tom henke fastball speed

Well, lets assume that Ron Northey, Smoky Burgess, Jerry Lynch, Gates Brown, and Manny Mota are the greatest pinch-hitters in history. Because I was THERE!). Off the top of my head I dont know who I would consider the top 5 maybe Ill take a look and ponder it later. Then after the 1994 strike, he landed in St. Louis. In 2001, Tom Henke got six Hall of Fame votes for 1.2 percent of the ballots, far short of the five percent needed. And the closer is the only player that I would have a make or break in big games BECAUSE it is a specialist position. Taylor Spink Award as the St. Louis Baseball Man of the Year. He was one of the most dominant and feared closers during the late 1980s and early 1990s, pitching for the Texas Rangers (19821984, 19931994), Toronto Blue Jays I said I think the Mets are going to lose 90 games this year. ___ Gene Coleman, Ed. I doubt that hes in the top 20. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. I countered that those last innings are what derailed the Braves in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2005. http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/2007/09/innings-bobby-cox-regrets.html. He was a steroids cheater, right? WebTom Henke Position:Pitcher Bats: Right Throws: Right 6-5, 215lb (196cm, 97kg) Born:December 21, 1957in Kansas City, MOus That seems about right. us. In fact, he allowed only eleven earned runs and struck out 110 batters in 81 innings, finishing the Or in 1996 when he would have won the Division Series MVP if they handed it out or the NLCS MVP if the Cardinals didnt blow a 3-1 lead. If theres a Hall of Fame for persistence. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Not everyone can do it. From 1986 through 1993, Henke saved at least 20 games each season. A rotation of Glavine/Avery/Leibrandt/Mercker And if that is how you watch the game, then fine. And a player like Bonds has to deliver in the line up and on the field. Henke was 24 years old when Copyright 1999- So when the undeniable greats had trouble getting voted in, a borderline candidate like Henke has little to no chance. Sure, if you look at baseball as a numbers game and no one game or no one statistic means more than any other. Neither one of them had enough dominant seasons, in my opinion. and 32 degrees. just ask some of the hall of fame hitters that had to face him end of story !! So while his playoff performances with the 1990-1992 Pirates and the 1997 and 2000 Giants dont HELP his Cooperstown resume, it doesnt hinder it the same way in my eyes as Trevor Hoffmans failures in the World Series and torpedoing their 2007 playoff chances. Yes it requires someone to lift their eyes up from the abacus for a moment and I know things like emotion and impressions are forbidden in some peoples eyes. Coach Buchta was always right there trying to instruct us because we were pretty raw when he got us, Henke said. xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle We have box scores from every All-Star Game in history, line scores, accurate rosters, play-by-play data, trivia, a sample program, and a detailed written account of each Midsummer Classic. He had never received that honor in all of those years pitching in Toronto. Coming from a small town with a population under 900, Henke admitted he initially had to overcome a fear of big cities. But in 1986, Henke no longer fought for saves with Bill Caudill and Jim Acker and became the closer by himself. Pitching a single season for the Cardinals, near where he grew up in Missouri, Henke notched 36 Tom Henke was born on 21 December, 1957 in Kansas City, MO. Many thanks to him. 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. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as He was one of the most dominant and feared closers during the late 1980s and early 1990s, pitching for the Texas Rangers (19821984, 19931994), Toronto Blue Jays (19851992), and St. Louis Cardinals (1995). After starting the new job, he learned he was the only non-Catholic faculty member employed at the new school and that only one student was not Catholic. Please. [2] Dan ONeill, On Second Try, Henke Makes A Deal With Cards, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 13, 1994. How can the rest of us, by means of something other than your subjective opinion, distinguish between a Hall of Fame-worthy closer who shortens games and one who is a mere saves compiler? Become a Stathead today and run queries with our. You dont look at Bert Blylevens career the same way you look at Roberto Alomars. 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. 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. (, High fives: Blue Jays' Tom Henke accepts high fives from Devon White and Mark Whiten, right, after preserving last night's 4-3 win over Red Sox, When Mark Eichhorn delivers one of his patented sidearm pitches, above, hitters must sometimes think that the ball is coming from some where near third base, Tom the angler: Pitcher Tom Henke has done a fine job for the Jays on the field and yesterday proved he can also fish as he caught a 6-pound chinook, Slap-happy guys: Tom Henke, left, Manuel Lee, Candy Maldonado and Devon White swap high-fives after the Jays topped Orioles 4-2 to gain split of series, Slap happy: Save-master Tom Henke and bashing outfielder Joe Carter celebrated last night's nailbiting win over the Tigers, Terminator gone: The eyes of Texas will now be upon Tom Henke, The Blue Jays latest bullpen savior was Tom Henke, a young man from Missouri, a state the team does not remember fondly. player has saved over his peers. You and I may never agree on that and I suppose it is a difference of