
9 blown saves...has to be about the league leader there, and he hasn;t even closed for the whole season!!
Shortly after arriving to his new home with the now really fired up and scorching hot Blue Jays Latroy instituted the Rule that Bullpen Pitchers would walk together. Onto the Field, something like that...some instance in which BP Pitchers have otherwise not walked as one...prior to this. Latroy making rules upon arrival. Thats a Boss. I was glad to hear hes being accorded the respect deserved by someone who has played for as long as he has and that he is using that Seniority to encourage Team Unity. :toast: Way to go Latroy.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/hawkins-the-heart-of-blue-jays-breakout-bullpen/
He’s 42 and throws a 93-mph fastball. It’s no wonder everyone wants to know LaTroy Hawkins’s secret. Kristina Rutherford breaks it down in Sportsnet Magazine.
LaTroy Hawkins has heard them all, and then some. The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander sits in the dugout on a Sunday morning after a pre-game warm-up, rattling off his favourite “I’m-so-old” jokes. “I sat behind Jesus in the first grade,” he says, grinning. The comments he gets, mostly from fans, make Hawkins laugh. “Priceless,” he says.
The 42-year-old reliever with the big smile and forehead somehow devoid of wrinkles wears the fact that he’s the oldest guy in MLB like a badge of honour. His pro career started before Jays closer Roberto Osuna was born. He’s recorded a save against every major-league franchise. He’s played 21 seasons for 11 teams. He’s struck out Michael Jordan. Twice. When teammates say he’s a valuable veteran presence because he’s seen it all, they mean it literally.
As of the end of August, Hawkins had appeared in 1,036 games, 10th-most all time, and his fastball was still averaging 93, a bit faster than he threw it five years ago. Press him for his secret, and you’ll get a range of answers. He sleeps a lot. He loves kale. He does a lot of weight-bearing exercises. He drinks nothing but water and tea and green smoothies, and it seems to work for him—up close, Hawkins, and particularly that right arm, appear cut from stone.
Jays ace David Price shakes his head at the mention of the veteran in the bullpen. “He’s in better shape than I am,” Price says.
Even the poker-faced Troy Tulowitzki cracks a smile when asked how Hawkins, a veteran with the Rockies 10 years ago when Tulowitzki was a rookie, is still going strong.
“I don’t know if it’s genetics or what,” the shortstop says.
Whatever it is, Hawkins has guys in this clubhouse hoping they have some of it. “Fingers crossed I’ll still be around at 42,” says Liam Hendriks. “I think that’s the dream.”
But for all the talk of that experience, Hawkins isn’t only bringing it in the form of service time. His sense of perspective, which might be his most valuable contribution to this young Blue Jays bullpen, is rooted in his childhood. Hawkins grew up in Gary, Ind., back when it was the murder capital of the U.S. Of his grandmother’s eight grandsons, he’s the only one who hasn’t served time in jail—his half-brother Ronald is currently serving a 27-year sentence for a carjacking incident in 1994. Hawkins says he could’ve easily gotten wrapped up in trouble himself, but he always had another plan. “I had a burning desire to do better,” he says. “I knew everything was better outside Gary. I hadn’t experienced it, but I knew it.”
Hawkins, whose mother, Debra, was a nurse and raised three boys on her own, says a lot of guys from back home had more talent than he did, but unlike them, he recognized that baseball was his golden ticket. He got homesick after he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins straight out of high school, but he says he knew if he went home, “I might not make it back out.”
Those beginnings are part of what makes Hawkins the calming presence his teammates talk about. “What I faced in the mean streets of Gary was way worse than being out there with bases loaded and no outs,” says Hawkins, eyebrows up. “No pressure.”
The pitcher who goes by Hawk and LT in the clubhouse (not “sir,” as 20-year-old Osuna learned the day they met) says this will be his last season, though he’s said that before. Recovery is taking longer than it used to, and parts of his body he never noticed 10 years ago are now feeling sore. Not that he’d ever tell his teammates. “I would never ever let them hear me complain,” he says, smiling. “Never.”
