Yes, that picture looks absolutely atrocious. Honestly, did they just wake up LaTroy from a nap? Or did they just ask him to solve one of the equations that Laurie frequently faces on her engineering tests? Hopefully, the Hawk will not be sending out that picture on his Christmas cards.
LaTroy is probably the Twin who is most difficult to describe as a true fan. Since the beginning of 2002, LaTroy has been absolutely dominant as one of the best relief pitchers in the majors. He can pump some absolute gas, while occassionally snapping off a knee-breaking curve. However, all of this praise comes with an enormous caveat - I will never ever trust him on the mound.
As a starting pitcher up through 1999, LaTroy was always a disappointment and seemed unable to harness his skill until performance. The one start of his that always stood out in my mind was his losing effort during David Wells' perfect game. I remember him pitching very well, but giving up some unlucky hits and watching the Yankees piece together a couple of runs off of him. However, a quick check of Retrosheet shows that he gave up 4 runs over 7 innings, not exactly a great start. I guess I was just looking for positives in that game.
LaTroy is rearing back to gas someoneAs the closer for the first five months of 2001, LaTroy was absolutely frightening to watch and may have taken a year off of my life. The stress that he caused with his lack of control and inability to finish of batters was probably reason #1 that caused Tom Kelly to retire. At the dawn of last season, I hoped the Twins could trade him to anyone and for anybody. However, he has remained a Twin and has become absolutely amazing. Rick Anderson deserves a great deal of praise for turning LaTroy into a very, very productive member of the team.
Perhaps my favorite part about the Hawk was that despite all of his struggles he is a very nice guy. There are frequent stories about him doing charity work, or just being friendly in public. Plus, he easily has the best fan club of any current Twin.
Updated June 18, 2003
The recent poor work on by the bullpen has led to LaTroy being worked very hard. While he has recently lost two games, his first losses since 2001, LaTroy has still pitched very well lately. The Twins desperately need another reliever to step up and relieve the pressure that LaTroy has been pitching under lately. Sadly, LaTroy is also beginning to whine about his lack of a contract after this season. The Twins have wisely chosen to not sign both Eddie Guardado and him to extensions, and to defer the negotiations until after the season. While I would prefer that Hawkins is the reliever who is signed, Hawkins has absolutely no right to complain about the lack of loyalty shown by the Twins. After all, they stuck with him through all of his struggles as a starter, and he has finally begun to pay dividends in the last two seasons. Hopefully, he will stop whining and there will be a happy conclusion to this little riff.
Updated September 12, 2003
The Hawk got the two biggest outs of the season on Wednesday, September 10, as he got out of a huge in the seventh inning. He is currently the twelfth-best relief pitcher in baseball according the Michael Wolverton's relief statistics on Baseball Prospectus.
Updated October 1, 2003
LaTroy! His dominant two innings of relief yesterday earned LaTroy the victory in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees. Sadly, his electric performance and blazing fastball also probably just priced himself off of the team for next year as his star has shone on the games' brightest stage. Great job, LaTroy, and keep up the good work through October.
