bbor
07-24-2004, 01:05 PM
Class act all the way...he retires in Blue Jay Blue as he should.
TORONTO -- Pat Hentgen won't be making his next rotation turn -- or the one after that. The former Cy Young Award-winner announced his retirement on Saturday, ending his season with a 2-9 record and a 6.95 ERA.
Hentgen finishes his career among the top Toronto pitchers ever, ranking in the top five in wins (105), starts (222), innings pitched (1556 2/3) and complete games (31). He rejoined the team that drafted him before this season, signing a one-year deal to solidify the back end of the rotation and act as mentor to a young staff.
It didn't work. Hentgen started out slowly and was ultimately removed from the rotation. He worked more than six innings just four times in 16 starts this season, then made two relatively rough relief appearances. He got pressed back into service when Roy Halladay went down with a shoulder injury, but an awful start in New York convinced him to call it quits.
The right-hander finishes with a 131-112 record. His crowning glory will be 1996, when he went 20-10 with a 3.22 ERA en route to the Cy Young Award. Hentgen was a part of two World Series champions, taking a victory in Game of the 1993 Fall Classic.
Spencer Fordin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TORONTO -- Pat Hentgen won't be making his next rotation turn -- or the one after that. The former Cy Young Award-winner announced his retirement on Saturday, ending his season with a 2-9 record and a 6.95 ERA.
Hentgen finishes his career among the top Toronto pitchers ever, ranking in the top five in wins (105), starts (222), innings pitched (1556 2/3) and complete games (31). He rejoined the team that drafted him before this season, signing a one-year deal to solidify the back end of the rotation and act as mentor to a young staff.
It didn't work. Hentgen started out slowly and was ultimately removed from the rotation. He worked more than six innings just four times in 16 starts this season, then made two relatively rough relief appearances. He got pressed back into service when Roy Halladay went down with a shoulder injury, but an awful start in New York convinced him to call it quits.
The right-hander finishes with a 131-112 record. His crowning glory will be 1996, when he went 20-10 with a 3.22 ERA en route to the Cy Young Award. Hentgen was a part of two World Series champions, taking a victory in Game of the 1993 Fall Classic.
Spencer Fordin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.