That doesn’t stop them from making fun of him for being old, though. They wasted no time at all with that. Says catcher Dioner Navarro, grinning: “We started with the jokes the day he got here.”
He’s 42 and throws a 93-mph fastball. It’s no wonder everyone wants to know LaTroy Hawkins’s secret. Kristina Rutherford breaks it down in Sportsnet Magazine.
LaTroy Hawkins has heard them all, and then some. The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander sits in the dugout on a Sunday morning after a pre-game warm-up, rattling off his favourite “I’m-so-old” jokes. “I sat behind Jesus in the first grade,” he says, grinning. The comments he gets, mostly from fans, make Hawkins laugh. “Priceless,” he says.
The 42-year-old reliever with the big smile and forehead somehow devoid of wrinkles wears the fact that he’s the oldest guy in MLB like a badge of honour. His pro career started before Jays closer Roberto Osuna was born. He’s recorded a save against every major-league franchise. He’s played 21 seasons for 11 teams. He’s struck out Michael Jordan. Twice. When teammates say he’s a valuable veteran presence because he’s seen it all, they mean it literally.
As of the end of August, Hawkins had appeared in 1,036 games, 10th-most all time, and his fastball was still averaging 93, a bit faster than he threw it five years ago. Press him for his secret, and you’ll get a range of answers. He sleeps a lot. He loves kale. He does a lot of weight-bearing exercises. He drinks nothing but water and tea and green smoothies, and it seems to work for him—up close, Hawkins, and particularly that right arm, appear cut from stone.
Jays ace David Price shakes his head at the mention of the veteran in the bullpen. “He’s in better shape than I am,” Price says.
Even the poker-faced Troy Tulowitzki cracks a smile when asked how Hawkins, a veteran with the Rockies 10 years ago when Tulowitzki was a rookie, is still going strong.
“I don’t know if it’s genetics or what,” the shortstop says.
Whatever it is, Hawkins has guys in this clubhouse hoping they have some of it. “Fingers crossed I’ll still be around at 42,” says Liam Hendriks. “I think that’s the dream.”
But for all the talk of that experience, Hawkins isn’t only bringing it in the form of service time. His sense of perspective, which might be his most valuable contribution to this young Blue Jays bullpen, is rooted in his childhood. Hawkins grew up in Gary, Ind., back when it was the murder capital of the U.S. Of his grandmother’s eight grandsons, he’s the only one who hasn’t served time in jail—his half-brother Ronald is currently serving a 27-year sentence for a carjacking incident in 1994. Hawkins says he could’ve easily gotten wrapped up in trouble himself, but he always had another plan. “I had a burning desire to do better,” he says. “I knew everything was better outside Gary. I hadn’t experienced it, but I knew it.”
Hawkins, whose mother, Debra, was a nurse and raised three boys on her own, says a lot of guys from back home had more talent than he did, but unlike them, he recognized that baseball was his golden ticket. He got homesick after he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins straight out of high school, but he says he knew if he went home, “I might not make it back out.”
Those beginnings are part of what makes Hawkins the calming presence his teammates talk about. “What I faced in the mean streets of Gary was way worse than being out there with bases loaded and no outs,” says Hawkins, eyebrows up. “No pressure.”
The pitcher who goes by Hawk and LT in the clubhouse (not “sir,” as 20-year-old Osuna learned the day they met) says this will be his last season, though he’s said that before. Recovery is taking longer than it used to, and parts of his body he never noticed 10 years ago are now feeling sore. Not that he’d ever tell his teammates. “I would never ever let them hear me complain,” he says, smiling. “Never.”
That doesn’t stop them from making fun of him for being old, though. They wasted no time at all with that. Says catcher Dioner Navarro, grinning: “We started with the jokes the day he got here.”
