Our
next A’s Favorites piece continues from the early 2000’s era and my favorite
pitcher from those teams, Tim Hudson. Again, as a quick reminder, the genesis of
this series is from a thread on Athletics
Nation regarding who were some of each poster’s favorite players from the
past. My responses within that thread
were grouped together by era:
80’s
and early 90’s – Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, and Carney Lansford
Late
90’s and early 2000’s – Tim Hudson and Eric Chavez
Recent
departures – Kurt Suzuki
Career Summary
Tim
Hudson took quite a path to becoming one of the better pitches baseball has
seen over the past decade and a half. He
was drafted by the Athletics in the 35th round but went to play at a
Community College for two seasons before finally gaining recognition and
landing at Auburn University. Hudson
pitched his final two years at Auburn. He
was also known as a good hitter in college and made the All-SEC team as both a
pitcher and hitter. Tim Hudson was drafted
again by the Athletics in the sixth round of the 1997 draft.
Small
in stature but big in heart, Hudson quickly made his way to the pros in 1999. He was a June call-up for the Athletics that
year and proceeded to go 11-2 through the rest of the season with a 3.23
ERA. In 2000, Hudson led the AL in wins
posting a 20-6 record and helped lead the A’s back to the playoffs for the
first time since 1992.
Tim
pitched for the A’s from 1999-2004 putting up gaudy stats. In 183 starts for
the A’s, Hudson was 92-39, good for a 70% win percentage clip. He posted a 3.30 ERA over that same
timeframe, with 899 strikeouts and 16 complete games. He made the All Star team in 2000 and 2004
with the A’s.
As
you are likely well aware, Hudson was part of Oakland’s ‘Big Three’ with Barry
Zito and Mark Mulder. These three were
close to dominant in the regular season and helped the team make four straight
playoff appearances from 2000-2003.
Unfortunately, once these A’s teams got to the playoffs, things crumbled
for one reason or another.
The
team decided that they needed to restock the roster and farm system and couldn’t
afford to keep the big three in the middle of the decade. Hudson was traded to the Atlanta Braves for a
package of players that never really became much for the A’s organization. (Why are the Braves the one team that no
opposing team ever seems to “win” a trade?)
Hudson
has posted similar numbers during his tenure in Atlanta and has come back Tommy
John surgery during the 2008 season. The
surgery cost him most of the 2009 season as well, returning for September
baseball for the Braves. In 2010, Hudson
returned to make 34 starts and win Comeback Player of the Year, with a 17-9
record and 2.83 ERA.
Interesting
enough, Hudson has never had a record at or below .500 in his major league
career. His career ERA is 3.42, which
should be considered very impressive given the era that he is/was pitching
in.
While
his regular season numbers are strong, his postseason results are mixed. He pitched well for the A’s in their two
series against the Yankees, but was hammered by the Twins in his two starts in
their 2002 series. He didn’t get a
decision in either of his starts when the A’s played Boston in 2003. Hudson’s time with the Braves has been met
with limited success as well, as those teams have been unable to move past the
NLDS in either effort (2005 and 2010).
What drew me to … Tim
Hudson
Hudson
was my clear favorite from the “Big Three”.
He had a fiery attitude and wasn’t willing to back down from anyone when
on the mound. He also liked to talk a
little trash out there too. While
completely ridiculous, Hudson wore #15 which happened to be the number I wore
in Little League and another reason that he drew my attention/fandom.
Hudson
used multiple pitches to get batters out and was consistently seen as a Cy
Young candidate during his tenure with the A’s.
I wish that those teams from the early 2000’s were able to move along at
least once to get into the longer, seven game series, where they would have
held an advantage over any other pitching staff.
Where is Tim Hudson
now?
‘Huddy’
is entering the final year of his current contract with the Braves, as the team
picked up his option for the forthcoming season at $9 million. Hudson has stated that he would like to
resign with the team beyond the 2013 season, so it doesn’t look like retirement
is in his foreseeable future.
Best
of luck to Hudson this upcoming season, unless of course he is facing the
Athletics in the World Series!
(Photo credit: San Francisco Chronicle Photo: Jim Merithew)
