LaTroy Hawkins

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**LaTroy Hawkins**

New York Yankees — No. 22
Relief Pitcher
Born: December 21, 1972 (1972-12-21) (age 35) Gary, Indiana
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 29, 1995 for the Minnesota Twins
Selected MLB statistics (through June 8, 2008)
Win-Loss	57–77
Earned Run Average	4.72
Strikeouts	716
Teams
Minnesota Twins (1995–2003) Chicago Cubs (2004–2005) San Francisco Giants (2005) Baltimore Orioles (2006) Colorado Rockies (2007) New York Yankees (2008–Present)

LaTroy Hawkins (born December 21, 1972 in Gary, Indiana) is a Major League relief pitcher currently playing for the New York Yankees.

Hawkins was drafted straight out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the 1991 amateur draft, and spent the next four years in the Twins' minor league system. His major league debut early in the 1995 season was a disastrous start against the Baltimore Orioles, where he gave up seven earned runs in only an inning and two thirds of work. Hawkins bounced between the big league club and Salt Lake of the PCL over the next few years, finally landing in the Twins' bullpen permanently in 1998.

Sporting a mid-90s fastball, Hawkins was used by the Twins as their closer during the 2000 and 2001 seasons, but eventually lost the job to Eddie Guardado. Now in the set-up role, Hawkins drew the attention of the league when he posted a 2.13 ERA in 2002. He fared even better in 2003, when his ERA dropped to 1.86 and he struck out 75 batters in just 77 and 1/3 innings. Hawkins was made a free agent after the 2003 season, and drew interest from a number of teams before signing a three year, $11 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.

Hawkins was signed by the Cubs to pitch the 8th inning to set up for Joe Borowski, but Borowski went down with an injury early in the season, and Hawkins took over closing duties. On September 11, Hawkins struck out the side on only nine pitches in a game against the Florida Marlins. Despite a better-than-average ERA of 2.63 on the year and 25 saves, Hawkins blew 9 saves on the year, including two during a late-September skid that cost the Cubs the wild card. These blown saves earned him the ire of Cubs fans, who made a habit of booing him loudly at Wrigley Field when he came on in relief. The Cubs traded Hawkins to the San Francisco Giants two months into the 2005 season in exchange for pitchers Jerome Williams and David Aardsma.

Upon arrival in San Francisco, Hawkins was initially converted back into a set-up role, with the team cautiously optimistic about a return to form. However, Hawkins only showed brief flashes of his previous ability en route to a league-average performance for the Giants. Following the 2005 season, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for left-handed reliever Steve Kline.

After another average year with Baltimore, Hawkins signed a one year, $3.25 contract with the Colorado Rockies. On July 8, 2007, Hawkins was the only Colorado player to help the groundskeepers and the entire Philadelphia ballclub with the tarp during a heavy storm in Denver.^[1] Despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Coors Field, he posted a 3.42 ERA in 62 appearances, including a scoreless 7th inning in the wild card playoff against San Diego. Hawkins gave up only one run and two hits in five innings of post-season work for the National League champions.

On December 9, 2007, Hawkins agreed to a 1 year contract with the New York Yankees, reportedly worth $3.75 million. He is the first player since outfielder Paul O'Neill to wear the jersey number 21 for the Yankees. ^[2] However, after returning from a road trip on April 16, he changed his number to 22 in response to the fans' booing, yelling, and calling O'Neill's name when he took the field. ^[3]

Hawkins was suspended three games for throwing a head-high pitch to Baltimore Orioles left fielder Luke Scott on May 21, MLB announced May 22. He has also been fined an undisclosed amount. ^[4]