Kenny Rogers is the oldest pitcher to win a game. And did he ever pitch well in it. A lot of "0" from Kenny.
Rogers was pitching for Detroit in 2006, age 41. He'd won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1996, but had struggled in the postseason. Three years later with the Mets, it was the same deal. Kenny had to get out of New York.
After pitching just once in the 2003 ALDS with Minnesota, Kenny Rogers had to wait another three years to get back to the postseason. Rogers, however, made his 2006 postseason one that Detroit Tigers' fans won't soon forget.
First, there was the ALDS vs. the New York Yankees. Detroit won the series, 3-1. Kenny won a key game, the third contest. And he didn't just win it, Rogers went 7 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and no runs, besting Randy Johnson.
Kenny's next postseason start was in the ALCS vs. Oakland. It was again game three, and Detroit was looking to put the stranglehold on the best-of-seven series. Rogers put the Tigers up 3-0 with a masterful two-hitter over 7 2/3 innings. Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones held the Athletics hitless the rest of the way as the Tigers won, 3-0. They'd go on to a sweep.
But the World Series was where Detroit met their match. In a rematch of the 1968 Fall Classic, the Tigers were up against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards wasted no time in taking game one in enemy territory by a convincing 7-2 score.
So, it was up to Kenny Rogers to send this to Missouri tied. Kenny did his job!
Detroit tallied twice in the last of the first, but run support proved minimal. The Tigers would score just one more time as opposing pitcher Jeff Weaver was strafed for nine hits, but only three runs in five innings. The Cardinals bullpen of Tyler Johnson, Josh Kinney, Randy Flores, Brad Thompson and finally Adam Wainwright held the home team to just one hit in the next three innings.
But our boy wasn't giving in to St. Louis.
Kenny Rogers picked up where he'd left off against Oakland. St. Louis didn't really have a chance against him, you see. Albert Pujols walked on four pitches with two away in the top of the first. Scott Rolen singled to left. Two on, two out. Juan Encarnacion grounded back to Kenny Rogers. The Cards really didn't do much against Rogers the the rest of the night.
St. Louis coaxed a walk off Kenny in the top of the fifth and sixth. But it was not until the eighth inning where the Cards got their second hit off Rogers. Yadier Molina singled. The next batter hit into a force. A double play got Kenny out of the inning.
Rogers left after eight strong innings of work. Two hits, three walks, five K's. Quite an outing for someone who was weeks away from his 42nd birthday. The Cardinals came alive in the ninth against Todd Jones. The first two batters were retired, and Kenny appeared to have another combined two-hitter on his postseason resume. But then Scott Rolen singled. Juan Encarnacion was back at the dish, and Detroit allowed Rolen to take second while they concentrated on getting Encarnacion out.
But that didn't happen. Jones made an error on a grounder, and Encarnacion was aboard. Rolen advanced to third as the tying run came to the dish. It was Jim Edmonds, and he hit a double to break up the shutout and send Juan Encarnacion to third.
Amazingly enough, Todd hit Preston Wilson, loading the bases and putting St. Louis a single (To the outfield) away from tying it up. Jones got Yadier Molina to hit into a force at second. Detroit had themselves a 3-1 win! Series tied!
It proved to be Detroit's only win in the 2006 World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals won 5-0, 5-4 and 4-2 in the next three games, holding the Detroit Tigers to just eighteen hits in those three games.
Kenny Rogers did not appear again the postseason. He returned in 2007 to the Tigers, but could go only 3-4. The following season was Kenny's last, and he went 9-13. Detroit did not advance to the postseason either year.
References
“Kenny Rogers (Baseball).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 6 June 2019. Web. 16 Aug. 2019. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Rogers_(baseball).
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 16 Aug. 2019.
Youtube. Youtube. Web. 16 Aug. 2019. youtube.com.
Rogers was pitching for Detroit in 2006, age 41. He'd won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1996, but had struggled in the postseason. Three years later with the Mets, it was the same deal. Kenny had to get out of New York.
After pitching just once in the 2003 ALDS with Minnesota, Kenny Rogers had to wait another three years to get back to the postseason. Rogers, however, made his 2006 postseason one that Detroit Tigers' fans won't soon forget.
First, there was the ALDS vs. the New York Yankees. Detroit won the series, 3-1. Kenny won a key game, the third contest. And he didn't just win it, Rogers went 7 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and no runs, besting Randy Johnson.
Kenny's next postseason start was in the ALCS vs. Oakland. It was again game three, and Detroit was looking to put the stranglehold on the best-of-seven series. Rogers put the Tigers up 3-0 with a masterful two-hitter over 7 2/3 innings. Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones held the Athletics hitless the rest of the way as the Tigers won, 3-0. They'd go on to a sweep.
But the World Series was where Detroit met their match. In a rematch of the 1968 Fall Classic, the Tigers were up against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards wasted no time in taking game one in enemy territory by a convincing 7-2 score.
So, it was up to Kenny Rogers to send this to Missouri tied. Kenny did his job!
Detroit tallied twice in the last of the first, but run support proved minimal. The Tigers would score just one more time as opposing pitcher Jeff Weaver was strafed for nine hits, but only three runs in five innings. The Cardinals bullpen of Tyler Johnson, Josh Kinney, Randy Flores, Brad Thompson and finally Adam Wainwright held the home team to just one hit in the next three innings.
But our boy wasn't giving in to St. Louis.
Kenny Rogers picked up where he'd left off against Oakland. St. Louis didn't really have a chance against him, you see. Albert Pujols walked on four pitches with two away in the top of the first. Scott Rolen singled to left. Two on, two out. Juan Encarnacion grounded back to Kenny Rogers. The Cards really didn't do much against Rogers the the rest of the night.
St. Louis coaxed a walk off Kenny in the top of the fifth and sixth. But it was not until the eighth inning where the Cards got their second hit off Rogers. Yadier Molina singled. The next batter hit into a force. A double play got Kenny out of the inning.
Rogers left after eight strong innings of work. Two hits, three walks, five K's. Quite an outing for someone who was weeks away from his 42nd birthday. The Cardinals came alive in the ninth against Todd Jones. The first two batters were retired, and Kenny appeared to have another combined two-hitter on his postseason resume. But then Scott Rolen singled. Juan Encarnacion was back at the dish, and Detroit allowed Rolen to take second while they concentrated on getting Encarnacion out.
But that didn't happen. Jones made an error on a grounder, and Encarnacion was aboard. Rolen advanced to third as the tying run came to the dish. It was Jim Edmonds, and he hit a double to break up the shutout and send Juan Encarnacion to third.
Amazingly enough, Todd hit Preston Wilson, loading the bases and putting St. Louis a single (To the outfield) away from tying it up. Jones got Yadier Molina to hit into a force at second. Detroit had themselves a 3-1 win! Series tied!
It proved to be Detroit's only win in the 2006 World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals won 5-0, 5-4 and 4-2 in the next three games, holding the Detroit Tigers to just eighteen hits in those three games.
Kenny Rogers did not appear again the postseason. He returned in 2007 to the Tigers, but could go only 3-4. The following season was Kenny's last, and he went 9-13. Detroit did not advance to the postseason either year.
References
“Kenny Rogers (Baseball).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 6 June 2019. Web. 16 Aug. 2019. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Rogers_(baseball).
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 16 Aug. 2019.
Youtube. Youtube. Web. 16 Aug. 2019. youtube.com.
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