Kenny Rogers (baseball)

Kenny Rogers
Rogers with the Detroit Tigers
Pitcher
Born: (1964-11-10) November 10, 1964 Savannah, Georgia
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 6, 1989, for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 2008, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Win–Loss record	219–156
Earned run average	4.27
Strikeouts	1,968
Teams
Texas Rangers (1989–1995) New York Yankees (1996–1997) Oakland Athletics (1998–1999) New York Mets (1999) Texas Rangers (2000–2002) Minnesota Twins (2003) Texas Rangers (2004–2005) Detroit Tigers (2006–2008)
Career highlights and awards
4× All-Star (1995, 2004–2006) World Series champion (1996) 5× Gold Glove Award (2000, 2002, 2004–2006) Pitched a perfect game on July 28, 1994 Texas Rangers Hall of Fame

Kenneth Scott Rogers (born November 10, 1964 in Savannah, Georgia)^[1] is a former American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. During a 20-year baseball career, he pitched from 1989 to 2008 for six different teams. He won the 1996 World Series with the New York Yankees against his hometown team, the Atlanta Braves and played in the 2006 World Series with the Detroit Tigers. In addition to being known for his fielding (winning five Gold Glove Awards), he pitched the fourteenth perfect game in major league baseball history. In 2008, he was the oldest baseball player in the American League.

Rogers is sometimes nicknamed "The Gambler", after a song made famous by a singer who shares his name.

Biography

Rogers grew up on a 15-acre (6.1 ha) farm in Dover, Florida.

He, his wife Rebecca Lewis, and children Jessica and Trevor Rogers reside in Westlake, Texas. He enjoys golf, fishing, and building houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Baseball career

Rogers was assigned to the Texas Rangers farm team after being drafted in the 39th round for $1,000 when he was 17 years old. He graduated from Plant City High School in Florida in 1982, where he played baseball only during his senior season, hitting .375 as a right fielder (he played shortstop 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 the minor leagues before making it to the Rangers in 1989 as a reliever. He became a starting pitcher for the club in 1993.

During his career, he played for the Texas Rangers (1989–95, 2000–02, 2004–05), the New York Yankees (1996–97), Oakland Athletics (1998–99), the New York Mets (1999), the Minnesota Twins (2003), and the Detroit Tigers (2006–08).

With the Detroit Tigers in 2006, Rogers won 17 regular season games, and excelled in the post-season with 23 straight scoreless innings over his three starts.

He is one of only three pitchers in Rangers history through 2009 to win at least 17 games in 31 starts or fewer (17 wins in 31 starts in 1995), along with Scott Feldman (17 wins in 31 starts in 2009) and Ferguson Jenkins (18 wins in 30 starts in 1978).^[2]

Oakland A's years

Rogers was acquired by the Oakland Athletics from the Yankees for third baseman Scott Brosius in Billy Beane's first trade as general manager.^[3] Rogers led the Oakland pitching staff in his first season in innings (238.7) and wins (16). The next season, he started 19 games, winning only 5 with a 4.30 ERA. He was traded at the deadline to the New York Mets for Terrence Long and a minor league player.

New York Mets

During his short tenure with the New York Mets, Rogers will best be remembered as the pitcher who walked in the winning run against the Atlanta Braves in Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS, costing the New York Mets the game and the series.

2005 cameraman incident

On June 29, 2005, after walking out onto Ameriquest Field for a pre-game warmup against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Rogers shoved two cameramen,^[4] 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 of Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex' Fox Network affiliate KDFW 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 in Detroit. The suspension was subsequently 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 an anger management course.

On August 11, 2005, Rogers returned to the mound against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway 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.

Signing with Detroit

Rogers warming up prior to a rehab start with the West Michigan Whitecaps, Single-A affiliates of the Detroit Tigers in 2007.

