Pickoff gives Rogers all-time lead ON 5/9/08

05/10/2008 12:15 PM ET
Pickoff gives Rogers all-time lead
Veteran Tigers southpaw passes Langston with 92nd of career
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Kenny Rogers doesn't get many chances to pick off runners anymore because of his reputation. His pickoff on Friday night gave him a record to back that up.

When Rogers caught the Yankees' Wilson Betemit straying too far off of first base, it marked the 92nd pickoff of his career, pushing him past Mark Langston for the all-time Major League lead. It's a relatively recent record, since the stat wasn't tracked until 1974, but it's a record that Rogers holds over some prominent left-handed company.

Rogers and Langston had been tied since last Sept. 17, the date of Rogers' last pickoff. He has just five in two-plus seasons as a member of the Tigers because few runners test him anymore.

"It's nice, without a doubt," Rogers said of the mark. "I didn't keep track of it until the last year or two. I try to get some, but they don't get out very far anymore. Luckily, I got one today."

It's a fitting mark for Rogers, given all of the work he puts in to hone the defensive part of his game. The five-time Gold Glove Award winner has been known as one of baseball's best fielders on the mound, with a surehanded glove and an infielder's range, and he takes pride in it. His quick move to first has been known for years.

In Betemit's case, it apparently caught him by surprise. The fill-in Yankees third baseman followed up Jason Giambi's second-inning solo homer with a one-out infield single that deflected off of Rogers' glove.

Rogers, a perfectionist when it comes to fielding, erased Betemit with a move that caught him flat-footed. Betemit never got so much as a hand back to the bag, as first baseman Miguel Cabrera tagged him.

"Getting pickoffs is probably secondary to what I'm trying for," Rogers said. "If I hold them close and get a ground ball, I get a double play without them bearing down on the second baseman or shortstop. I try to do everything I'm supposed to do on the mound defensively, and holding runners close is without a doubt a very important part."

In Friday's case, it was a momentum-changer following the Giambi home run.

"It can be, without a doubt," Rogers said. "It's always an added out, and an added option to get an out with a man on base. It takes the wind out of their sails. I'm always looking to slow the momentum down of the opposition."

The entire top five on the career pickoffs list consists of left-handers. Yankees southpaw Andy Pettitte will take the mound on Sunday at Comerica Park in third place with 84. Diamondbacks lefty Randy Johnson is tied with Greg Swindell for fourth with 77.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Way to go :rogers: !

You stand alone!

:rogers:

The "old man" is our first 3 game winner! I'm glad he cane back another year! When he can't pitch anymore, I hope the Tigers hire him as a coach!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

The "old man" is our first 3 game winner! I'm glad he cane back another year! When he can't pitch anymore, I hope the Tigers hire him as a coach!

verrrrrrrrrrrrry good idea! He has to pay for that new house in Houston that he just had built anyhow!