- Kenny Rogers (baseball)
Infobox MLB player
name = Kenny Rogers
width = 300
caption =
team = Detroit Tigers
number = 37
position = Starting pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1964|11|10
birthplace = city-state|Savannah|Georgia
bats = Left
throws = Left
debutdate = April 6
debutyear = 1989
debutteam = Texas Rangers
statyear = August 18, 2008
stat1label = Win–Loss
stat1value = 219–153
stat2label =Earned run average
stat2value = 4.23
stat3label =Strikeout s
stat3value = 1,958
stat4label =Pickoff s
stat4value = 93
teams =
*Texas Rangers (by|1989–by|1995)
*New York Yankees (by|1996–by|1997)
*Oakland Athletics (by|1998–by|1999)
*New York Mets (1999)
*Texas Rangers (by|2000–by|2002)
*Minnesota Twins (by|2003)
*Texas Rangers (by|2004–by|2005)
*Detroit Tigers (by|2006–present)
awards =
*5x Gold Glove Award winner (2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006)
*4x All-Star selection (1995, 2004, 2005, 2006)
*World Series champion (1996)
* Pitched aperfect game in 1994
* All-timepickoff leader (93)Kenneth Scott Rogers (born November 10, 1964 in
Savannah, Georgia ) is aleft-handed AmericanMajor League Baseball pitcher for theDetroit Tigers . He has played for six Major League Baseball teams since hisrookie year in by|1989. In addition to being known for sparkling fielding and for pitching aperfect game , Rogers also currently stands at 23 consecutiveshutout innings in postseason baseball. He is currently the oldest baseball player in theAmerican League .His nickname, "The Gambler," is a play on
country music starKenny Rogers 's trademark single "The Gambler". He is also referred to as "The Roaster" by radio hostJim Rome in reference to the musician's restaurant chainKenny Rogers Roasters .fact|date=September 2008Biography
Rogers grew up on a convert|15|acre|ha|adj=on
farm inDover, Florida . Upon meeting his future wife as a teenager, he told her that he would become a farmer if his baseball career did not pan out.Fact|date=September 2008 His goal was to play in the Majors for three years, and be able to qualify for a pension. After pitching Game 2 of the 2006 World Series, he completed his 18th season, the first of a two-year, $16 million contract.Assigned to the Texas Rangers
farm team after being drafted in the 39th round for $1000 when he was only seventeen years old, he graduated fromPlant City High School inFlorida in 1982, where he played baseball only during his senior season, hitting .375 as aright fielder (he playedshortstop in his senior league). He was converted into a pitcher on the strength of his throwing arm and left-handedness. Rogers spent seven years in theminor leagues before making it to the Rangers in 1989 as areliever . He became a starting pitcher for the club in 1993.During his career, he has played for the Texas Rangers (1989–95, 2000–02, 2004–05), the
New York Yankees (1996–97),Oakland Athletics (1998–99), theNew York Mets (1999), theMinnesota Twins (2003), and theDetroit Tigers (2006–present).Rogers achieved notoriety among Mets fans during his tenure with New York. During the 1999 National League Championship Series against the
Atlanta Braves , he entered in relief in the bottom of the eleventh inning of game six, with the Mets down three games to two. After surrendering a double and the baserunner advancing to third base on a sacrifice fly and two subsequent intentional walks issued toChipper Jones andBrian Jordan , Rogers ended New York's magical season by walkingAndruw Jones on five pitches with the bases loaded.He, his wife Rebecca Lewis, and children Jessie and Trevor Rogers reside in
Westlake, Texas during the off-season. He enjoys golf, fishing, and building houses forHabitat for Humanity .Accomplishments
Perfect game
Rogers became the fourteenth Major Leaguer to pitch a
perfect game on July 28, 1994 with the Rangers against the California Angels (the last no-hitter in Rangers history to date [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1137746/12/26/index.htm] ). Soon after his feat, he appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America " on July 29, 1994, and onCBS 's "Late Show with David Letterman " on August 1, 1994. He also met and appeared with Country Western music star Kenny Rogers at a function inArlington, Texas on August 13, 1994. Coincidentally, his 1994 perfect game was caught byIván Rodríguez who in June 2007 caught the no-hitter of Detroit Tigers' teammateJustin Verlander , both of whom were teammates of Rogers at the time. Additionally, the game took place exactly 3 years to the day of the last perfect game, pitched byDennis Martinez of theMontreal Expos on July 28, 1991.Gold Gloves
Known as one of the finest fielding pitchers in baseball, along with having one of the best pick-off moves, Rogers has won five
