A Toast To Jeff Reardon: Its already been 35 years ago, when New York Mets head New England scout at the time, Len Zanke and George Greer, picked me up in a big white Lincoln and we attended a sports dinner in New Haven, Connecticut, in October of 1979. Lenny, I think you should try to get in touch with another pitcher when you get to St. Petersburg, Zanke said. I signed a pitcher a few years before you, from Massachussetts, his name is Jeff Reardon. I never heard of him, Mr. Zanke, but when I find Bruce Boisclair, Ill try to find Reardon. Boisclair lived just a stones throw away from my hometown of Plainfield, Connecticut. Nobody signed Jeff Reardon after a successful four-year career at Massachusetts and three strong summers with Cotuit (Cape Cod League). Once he completed his college eligibility in 1977, Reardon’s only offer was to play semipro ball in Nova Scotia. Zanke was looking for a righthander to fill a spot on a farm team and remembered Reardon. The Cape Cod Leagues Arnold Mycock vouched for Jeff Reardon, saying he could throw hard and was worth taking a chance on. He gave Zanke the information in how to reach him. Zanke tracked down Reardon in Canada and signed him. Two years later he was in the majors, beginning a career that saw him become baseball’s career saves leader until Lee Smith broke his record. I didnt get the chance to speak with Jeff Reardon in my first spring training of 1980 because he was training at the Miller Huggins complex in St. Pete and I was at the Joan Payson complex not too far away. Even when I did go to there I was too reluctant to introduce myself to him, wondering if hed acknowledge some hayseed from Connecticut. After a spring of watching him pitch at Al-Lang Stadium, I learned from other players that his personality off the field was a quiet guy (with just a mustache) at the time, with a 98 mph fastball. He threw all arms and legs at a hitter and was quite intimidating rather than flamboyant. Jeff Reardon is a Dalton, Massachussetts native and 1973 Wahconah Regional High School graduate who now lives in Palm Gardens, Florida. Out of high school, Reardon was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 23rd round of the 1973 amateur draft, but did not sign. After playing college baseball for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Reardon went undrafted and thats when the Mets signed him to a minor league contract with the New York Mets in 1977 and was assigned to the Lynchburg Mets. Although undrafted, Reardon quickly made his way through the Mets farm system, compiling a 30-9 record with a 2.68 ERA and 6 saves in 74 games combined between Lynchburg, Jackson in 1978, and Tidewater in 1979. By pitching only 20⅔ innings for the big club, in 1979, Jeff Reardon retained his rookie status for the 1980 campaign. His first full season in the majors was arguably the best by a Mets rookie reliever in the teams first two decades of existence. Reardon appeared in 61 games for the Mets in 1980, racking up 110⅓ innings in the process. He was at his best when he pitched at least two innings, which he did in 38 of his 61 appearances. He posted a 1.62 ERA in his multi-inning appearances, holding the opposition scoreless in 28 of those 38 games. His tremendous season (8-7, six saves, 2.61 ERA, 101 Ks) earned him a sixth-place finish for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, making him the first relief pitcher in Mets history to get Rookie of the Year consideration. Even though the Mets were still near the bottom of the National League East standings in 1981, they had developed quite a bullpen. Seven relievers pitched in at least 20 games for the Mets in 1981. None of them had an ERA above 3.68 and five of the seven posted ERAs under 3.00. As the June 15 trade deadline was approaching, it was clear that the bullpen was the teams strength. At the same time, the offense was struggling to score runs. The Mets won only eight of their first 33 games in 1981, averaging 2.9 runs per game over that stretch. Other than the recently reacquired Dave Kingman, who hit 11 of the teams first 25 home runs, no Met was hitting for power. The Mets were looking for someone to spark their offense. What they succeeded in doing was igniting the career of Jeff Reardon, who became one of the best closers in baseball. General manager Frank Cashen realized that the team needed an offensive spark and also knew that one way to get it was by trading a strength to fix a weakness. In a trade that would go down as one of the few poor deals orchestrated by Cashen, the Mets sent Reardon and outfielder Dan Norman (who came to the Mets in the Tom Seaver trade) to the Montreal Expos in exchange for outfielder Ellis Valentine. Jeff Reardons career as a Met was over. After the trade to Montreal, Reardon turned into a dominant reliever. In 25 games for the Expos in 1981, Reardon went 2-0 with six saves. He also posted a 1.30 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and held opposing hitters to a microscopic .148 batting average. Reardon was at his best during the Expos march to the second-half division title in 1981 (the players strike divided the 1981 season into two halves), allowing one run, eight hits and no walks in his final 15⅓ innings. Three of those 15⅓ innings came in Montreals regular season finale, a game the Expos needed to win to advance to the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Naturally, the game was played at Shea Stadium, the site of the Expos first-ever regular season game in 1969. Reardon came into the game in the seventh inning and was still on the hill when Dave Kingman flied out to leftfielder Terry Francona for