philosophy. window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. amazon And when all was said and done, writers would look at his career and say Wow, he just might be a Hall of Famer!. In game 3 of the NLCS he came on with a 2-1 lead in the 8th inning and the bases loaded. At least here, I can disagree with people and probably never reach a consensus but we can say Hey, thats your take. For their worthiness for the HOF, relief pitchers should be assessed against the population of all pitchers, not just against the population of fellow relief pitchers. On August 28, 2009, Henke threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Busch Stadium during the Washington Nationals vs St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Buchta served several years as Blair Oaks athletic director before retiring from active teaching in 1986. But the point Ive labored to make is that relief pitcher is a mode of using a pitcher, not a position, just as pinch-hitter is a mode of using a hitter, not a position. Learn more about this site update. Im not officially retiring yet, Henke said. <<<< Now if you will excuse me, I am going to pop in a DVD of The Highlights of the Greatest Early May Games In History.. 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. Normally I agree about weighing the career over the small sampling. Side 2 has The Tom Henke Rag song, an instrumental. Yet his post season record is not very impressive, I think his case for Cooperstown is better than Hoffmans but I would really need to sit down with a microscope and figure it out. The Ballad Of Tom Henke was written as a tribute to Henke's life story and "termination" of opposing batters. In fact, in 12 years as a closer, his ERA was 2.96, or 37% better than the league, which is not even comparable to Hoffman, whom you deride here for almost no reason, whose ERA over 18 seasons was 2.87, or 41% better than the league. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a The result was one of his best seasons. Sprint Speed. I think an average pitcher could become a saves compiler and we have seen many do that over the years. henke In 40 innings, he posted a 2.03 ERA and 42 saves in 40 innings. Hes in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, for what its worth. His longtime friend and confidante, Shari Wolf, died in 2017; his younger brother, Roger, a retired teacher from Russellville High School, died unexpectedly in 2019. But because by definition a reliever pitches in a small sampling and is a specialist position, I think you need to weigh the big games more than piling up the saves. in Kansas City, MO update=copyright.getFullYear(); 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. In 1983, Henke would finally be promoted to Oklahoma City in the American Association, but again his development would stall and he would spend much of the next three seasons at AAA. 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. Hall voters have been remarkably slow to embrace the relief pitcher. In 1989, when the Blue Jays returned to the playoffs, Henke saved only 20 games. Southwestern Montana had the best trout fishing in the nation and was probably the closest thing to heaven on Earth that I know of.. Maintaining an interest in a career in education, he transferred to Lincoln University, working on his bachelors degree and then pursuing graduate work. Now if you take the Fantasy Baseball POV that a 3 run walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th in late September is worth less than a garbage time Grand Slam in April, then I guess there is no arguing. Again, this wouldnt be how I would rank them, but with all these arguments I couldnt resist posting a couple lists. October numbers are a nice frosting on top for most position players. Born: December 21, 1957 in Kansas City, MO us Draft: Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the When people start to break down how Bagwells stats peaked and wondering about his friendship with Ken Caminiti, well be nostalgic for the Rollie Fingers Hall of Fame debate! WebIf all I throw is a 102 mph fastball, major league hitters will absolutely feast on it if I can't throw an offspeed pitch to balance it. I think the totality of the career is more important than isolating a few out of character instances. Show me the spots on Hoffmans resume that REMOTELY resemble those. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. While I dont agree with all of your choices David, it is a good list. As great as Rivera has been, he blew 4 games in post-season play, all of which led to the opposition winning the series. But an MVP cleanup hitters is not a bullpen closer. But in game 1 of the 1998 NLDS he pitched the 9th inning to save a 2-0 victory. The next year, they added juniors, and the third year, they added the senior class.. The 45 was released in 1985. How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. I have become a big Wagner fan and would listen to a Wagner candidacy. The first year, they only had the ninth and 10th grades. He struck out 9.8 batters over nine innings over 14 seasons in the bigs. http://www.torontomike.com/2008/03/the_ballad_of_tom_henke.html. That was the main reason I stayed in education and coaching for all of those years, he added. 