Have to post this for Blue Edwards, and all Latoya fans

Hawkins fails in eighth this time

By Bruce Miles
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Somewhere along the line, maybe the Cubs can find an inning that suits LaTroy Hawkins.

The ninth inning didn’t work out so well, as Hawkins lost his closer’s job to Ryan Dempster.

The thinking was that Hawkins would thrive again in the eighth as a setup man, much as he did in the past.

Well, it sounded like a good idea. Hawkins suffered his fourth loss Monday night in the Cubs’ 7-4 defeat at the hands of the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs had rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth, the big hit being Michael Barrett’s 3-run homer to pull the Cubs even.


Oh, and newly anointed closer Dempster didn’t do so hot either. Pitching with the Cubs down 5-4 in the ninth, he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits.

After the game, manager Dusty Baker was at a loss when it came to talking about Hawkins.

“I don’t know, man,” said Baker, whose team fell to 13-18. “He’s just snakebit right now. There’s not a lot to say. We put him in the setup, and he just made a bad pitch on his former teammate, Mientkiewicz, probably in the wrong location. I don’t know what to say.”

Hawkins is 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA. In addition to the 4 losses, he had 3 blown saves as the closer. The remaining fans among the 37,562 who endured a pair of rain delays booed Hawkins loudly.

“Turn the page and get them tomorrow,” Hawkins said. “I’m going to be the same, regardless, whether I go out there and give it up or I don’t. I’m going to be the same. You’ll never know.

“Be consistent, that’s all. Can’t get too high. Can’t get too low. I didn’t always have success. I’ve been there before. They’ll be clapping for me one day. You can guarantee that.”

The Cubs began the night scrambling for starting pitching. They called up Jon Leicester to start in place of Dempster, who was named the closer this past weekend.

Leicester had made 1 start at Class AAA Iowa after being optioned there on April 27, and he lasted 3º innings.

Against the Mets, Leicester gave up 5 hits and 4 runs in 3 innings. He gave up a 3-run homer to Mike Piazza in the first inning and a solo shot to Kazuo Matsui in the second as the Mets grabbed their 4-0 lead.

“I’ve started a lot in the minor leagues, but it’s different here,” Leicester said.

Todd Wellemeyer replaced Leicester and struck out three in 2 scoreless innings.

The Cubs’ sixth opened with Neifi Perez hitting a double down the right-field line and Derrek Lee walking. After Aramis Ramirez flied out to deep right-center, Mets manager Willie Randolph removed starting pitcher Aaron Heilman in favor of lefty Dae-Sung Koo.

Jeromy Burnitz greeted Koo with an RBI single before Barrett homered to left-center.

Hawkins retired Piazza on a comebacker to start the eighth. Mientkiewicz, a teammate of Hawkins’ at Minnesota, hit the first pitch he saw into the bleachers in right-center.

On offense, the Cubs picked up 10 hits, but they left eight on base.

“That hit’s eluding us, and the back end of the ballgame is out of whack,” Baker said.

dusty is clueless. i heard a quote from him today on the radio. when asked about the pitch to mientkiewicz, he said "latroy's fastball is leaking over the middle of the plate right now. if we can get him to hit the corners...look out!"

priceless.

reminds me of little league...when you'd foul a pitch down the line, the coach would yell some helpful advice like "alright blue...now just straighten it out!".

dusty, when you get fired (and you will get fired) give me a call...my softball team needs a first base coach.

ego74... Who´s the guy in ur avatar???????

Bite

biTe22Me said:

ego74... Who´s the guy in ur avatar???????

Bite

Click to expand...

Eddie Gill, Indiana Pacers. He scored 7 "key' points in the waning moments of Game 1 to put the game OVER the total

ego74 said:

Eddie Gill, Indiana Pacers. He scored 7 "key' points in the waning moments of Game 1 to put the game OVER the total

Click to expand...

Thanks for the picture. My cats litter box needs some fresh liner.

THANKS EGO THE HERALD IS MY HOMETOWN PAPER BEACK IN THE NORTHWEST SUBURBS OF CHICAGO, I'd grade their sports section above average.

Heard them saying on the news that that Bowa said Hawkins was tipping his pitches and a bunch of teams had picked up on it and were beating him. Might not be all that far-fetched. I mean, Hawkins has had some really good years and to my eye, still has good stuff. It is hard to figure why he's had such trouble. I think it's his head, and maybe pitch tipping too. He still has good enough stuff to have success.

D2bets said:

Heard them saying on the news that that Bowa said Hawkins was tipping his pitches and a bunch of teams had picked up on it and were beating him. Might not be all that far-fetched. I mean, Hawkins has had some really good years and to my eye, still has good stuff. It is hard to figure why he's had such trouble. I think it's his head, and maybe pitch tipping too. He still has good enough stuff to have success.

