Top Blue Jays Player #11: Jimmy Key
Position: Pitcher
Seasons With the
Jays: 9 (1984-1992)
All-Star Game
Selection: 1985, 1991
Stats: Games Pitched 317 Innings Pitched 1695.2
Wins/Losses 116-81 Saves
10
ERA 3.42 Strike
outs 944
Games Started 250 Games
Finished 24
Complete Games 28 Shutouts 10
There is no doubt that Jimmy Key
would be at the top of any list when it came to most popular Blue Jays. Always
a fan favourite, Key was a fixture on the mound at Exhibition Stadium and
SkyDome for almost a decade. He was ultra-competitive and always gave everything
he had in every outing. He ranks fourth on the Jays’ all-time wins list (116)
and is in the top five in numerous other categories: strike outs, ERA, complete
games, games started and shut outs.
He was drafted in the third
round of the 1982 Amateur Draft by the Blue Jays and got a job in the bullpen
for the 1984 season. All 63 of his appearances in his rookie season were in
relief and he posted a 4-5 win/loss record, recorded ten saves, had an ERA of
4.65 and struck out 44 batters.
For the 1985 season, he earned a
spot in the starting rotation and his success helped the Jays win their first
division title in team history. In 32 starts, Key posted a 14-6 record, had a
3.00 ERA while striking out 85 batters in 212 2/3 innings. While he never was
much of a strike out pitcher, his arsenal of pitches always kept hitters
guessing and his deceptive delivery from the stretch allowed him to pick many
baserunners off of first base. He earned his first All-Star Game selection in
1985.
In the ALCS against the Kansas
City Royals, Key started two games, losing one and posting a rather high ERA of
5.19.
He posted similar numbers in
1986 (14-11, 3.57, 141 strike outs) but his best year in a Toronto uniform came
in 1987. Key won 17 games that year, posted a league-leading 2.76 ERA, struck
out 161 batters and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Boston’s
Roger Clemens.
Injuries limited him to only 21
starts in 1988, but he still managed to have a 12-5 record, post a 3.29 ERA and
strike out 65 batters. He had a bit of a down year in 1989, finishing with a
losing record (13-14) with a 3.88 ERA, but the Jays still won the division
crown. In the ALCS against Oakland, Key was the starting pitcher in the Jays’
only win of the series, pitching six innings, allowing three runs and striking
out two batters.
In 1990, Key’s ERA ballooned to
4.25 but he still managed a winning record (13-7). His second All-Star Game
appearance happened in 1991 and the game was played in Toronto at SkyDome. He
pitched one inning in relief, surrendering no runs or hits and was credited
with the win in the American League’s 4-2 win.
For the season, Key posted a
16-12 record, had a 3.05 ERA and struck out 125 batters. With injuries
preventing Dave Stieb from appearing in the playoffs, Key became the only
pitcher left from the 1985 staff to pitch in three ALCS series. He had a
no-decision in his only game, pitching six innings and giving up two runs.
Toronto lost the game and the series to the Minnesota Twins.
Key’s final year with the Jays
would be 1992 and it was a bit of a roller coaster journey for the left-hander.
His 13-13 regular season record and 3.53 ERA relegated him to the bullpen for
the ALCS against Oakland as the Jays went with a three-man rotation. He was a
bit of an afterthought in the series as he only pitched three innings in relief
but the Jays defeated the A’s to advance to the World Series.
With the Jays ahead of the
Atlanta Braves two games to one, Toronto manager Cito Gaston decided to put Key
back in the rotation and he started Game 4. Key responded with one of the best
pitching performances of his career. After Atlanta’s lead off man, Otis Nixon,
singled to start the game, Key picked him off of first to set the tone for the
rest of the night.
Key was magnificent, giving up
only one run in 7 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out six and didn’t walk a
batter. When he was relieved in the top of the eighth, the Toronto fans—sensing
that this may be the last time they saw him in a Blue Jays’ uniform—gave him a
standing ovation as he departed the game.
But Key’s World Series wasn’t
done. In Game 6, with Toronto holding a three games to two lead in the series,
Key came out of the bullpen to pitch in the bottom of the tenth with one out in
a tied ballgame. Key subsequently got the next two batters and when Toronto
took the lead in the top of the eleventh, he was in line for his second win of
the Series. After the first two Atlanta batters reached base, a sacrifice bunt
and a ground out scored a run and put the game-tying run on third.
Mike Timlin came into the game
to relief Key and got Nixon to ground out on a bunt attempt to end the game and
give the Jays their first World Series title. Key was credited with his second
win of the World Series, a fitting ending to his Blue Jays career.
Despite all his success in
Toronto, Key’s best years of his career came in 1993 and 1994 with the New York
Yankees. He won 18 games in 1993, finishing fourth in Cy Young voting, and
followed that up with 17 wins in the strike-shortened season of 1994 (he
finished second for the Cy Young.) Injuries would haunt him in 1995 but he
returned to the Yankees in 1996 to help New York win the World Series, getting
the victory over Atlanta’s Greg Maddux in the series-clinching Game 6.
Two years in Baltimore followed
before Key retired at the end of the 1998 season.
Follow us on Twitter at @topofthethird
No comments:
Post a Comment