Gold Glove Award s at pitcher with the Rangers in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, and with the Tigers in 2006.200 career wins
On June 18, 2006 Kenny Rogers won his 200th game (against the
Chicago Cubs atWrigley Field ), during which Detroit set a club record with eight home runs. [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=260618116] With the 12–3 victory, Rogers (10–3) became the ninth active pitcher with at least 200 wins.Pickoffs
Rogers is known for having one of the greatest
pickoff moves in baseball history. Rogers is the all-time pickoff leader with 93 in his career. On May 9, 2008 against theNew York Yankees , Rogers picked offWilson Betemit in the third inning for his 92nd pick-off, passingMark Langston . Rogers tied Langston on September 17, 2007 against theCleveland Indians when he picked offJason Michaels in the sixth inning.Oakland A's years
Kenny Rogers was acquired by the Oakland Athletics from the Yankees, in Billy Beane's first trade as general manager, for third baseman Scott Brosius. [cite web|title=The Beane Count - Analyzing Billy Beane's trades|url=http://danjulien.atspace.com/beane.htm] Rogers led the Oakland pitching staff in his first season in innings (238.7) and wins (16) along with posting a career best ERA+ of 144. The next season, he started 19 games as an Athletic, winning only 5 with an ERA+ of 112. He was traded at the deadline to the New York Mets for Terrence Long and a career minor leaguer. His VORPs for his two seasons in Oakland combined for 80.4 and had 19 Win Shares in 1998.
In the news
Rogers had refused to talk to local media during the 2005 season after they published a report saying Rogers was having trouble trying to get the Rangers to give him a contract extension, and that he would retire if he didn't get one.
On June 29, 2005, after walking out onto
Ameriquest Field for a pre-game warmup against theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim , Rogers shoved two cameramen, [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2097491 ESPN - Rangers pitcher threatens and confronts cameramen - MLB ] ] knocking a camera to the ground. One of the reporters then resumed filming and Rogers shoved him again, this time kicking the camera after it had been knocked to the ground a second time. He had to be restrained and was sent home. Larry Rodriguez ofDallas/Fort Worth Metroplex 'Fox Network affiliateKDFW was taken to a local hospital, complaining of shoulder, arm and leg pain. While in the hospital, Rodriguez made an official complaint of assault against Rogers.On July 1, 2005, Commissioner
Bud Selig suspended Rogers for 20 games and fined him $50,000. While an appeal of his suspension was pending, Rogers appeared at the 2005 All-Star Game inDetroit, Michigan . Rogers appealed the suspension, which was upheld by Selig. The commissioner was later overruled by independent arbitor Shyam Das, allowing Rogers to return to play after sitting out 13 games.On July 18, 2005, Rogers was charged with a Class A
misdemeanor assault charge with regard to Rodriguez and a Class C misdemeanor assault charge with regard to FSN Southwest cameraman David Mammeli. Rogers was cited and released on $1,500 bond. The Class A charge was later reduced to Class C following Rogers' completion of ananger management course.On August 11, 2005, Rogers returned to the mound against the
Boston Red Sox inFenway Park . Rogers allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings, on the way to a 16–5 Boston victory. He finished 2005 with a 3.46 ERA in 195 1/3 innings. Shortly after the regular season ended, the Rangers announced Rogers would not return to the team.On October 5, 2005, Rodriguez filed a
civil suit against Rogers and the Rangers, seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages.igning with Detroit
On December 8, 2005, Rogers signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Detroit Tigers. Rogers ended the 2006 regular season with a record of 17–8 and a 3.84 ERA. "We've needed a guy like that for a long time. I'm glad we went out and got him. ... He means a lot to our team and to guys like me," said Tigers starter
Jeremy Bonderman , on Kenny Rogers.Rogers, on his first year in Detroit: "There's a lot of benefits here, by far, that you wouldn't know as a visiting player, and for me, I've been around quite a while, but I appreciate the town, the city, the people. The travel for a baseball player is very hard, but here it's not that difficult. It lends itself to being able to relax on certain days that you could get off. There's just more benefits, especially when you have the quality of people here like Dombrowski and like we have in Mr. Ilitch, those things that you can't take for granted. You add in