Click to expand...

i'm no baseball scout but...i think if you throw a pitch right down the middle, it will get hammered.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...n-with-his-10th-team-no-worse-for-wear-040314



As the MLB world turns for 20-year veteran reliever Hawkins
Barry LeBrock


Special to FOX Sports


APR 03, 2014 9:30p ET SHARE 0 TWEET 0 1


Rob Tringali / Getty Images North America
LaTroy Hawkins, who turned 41 in December, made his major-league debut in 1995.


In the most angular of sports, contested on a diamond, it is the perfect circle of the pitcher's mound in which the career of Colorado Rockies reliever LaTroy Hawkins has played out.


The oldest player in the National League starts a year of raw round numbers; he is on his 10th team, in his 20th big-league season. On and on his career spins in the perfect arc of seasoned veteran know how.


Unlike fellow 20-year veteran Derek Jeter, Cooperstown does not await for Hawkins. A record of 68-90, a lifetime ERA of 4.38 and 102 saves (through Thursday) isn't going to earn him a plaque in the Hall of Fame, but he has built a career of impact and influence nonetheless.


"The guys in this clubhouse, we see how valuable Hawk is," Colorado manager Walt Weiss insisted Wednesday before the Rockies' third game of this season. "He's a special guy. He's got a gift to lead. It's real. It's authentic. He's built up so much respect in this game. He's had a tremendous impact on our club already and he hasn't even made an appearance yet."




A few hours later, Hawkins did make an appearance, and racked up the 102nd save of a career that was nearly derailed almost before it started.


Hawkins made his major-league debut in 1995, but his visions of grandeur and success dissolved like sugar into what quickly became the cliché of a big-league cup of coffee. After just three appearances and an ERA of 13.50, he was sent to the minors. During the All-Star break that summer, he was visiting his hometown of Gary, Ind., contemplating a new direction.


"I was frustrated with baseball,” he said. “I went home and I was like, man, I don't know if I want to keep doing this. Then one day I was hanging out with some buddies, and my friend's brother asked if he could borrow $2. I said to myself, 'borrow two dollars!?!' and it got me to thinking, my check is $1,400 every two weeks -- $2,800 a month -- and I was like, man, I'm going back to baseball!"


Twenty seasons later, here he is plugging away, saving games and taking care of the younger kids the way the late, great Kirby Puckett once did for him; buying him suits to wear on road trips and allowing the rookie to focus on baseball.


"I didn't have to worry about anything -- rent, food, nothin'. And when I thanked Kirby, he'd always say, 'T-Hawk, just take care of the next person.'"








"The first time I made a million dollars," Hawkins said, "I started taking care of other guys. I think the first suit I bought was for (future Cy Young winner) Johan Santana."


Paying it forward, just like Puckett had requested.


Taking care of the youngsters is as much a part of baseball as the bats and bases. Weiss, who had a 14-year playing career before he took over as Colorado's manager last season, sighted former Oakland A's teammates Dave Stewart, Bob Welch and Carney Lansford as the elder statesmen of his own beginnings. Opposing manager Mike Redmond of the Miami Marlins points to former pitcher Alex Fernandez and third baseman Todd Ziele as the veterans who had his back.


"I think it's invaluable for the other players to have guys like that because they have so much knowledge," Redmond said. "If I was a young pitcher coming up, I'd definitely listen to everything LaTroy says."


In baseball's version of Six Degrees of Separation, Hawkins' bloodlines run deep and impressive. He was teammates with Jeter on the 2008 Yankees and he has a common teammate with Pete Rose (Carl Willis, who played on the 1985 Reds with Rose and the 1995 Twins with Hawkins).


Hawkins is only two degrees removed from the likes of Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron. Hawkins was also traded once upon a time for the very first player listed alphabetically in major-league history (David Aardsma). Longevity does have its quirks.


Here's another one: Despite all the years of service, all the chances, Hawkins has never won a World Series. A four-game sweep of his Rockies at the hands of the Red Sox in 2007 was the closest he's come.


"That's always the carrot that guys will chase, but not everybody is that lucky, that fortunate," Hawkins said. "I've been fortunate in so many ways. I've played on some good teams, but we came up short.


"What more can I ask for? I wouldn't change a thing."


The career paths of those who came before him tell him the end is near, but Hawkins insists he will keep playing "as long as I can get guys out." And round and round it goes.


The helped becomes a helper. The rookie becomes a veteran. The kid becomes a man. A scared youngster walks into a major-league clubhouse decked out in Levi's, exits a couple of decades later a confident man in Armani. It's the circle of baseball, and it seems to fit perfectly on Hawkins.


Barry LeBrock is an award-winning journalist, sportscaster and a twice-published author.