Jimmy Key turns 64 today.
Jimmy Key was born in Huntsville, Alabama. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1982 amateur draft by the Jays out of Clemson University. He quickly rose to the Majors, making the Jays out of spring training in 1984. They had him pitch out of the bullpen that season. Back then, the Jays tended to use first-year pitchers in the pen, figuring that was the best way to teach them how to pitch in the majors (I still think it is a good plan, but it doesn’t happen anymore). He quickly became part of a closer-by-committee group manager Bobby Cox used. He tied for the team lead in saves with 10, with Roy Lee Jackson. Dennis Lamp had 9 that year. The Jays finished 2nd to the Tigers that season, but 15 games back. That season, there wasn’t a pennant race; Detroit jumped out with a great start and never slowed down.
The following season, 1985, Jimmy started the season in the rotation and stayed there for the next eight seasons. He consistently won between 12 and 17 games yearly as a Jay starter. In ‘85, Key was 14-6 and made the All-Star team; Key was 4th in the AL in ERA at 3.00. Had he not pitched a few too many innings in 1984, he would have been a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year. Also, in 1985, we made the postseason for the first time, losing out to the Royals in 7 games. Key started game two, which the Jays lost in extra innings, and started game 5, taking the loss in a 2-0 game.
1987 was Jimmy’s best season with the Jays. He finished 17-8 with a league-leading 2.76 ERA in 36 starts covering 261 innings. He had the best WHIP in the AL at 1.057 and the fewest hits per 9 innings at 7.2. 27 of his 36 starts were quality starts. He came in second in the Cy Young voting to Boston’s Roger Clemens and was named The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year.
1988 Key missed 10 weeks of the season with an elbow injury and surgery; he only made 21 starts but still finished with a 12-5 record. In 1989, the Jays made the postseason again. Key could have had a better record, finishing 13-14 with a 3.88 ERA in 33 starts, but he did reach the 8th inning in 18. He started and won game 3 of our ALCS. Unfortunately, that was our only win in a 4-1 series loss to Oakland.
He missed some time again with injuries in 1990 but finished 13-7. In 1991, we made the playoffs again, and Jimmy was an important piece, going 16-12 in 33 starts and with a 3.05 ERA. We again lost out in the ALCS, this time to the Twins. Key had a no-decision in our game three extra-inning loss. He made the All-Star game again this season and was the winning pitcher in the game, played in Toronto.
When we won our first World Series in 1992, Key was just 13-13 with a 3.53 ERA in 33 starts. In the ALCS against Oakland, the Jays used Key out of the pen as we had several great starters. The World Series against Atlanta Key started and won game four, going 7.2 innings of a 2-1 win. He was also the winning pitcher of the series, finishing game six and coming in relief in the 10th inning. We had two pitchers win in our four wins of that series. Duane Ward was the winning pitcher for our first two wins, and Key won the last two.
After the season, Jimmy became a free agent and signed with the Yankees (I guess no one’s perfect). He played for them for four seasons and got his second World Series ring there in 1996. That year, Jimmy also won the deciding series game. After the 1996 season, he became a free agent again and signed with the Orioles. He played there for two seasons before retiring after the 1998 season.
Key had a great 15-year major league career, finishing 186-117 with a 3.51 ERA in 389 starts. In his time with the Jays, he had 116 wins in 250 starts over nine seasons. Not quite a Hall of Famer but squarely in the Hall of Very Good. In his first season as a starter, he didn’t strike out many batters, just 3.6 per 9 innings, but after that, he struck out slightly more than the average pitcher, finishing with an average of 5.3 strikeouts a game, but he was never a big strikeout guy. He was a ground ball pitcher and had terrific control. In his career, he only walked 2.3 batters per 9. He was a good fielder and was good at holding the runner at first. He was consistent, had great composure, and was durable; he made all his starts almost every year.
Key was not a very big man at 6’1” and 185 pounds, and he didn’t have an overwhelming fastball. He threw a great curve, spotted the fastball (Bill James called it a batting practice fastball), and had a change and a slider. Rob Neyer had him as the 2nd best Jay’s starter in his ‘Big Book of Baseball Lineups’, but that was before Roy Halladay had much time in. That book lists his nickname as Pee Wee because of a resemblance to Pee Wee Herman.
Jimmy is married and has children.
I’ll admit he was a favourite of mine. You must love those lefties who don’t throw hard enough to break a pane of glass.
Jimmy Key’s place among Jay pitching leaders:
ERA (>500 innings) tied for 4th, 3.42
bWAR: 3rd, 29.7.
Wins 4th 116
Winning % (>50 decisions) 8th .589
Walks per 9 IP (>500 innings) 5th 2.144
Games Pitched 12th 317
Innings Pitched 4th 1695.2
Strikeouts 6th 944
Games Started 4th 250
Complete Games 5th 28
Happy Birthday, Jimmy. I hope it is a good one.
David Purcey turns 43 today.
Purcey was our first-round pick (16th overall) in 2004 (Matt Bush was the number one pick that season, Justin Verlander was number 2). A lefty pitcher with a mid-90s fastball, slider, and change, Purcey made it as high as #3 on our prospect lists.
He made it to the majors in 2008, making 12 starts and having a 5.54 ERA in 65 innings. He struck out 58 but walked 29, and the walks continued to be an issue. In 2009, he made 9 starts and had a 6.19 ERA in 48 innings. He struck out 39 and walked 30.
They tried him in the bullpen in 2010. He started the season in Triple-A and called him up in late May. He made 33 relief appearances for the Jays and had a 3.71 ERA with 1 save. In 34 innings, he had 32 strikeouts and 15 walks.
He started the 2011 season in the Blue Jays’ bullpen, appearing in five games. Then, we traded him to the Oakland A’s for Danny Farquhar. He went to the Tigers, Phillies, and White Sox. After his major league career, he played in Taiwan for a season.
In his career, he had a 7-13 record and a 4.98 ERA with 1 save, spread over 5 seasons. He had ‘good ‘stuff, but control was always the issue. Career batters hit .254/.354/.407 against him. He was much better against LHB ( .667 OPS) than right-handers (.805), so you could understand why they thought he would make a good LOOGY.
Happy birthday, David; I hope it is a good one.
Kevin Kiermaier turns 35 today.
Kevin played two seasons with the Blue Jays—well, one and a half, really. We traded him to the Dodgers last year. As a Blue Jay, he hit .240/.292/.381 with 12 home runs, 19 steals, and one Gold Glove.
He played 12 years in the MLB. His career numbers: 1159 games, a .246/.308/.407 line with 95 home runs and 132 steals. And, of course, he was terrific defensively. He won four Gold Gloves.
Happy Birthday, Kevin.
Bowden Francis turns 29.
Francis came to us along with Trevor Richards from the Brewers for Rowdy Tellez. He got into one game in 2022 and made 20 relief appearances in 2023 with a 1.73 ERA.
In 2024, he finished the season in the starting rotation and did a great job. He threw two one-hitters, both times taking a no-hitter into the ninth. Bowden was 5-4 with a 2.92 ERA in 13 starts. This year, he has a 3.13 ERA in 4 starts.
Happy Birthday, Bowden.
Mickey Morandini turns 59 today.
Morandini was a second baseman who played 11 seasons in the MLB, one with the Blue Jays. Well, part of one season. He played 35 games at the end of the 2000 season with the Jays, hitting .271/.316/.308. And that turned out to be the end of his career.
In all he played 1298 games, with a .268/.338/.359 line.
Happy Birthday, Mickey.