Jim Leyland and the coaching staff here, and I just got lucky to choose this place... Right when I went in the door and met them, I knew. I knew where I was going to end up." [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/7EDCEA272D32871F8625720D00781877?OpenDocument]On March 30, 2007,
ESPN reported that Kenny Rogers would miss three months after undergoing surgery for a blood clot in his pitching shoulder. He made his return on June 22 against theAtlanta Braves , pitching 6 scoreless innings and allowing two hits while earning his first win of the season.2006 postseason
On October 6, 2006, Rogers pitched his way to his first postseason win pitching 7 2/3 scoreless innings, with eight
strikeouts in a 6–0 Tigers victory against the New York Yankees in [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=261006106 Game 3] of theAmerican League Division Series . At 41 years and 330 days old, he became the oldest starting pitcher to earn his first career postseason win.A week later on October 13, Rogers retired nine batters in a row, in [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=261013106 Game 3] of the
American League Championship Series against theOakland Athletics , allowing only two hits and two walks in 7 1/3 scoreless innings, while striking out six and pacing the Tigers to a 3–0 victory, leaving the Tigers one win away from their firstWorld Series since 1984.Rogers started [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=261022106 Game 2] of the
2006 World Series on October 22, 2006. "We wanted Kenny to pitch two games at home," Leyland said [ [http://www.mankatofreepress.com/sports/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8KSKH500.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview] Dead link|date=March 2008] . He left the game with the Tigers in the lead 3-0, pitching 8 shutout innings, retiring 10 straight batters, striking out five, allowing only two hits, with three walks, making him the oldest starting pitcher to win a World Series game [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=AvLWNNVRD_7tRtp0Zw7ZOc.3u7YF?gid=271025102 Associated Press] ] , and one of only two pitchers over the age of 40 to do so (Curt Schilling would become the second in 2007).During the first inning,
FOX cameras caught a smudge on Rogers's pitching hand. Rogers said it was dirt mixed withrosin from the rosin bag, wiped it off and pitched 8 scoreless innings for the win. Major League Baseball spokesperson Rich Levin said the incident was investigated, and the substance was described as dirt. Since it was not ruled to be a foreign substance, per Rule 8.02, Rogers remained in the game [ [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20061022&content_id=1720779&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Major League Baseball News ] ] . In the process, Rogers extended his streak to 23 shutout innings. Examination of images from previous games has revealed similar smudges in two other games [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0610/gallery.mlb.rogers/content.8.html SI.com - Photo Gallery - The Dirt on Kenny Rogers ] ] .ee also
* Pitchers who have thrown a perfect game
*List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
*MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
*Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time References
External links
Articles
* [http://tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070123&content_id=1784966&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det Rogers claims another 2006 honor: Detroit fans name pitcher King Tiger]
* [http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/sports/baseball/15913558.htm Kenny Rogers wins 5th overall Gold Glove]
* [http://www.mankatofreepress.com/siteSearch/apstorysection/local_story_289021409.html?start:int=15 Re-inventing Kenny Rogers]
* [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/SPORTS08/610160389/1129 Series win is last stop in great ride]
* [http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610140383 Rogers morphs from postseason dud to stud at 41]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/playoffs/2006-10-09-rogers-cover_x.htm At 41, Rogers tastes playoff champagne]
* [http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060403/SPORTS02/604030393/1122 Rangers gambled on Rogers; 190 wins later, he's a Tiger]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2006/news/story?id=2635538 Questions linger over substance on Rogers' hand]Audio
* [http://download.gannett.edgesuite.net/detnews/2006/sports/1027rogers.mp3 Kenny Rogers on pitching before a hostile crowd]
External links
*imdb name|id=1713598|name=Kenny Rogers
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