An introduction to #LaTroyFacts
Photo Credit: Nick Turchiaro USA TODAY SPORTS
By: Nick Ashbourne
LaTroy Hawkins has been playing professional baseball for a long time. He's 42-years-old and has played for 11 different teams over 21 seasons at the major-league level. He began his minor-league career in 1991.
None of this makes Hawkins a star, and he's not going to be enshrined in Cooperstown anytime soon, but he's undoubtedly remarkable. Not only does he deserve credit for his longevity, he's still a very effective reliever. His fastball still sits around 93 mph and touches 95 and this season he has a 3.20 ERA while pitching half of his games at either Coors Field or Rogers Centre.
Hawkins is more than just an oddity, but his advanced age undoubtedly is what makes him such an interesting figure. In light of the trivia goldmine that his career represents the other day I began using the hashtag #LaTroyFacts on Twitter to share interesting tidbits of information about Hawkins.
To say it took off would be an overstatement, but it did generate some interest and so here is an introduction to #LaTroy facts for those of you who are behind. For simplicity they fall into three categories: Baseball Facts, Non-Baseball Facts, and Pure Fiction.
Below I will share some of the best so far in each category, for more search #LaTroyFacts or find me on Twitter at (@Nick_Ashbourne):
Baseball Facts
The first inning LaTroy Hawkins pitched in SkyDome, Joe Carter hit a 2-run homer off of him. #LaTroyFacts
— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) July 31, 2015185 batters have at least 10 plate appearances against LaTroy Hawkins #LaTroyFacts
— Nick Ashbourne (@Nick_Ashbourne) August 4, 2015Top three hitters by # of times they've faced LaTroy Hawkins.
#1 Frank Thomas (46)
#2 Ray Durham (41)
#3 Brady Anderson (37) #LaTroyFacts
— Nick Ashbourne (@Nick_Ashbourne) July 31, 2015There are 29 hitters who have multiple home runs off LaTroy Hawkins, 3 of them are active players. #LaTroyFacts
— Nick Ashbourne (@Nick_Ashbourne) July 31, 2015LaTroy Hawkins has seven career balks, but none since 1998.
— Jeff Simmons (@realjeffsimmons) July 31, 2015Jack Morris was the World Series MVP the year LaTroy Hawkins made his pro baseball debut (1991) #LaTroyFact
— Nick Ashbourne (@Nick_Ashbourne) July 31, 2015Those a just a brief sample of excellent trivia pieces about the career Hawkins has enjoyed on the field. Off-the-field things have been equally interesting.
Non-Baseball Facts
LaTroy Hawkins once helped to remove an unruly passenger from a plane in Lima, Peru. #LaTroyFacts http://t.co/Ia3TFyLK6k
— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) July 31, 2015When LaTroy Hawkins made his professional debut George Bush Senior was the president of the United States #LaTroyFacts
— Nick Ashbourne (@Nick_Ashbourne) August 4, 2015LaTroy Hawkins once loaned his BMW to a 17-year old member of his Fan Club to take his date to prom. #LaTroyFacts
http://t.co/NwkuCLcXB2
— Holden Van Dyke (@RhapEclect) July 31, 2015When LaTroy Hawkins made his MLB debut the #1 song on the charts was "This is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. #LaTroyFacts
— Nick Ashbourne (@Nick_Ashbourne) July 31, 2015One thing that I did not anticipate is the number of fictional #LaTroy facts people would post. While it was not in the spirit of what I originally intended, egged on by Blue Jays blog Jays Journal the responses were in good fun.
@JaysJournal #LaTroyFacts
LaTroy Hawkins invented Hawkins Cheezies and some guy in Bellville Ontario stole his idea. pic.twitter.com/JAFEa2Ge5U
— Andrew Stellatos (@AndrewStellatos) August 4, 2015@JaysJournal @LaTroyHawkins32 's name came from the famous battle of Troy, in which his son fought #LaTroyFacts
— Brandon Welch (@BWelch4318) August 4, 2015@JaysJournal @LaTroyHawkins32 is the national retirement home champion of Wii baseball #LaTroyFacts
— Jack Caponi (@ModernPoultry) August 4, 2015Around the trade deadline the Blue Jays turned over 20% of their roster. Hawkins was likely the least flashy of their additions, but he has been solid so far and looks to have an important role to play down the stretch.
The fact that he's one of the more interesting men in baseball is just icing on the cake.