the final out of the game. Four months after being traded by the Mets to the Expos, Reardon was celebrating a split-season championship with his new teammates at Shea Stadium. In the first-ever National League Division Series, Reardon saved two of the Expos three victories. However, he struggled against the eventual World Series champion Dodgers in the NLCS. Montreal fell one win short in their quest to reach the World Series. They never won another division title as the Expos. From 1982 to 1986, the Expos were a mediocre team, winning between 78 and 86 games each year. But Reardon was anything but mediocre. During those five seasons, he established himself as one of the most feared closers in the National League. He won 30 games and recorded 146 saves over the next half-decade for the Expos, recording an impressive 2.98 ERA along the way. He was selected to represent Montreal in the All-Star Game twice and led the league in saves once. Furthermore, his 41 saves in 1985 earned him his first Rolaids Relief Award and helped him finish 7th in the Cy Young Award vote and 20th in the NL MVP vote. Following the 1986 season, the Expos traded Reardon to the Minnesota Twins in a six-player deal. Upon bidding adieu to Montreal, Reardon posted a 4.48 ERA in his first season facing American League hitters, he still managed to save 31 games for the Twins in 1987 and struck out a career-high 9.3 batters per nine innings. I recall Gary Gaetti throwing to Kent Hrbek for the final out of Game 7 of the World Series, as the Twins burried Reardon on the infield, celebrating in a wave of Minnesota madness. That final play set off a huge celebration in the Metrodome and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Twins went on to win their first World Series championship in Minnesota, with Reardon pitching 4⅔ scoreless innings in the Fall Classic. For the second time in his career, Reardon finished in the top ten in the Cy Young vote and he also finished 11th in the race for AL MVP. Reardon had another spectacular season in 1988, saving a career-high 42 games, lowering his ERA to 2.47 and earning his third All-Star Game selection, but the Twins fell short in their quest to repeat as World Series champions. In 1989, Reardons ERA rose to 4.00, but he still managed to record his fifth consecutive 30-save season. It would be his last season in Minnesota. Prior to the 1990 season, Reardon signed a three-year contract to pitch for the Boston Red Sox. His first two years in Boston were excellent. He combined to save 61 games in 1990 and 1991, helping the Red Sox win the AL East in 1990 and making his fourth All-Star team in 1991. After becoming the first pitcher to record a 40-save season in each league in 1988, Reardon enjoyed another 40-save season with the Red Sox in 1991, making him the first player to reach that mark with three different teams. In 1992, Jeff Reardon put his name in the record books once again when he recorded his 342nd career save to pass Rollie Fingers into the top spot on the all-time saves list. But Reardon struggled after breaking Fingers record. The Red Sox traded Jeff Reardon to Atlanta in late August. In 14 late-season appearances with the the Braves, Reardon went 3-0 with three saves and a 1.15 ERA, helping Atlanta win their second consecutive NL West division title. In the NLCS against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Reardon did not allow a run or a hit in three appearances and became the winning pitcher in Game 7 when Francisco Cabrera drove in Sid Bream with the pennant-winning run in the bottom of the ninth. During a career that began in New York with the Mets in 1979 and ended across town with the Yankees in 1994, Jeff Reardon recorded 40-save seasons for three different teams. He was also a four-time All-Star, finished in the top ten in the Cy Young vote twice, and even received MVP consideration three times (1985, 1987, 1988), a feat that is unheard of for a relief pitcher. He helped four teams make the playoffs and pitched in 18 postseason games for the Expos (1981), Twins (1987), Red Sox (1990) and Braves (1992). He won two playoff games in his career, including a Game 7, and saved six others. Jeff Reardon pitched in 880 games, with all of them coming in relief. He finished his career with a 73-77 record, 367 saves (20 of which came against the Mets) and a 3.16 ERA. Reardon was so dominant that he finished his career with more saves (367) than walks (358). But as is the case with many other relief pitchers, he did not receive much support when he became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2000. In his first year of eligibility, Reardon was named on 24 of the 499 ballots cast, falling one vote short of the 25 needed to receive the 5% of the votes required to remain on the Hall of Fame ballot. Jeff Reardon had always been a picture of control on the mound. He was soft-spoken, meticulous and had a temper, and at times, all at once!. - just what Len Zanke told me years ago. With his black beard and a lights-out fastball, he earned the nickname The Terminator. Its October 2014, and the baseball winds will blow strong at AT&T Park, a Dodger ace is poised to dominate a postseason game, the Tigers may make their way to the Fall Classic and Washington fans will see their club in their first post season appearance - There will be a lot of champagne and celebrating. Today, I raise my glass to Jeff Reardon - For October doesnt only mean post season play, it means that October is my favorite baseball players birthday. - October 1st - Happy Birthday Terminator! Below: Jeff Reardon
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 20:07:27 +0000