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 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." ^[5]

On March 30, 2007, ESPN reported that Rogers would miss three months after undergoing surgery for a blood clot in his pitching shoulder. He made his return on June 22 against the Atlanta Braves, pitching 6 scoreless innings and allowing two hits while earning his first win of the season.

2006 postseason

On October 6, 2006, Rogers won his first postseason game, pitching 7 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in a 6–0 Tigers victory against the Yankees in Game 3 of the American 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 Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Oakland 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 first World Series appearance since 1984.

Rogers started Game 2 of the 2006 World Series on October 22, 2006. "We wanted Kenny to pitch two games at home", Leyland said.^[6] 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,^[7] 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' pitching hand. Rogers said it was dirt mixed with rosin from the rosin bag and wiped it off. Major League Baseball spokesperson Rich Levin said the incident was investigated, and the substance was described as dirt. Since it was not ruled a foreign substance, per Rule 8.02, Rogers remained in the game.^[8] In the process, Rogers extended his streak to 23 shutout innings. Examination of images from previous games revealed similar smudges in two other games.^[9]

Retirement

After injuries shortened his 2007 and 2008 seasons, Rogers ceased playing at the end of 2008. With 219 career victories, he became the seventh 200-game winner who never won 20 games in any one season, joining Milt Pappas, Jerry Reuss, Frank Tanana, Charlie Hough, Dennis Martínez and Chuck Finley. Tim Wakefield joined the group with his 200th win in 2011. Mike Mussina reached 200 wins without having a 20-win season, but recorded a 20-win season afterward. On August 6, 2011, Rogers was enshrined into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.

In 2010, Rogers served as a pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers during spring training. According to remarks by Justin Verlander and Jim Leyland, his ability to coach pitchers on fielding would be particularly of interest to the team.^[10]

In 2011, Rogers threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Comerica Park in game three of the ALDS.^[11]

Rogers reportedly never formally retired from Major League Baseball.^[10]

Accomplishments

Perfect game

Rogers pitched the fourteenth perfect game in baseball history on July 28, 1994 with the Rangers against the California Angels (the last no-hitter in Rangers history to date ^[12] and the only perfect game in franchise history). Soon after his feat, he appeared on ABC's Good Morning America on July 29, 1994, and on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman on August 1, 1994. He also met and appeared with musician Kenny Rogers at a function in Arlington, Texas on August 13, 1994. Rogers' 1994 perfect game was caught by Iván Rodríguez, who in June 2007 caught the no-hitter of Detroit Tiger Justin Verlander, both of whom were teammates of Rogers at the time. The game took place exactly three years to the day of the last perfect game, pitched by Dennis Martínez of the Montreal Expos on July 28, 1991.

Gold Gloves

Known as one of the finest fielding pitchers in baseball, Rogers won five Gold Glove Awards at pitcher, including four with the Rangers and one with the Tigers. He was honored with a Fielding Bible Award in 2008 as the top fielding pitcher in MLB.^[13] Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane stated that Rogers "was the best fielding pitcher" he ever saw. "It's like having an extra infielder".^[14]

200 career wins

On June 18, 2006 Rogers won his 200th game (against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field), during which Detroit set a club record with eight home runs.^[15]

Pickoffs

Rogers is second all-time in pickoffs with 93 in his career. On May 9, 2008 against the New York Yankees, Rogers picked off Wilson Betemit in the second inning for his 92nd pick-off, passing Mark Langston.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball perfect games
• List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders

Articles

• Rogers claims another 2006 honor: Detroit fans name pitcher King Tiger
• Kenny Rogers wins 5th overall Gold Glove
• Re-inventing Kenny Rogers
• Series win is last stop in great ride
• Rogers morphs from postseason dud to stud at 41
• At 41, Rogers tastes playoff champagne
• Rangers gambled on Rogers; 190 wins later, he's a Tiger
• Questions linger over substance on Rogers's hand

Audio

• Kenny Rogers on pitching before a hostile crowd

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Kenny Rogers at the Internet Movie Database