Sunday Spotlight: LaTroy Hawkins

 Little baseball, let me tell you the story of LaTroy . . .

"Top Dawg"

Drafted in 1991(!) LaTroy was a promising starting pitching prospect for the Minnesota Twins. He spent the next three years in the minors, and after being held back in Single A for a season, contemplated hanging up his spikes. His grandfather convinced him to stay in the game by asking "Where are you going to live? I don't allow quitters in this house."

 In 1993, LaTroy led his league in the three major categories; Wins, Strikeouts, and ERA. He was on the fast track to the big leagues by again leading his league in Wins in 1994.

By 1995, he had made his major league debut with the Twins. He spent the off-season in the Arizona fall league, and returned to the Twins rotation in 1996.

Hawkins would struggle in the starter role over the next several years. The Twins converted him to be the team's closer in 2000, and he went a perfect 14/14 in save opportunities.

Fast forward 15 years later, and LaTroy is still getting batters out in the playoffs, pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays, his 11th team in the big leagues. He is currently the oldest active major leaguer, and has recorded a save against all 30 major league teams (his save against the Twins came just this year after being traded to Toronto.).

I just realized that LaTroy is not on my PC list, so let's fix that right now!