Todd Coffey

Todd Coffey

Free agent
Relief pitcher
Born: September 9, 1980 (1980-09-09) (age 31)
Forest City, North Carolina
Bats: Right Throws: Right 
MLB debut
April 19, 2005 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics
(through 2011 season)
Win–Loss     24-18
Earned run average     4.08
Strikeouts     311
Saves     11
Teams

Justin Todd Coffey (born September 9, 1980) is an American professional baseball pitcher. He was born in Forest City, North Carolina.

Baseball career

Coffey was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 41st round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft out of Chase High School in Forest City, North Carolina.[1] He made his major league debut on April 19, 2005,[1] pitching two innings and giving up two runs against the Chicago Cubs.[2]

On September 9, 2008, Coffey was designated for assignment by the Reds[3] and claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers on September 12.[4] On December 8, 2008, Coffey agreed to a one-year deal with the Brewers, avoiding arbitration.[5]

On April 22, 2009, Coffey made an appearance as the closer; he held the role until Trevor Hoffman returned from an injury.[6]

On December 2, 2010, the Milwaukee Brewers announced the team would not offer him arbitration. He elected to become a free agent the next day.

Coffey mainly throws two pitches: a sinking fastball that goes up to 95–96 mph, and a sharp dropping slider at 81–82 mph.

He is best known for his full-speed sprints from the bullpen to the mound when he is brought into games.[7] As a result, the Brewers introduced a "Coffey Time!" graphic on the scoreboard that kept track of Coffey's time to sprint from the bullpen to the pitcher's mound after getting called out to pitch.[7] When Coffey sprinted to the mound, Former WWF Superstar the Ultimate Warrior's entrance music was played. (Although Coffey now sprints out to a western movie song)[8]

Coffey signed with the Nationals on January 24, 2011. He finished the year with a 3.62 ERA and became a free agent following the season.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b The Baseball Cube. "Todd Coffey - The Baseball Cube". http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Todd-Coffey.shtml. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
  2. ^ Baseball-Reference. "April 19, 2005 Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds Box Score and Play by Play". http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN200504190.shtml. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
  3. ^ TSN. "MLB - Todd Coffey". http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/teams/players/bio/?id=5172. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
  4. ^ Baseball-Reference. "2008 Milwaukee Brewers Trades and Transactions". http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIL/2008-transactions.shtml. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
  5. ^ McCalvy, Adam (December 8, 2008). "Brewers, Coffey reach one-year deal". http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3705886&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
  6. ^ McCalvy, Adam (April 22, 2009). "Coffey closing, but cool with any role". http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090422&content_id=4389812&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
  7. ^ a b Milwaukee Brewers (May 13, 2009). "Chat transcript: Todd Coffey". http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090513&content_id=4710184&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
  8. ^ McCalvy, Adam (May 29, 2009). "The Crew's ultimate warrior finds his tune". http://brewersbeat.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/05/the_crews_ultimate_warrior_fin.html. Retrieved July 5, 2009. 
  9. ^ Ladson, Bill (2011-01-24). "Nationals bring aboard right-hander Coffey". MLB.com. http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110119&content_id=16459508&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 

External links