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. [1], Ill be honest with you, if it hadnt been with St. Louis, I probably would have retired, Henke said. [Im using ERA+ to create an expected winning pct and basing expected decisions based on every 9IP. , money, salary, income, and assets. in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second [5] Dan ONeill, On Second Try, Henke Makes A Deal With Cards, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 13, 1994. Wondering if the splits on this page are notable in any way? We just assign different values to games. Loses or blown saves in the 1996 Division Series, 1998 Division Series, 1998 NLCS and a bone crushing loss in the 1998 World Series. But I was also there for the stretch run last year there were also a lot of empty seats at PetCo.). And finally, up 3-1 in game 3 of the 2006 NLDS he got the save with a clean 9th (flyout, GO, K). 14,671st in major league history) They shouldnt be in the Hall of Fame without a ticket. I was a big Henke fan back when he was pitching so its especially cool to see this article on him. Anyway, this has been a really interesting discussion to follow. Bob Hoffman was a big big BIG flopper in the big games. Honored in 2019 as the National Baseball Hall of Fames first unanimous inductee, Rivera is the all-time leader in saves (652) and games finished (952), having MLB Advanced Media, LP. He grew up in Wardsville, Missouri and attended Blair Oaks High School. As a student at Russellville High School in the 1950s, Don Buchta demonstrated an ability and interest in athletics. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. But are you only using save percentage as a criteria? The 13-year major-league veteran had Docking him for a few dramatic failures when the sample is so small seems to me wrong-headed. Jeremy P. mick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America. Thats right. window.". Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. As I said before, the bullpen closer is the only position that I put so much weight on the post season appearance. I am somewhat mystified by your view that Hoffman did not shorten games the way your choices for HOF consideration did. Henke broke his mark for saves the following season with 34, pitching 94 innings in 72 games, with 128 strikeouts and 62 hits. Being compared to Benitez as a reliever is like comparing a singer to Alfafa from the Little Rascals. He also got smoked in the 1990 World Series. In 1987, he led the league with 34 saves and made the first all-star appearance of his career. For curves and change-ups you're absolutely right. The Blue Jays decided to stick with Duane Ward as their closer after the World Series, and Henke went back to Texas. Hoffman did flop spectacularly in the 1998 World Series, and has no signature moment of success, but he did pitch well in a number of post-season games. Henke actually has one of the BEST ERSs in save situations in history which, is really how we need to start valuing closers. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Your sole criterion (or at least your main criterion) for identifying a Hall of Fame relief pitcher seems to boil down to: He made a big impression on me. That makes it impossible for anyone to argue against you, but it also makes it difficult to take your arguments seriously. (Age 37-283d) [2], I was always a Cardinals fan growing up, he continued. >>> ad: See the Best Amazon Deals of TODAY! The counter argument was it would have been a waste of John Smoltzs talent to limit him ONLY to closers innings. Speaking of which, guys if you havent checked out Sullys videos, theyre quite hilarious. by Retrosheet. [1] Dan ONeill, On Second Try, Henke Makes A Deal With Cards, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 13, 1994. Putting them on the list is insulting. In 789 2/3 innings, he struck out 861 batters for an average of 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Jamie Moyer is the Harold Baines of pitchers. The argument is not over the relative importance of stats but the proper evaluation of a pitchers accomplishments. 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. If only he were greedier. or Maddux/Glavine/Millwood etc would have been enough to win the division consistently and John Smoltz could have closed out the games. I just wont agree with it. I am big fans of Quisenberry and obviously Henke. I am open to the arguments you are making here, but I do not see a whole lot of even-applied standards or well-supported points. Tom Henkes income source is mostly from being a successful . My point is not that he was a successful post-season pitcher but that given the sample size there is no evidence he might not have been with more opportunities, and using the evidence of 13 innings out of his entire career is inadequate to make the case that he is not a HOFer. When you are in the top 5 all time, you belong in the Hall of Fame. While highlighting his career as a coach and teacher, Buchta said, I loved sports and had some really good athletes play for me throughout my career. Hoyt Wilhelm 92, John Smoltz 85, Mariano Rivera 79, Billy Wagner 56, Dennis Eckersley 54, Goose Gossage 46, Kent Tekulve 43, John Franco 43, Dan Quisenberry 43, Trevor Hoffman 40, Lee Smith 39, Tom Henke 37, Firpo Marberry 36, Bruce Sutter 35, Rollie Fingers 34, Roberto Hernandez 32, John Wetteland 32, Doug Jones 31, etc. On January 24, 2011, Henke was named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Hall during a ceremony at St Marys, Ontario, on June 18, 2011. http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/2007/04/quick-trade-bentez.html. Tom Henke and Jim Rackers were the two best players that I coached, Buchta said. The following season, Hentgen was an All-Star again and went 138 with a 3.40 ERA. It is one thing to take a Dustin Hermanson, plop him in the closer role and see him pile up 34 saves. But in any Hall of Fame discussion they are the red shirted Ensign beaming down to the planet with Kirk and McCoy. 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