A Tale of Two Seasons: Bob Veale in 1971 and Tom Henke in 1987

It was the best of a bad season, it was the worst of a good season. This is the tale, not of seven castaways stranded on a tropic isle, but of two pitchers. One went 6-0, the other, 0-6, and therein lies the story …

The year: 1971.
The team: the Pirates.
The man: Bob Veale.

Going into the ’71 season, big (6′ 5-1/2″) Bob Veale had been one of the National League’s premier power pitchers for the preceding seven seasons. His career ERA at the time was 2.95. He had been named to two All-Star teams. He had pitched no fewer than 200 innings and had never struck out fewer than 170 batters during that seven year stretch-indeed, in four of those seasons, he had had over 200 Ks. He was only the third National League pitcher with at least 200 innings pitched to average more than one strikeout an inning in a season when, in 1965, he whiffed 276 in 266 IPs. Over the course of his career up to that point, he had averaged eight strikeouts per nine innings. In 1968, he had the misfortune to go 13-14 despite a 2.06 ERA. His luck was about to change.

On May 10, Veale came in against the Dodgers with one out in the sixth and the Pirates trailing, 4- 3. He closed out the seventh, and then the Bucs scored eight runs in the eighth. Relieved by Mudcat Grant who held the Dodgers scoreless the rest of the way, Veale was credited with the win.

His line score: 1-2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.

On June 8, he came in in relief of Nellie Briles against the Cubs with the score tied, 3-3. He gave up a hit, allowing the go-ahead run to score, then pitched fairly well until two were out in the fifth, when Dave Giusti relieved him. Giusti went 4-1/3 without allowing the Cubs to score. Did I mention that while Veale was on the mound the Pirates scored six runs (including a RBI single by Bob himself)? Win: Veale.

His line score: 2-1/3 IP, I H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.

On June 28, Veale came in against the Phils with the Pirates behind, 7-5. When he left the mound, the Phils had expanded their lead to 9-5-but the Pirates scored four in the top of the seventh and Giusti held the Phils scoreless the rest of the way. Veale was given credit for the Bucs’ 10-9 win.

His line score: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.

On July 20, Veale relieved Steve Blass in the second with the Pirates down, 1-0. Bob surrendered two runs in the inning. He gave up another in the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, the Pirates scored five (with Veale getting another RBI single) to take a 6-5 lead. Veale gave up two more runs in the fifth, and left trailing, 7-6. The Pirates scored two in the bottom of the fifth and hung on for the win, which was credited to Veale. It was his longest stint of the year.

His line score: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K.

On July 29, Veale relieved Blass again, this time in the fourth with his team down, 4-0. The Bucs scored one in the fifth and, after Bob left for a pinch hitter, six more in the sixth. Final score, 10-6 Pittsburgh. W-Veale.

His line score: 1-2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, l K.

On August 3, he relieved Blass yet again, this time in the seventh with the Bucs trailing, 5-4. After he retired the two batters he faced, the Pirates scored six runs in the top of the eighth to win, 10-6, with Veale once again getting the decision.

His line score: 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.

In his six victories, Big Bob pitched 12-1/3 innings, gave up 14 hits and seven runs, six of them earned, walked four, and struck out six. His ERA was 4.39. In his other 31 appearances that year, he was 0-0 with 45 hits, 31 runs, 30 earned runs, 20 walks and 34 strikeouts in 34 innings, with an ERA of 7.96. He didn’t pitch particularly well in the games he won, but his mates scored 33 runs when he was the pitcher of record — an astonishing 24.4 runs per nine innings.

The year: 1987.
The team: the Blue Jays.
The man: Tom Henke.

On May 20, Henke came on in relief of Jimmy Key in the eighth with the Jays trailing the Angels, 4-1. The Jays scored three in the top of the ninth to tie the score. (It should be noted here that at this point of the season, Henke had yet to yield a run. In his eighteen previous appearances he had allowed only 12 baserunners in the 19-1/3 innings he had pitched, fewer than half as many as the strikeouts he had recorded over that time.) In the tenth, Tom got a popup out on Schofield, and then allowed a Sayonara blast to Wally Joyner.

His line: 2-1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

Henke’s next decision came on June 26, when he came in in relief of Bill Musselman, who had relieved Key. Henke took the mound with the bases loaded in the sixth and the score at 4-2, Jays. He promptly gave up a single to Robin Yount that scored Dale Sveum, but he then got out of the inning without further damage. In the eighth he gave up a double to B. J. Surhoff, walked Bill Schroeder, gave up a sacrifice, and then a double to Dale Sveum which scored two. He then whiffed Cecil Fielder, walked Yount intentionally, walked Castillo unintentionally and allowed a single to Cecil Cooper which scored both Yount and Sveum. Nunez relieved and allowed Cooper and Castillo to score, sealing Henke’s fate.

His line score: 1-1/3 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K.

Henke quickly followed this less than stellar outing with one almost as bad on June 29. Playing the Yankees, the Jays had come storming back from an 8-3 deficit to take the lead in the seventh. Tom came in in the eighth with Pagliarullo and Henderson on base. He promptly struck out Willie Randolph, but things went downhill from there. Mattingly walked, and Dave Winfield walloped a grand slam. The Blue Jays, unable to score in the ninth, tumbled to an ignominious defeat. L-Henke.

His line score: 1-2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, I BB, 3 K.

On the third of July (this was a really bad week for Henke), Tom came on in relief in the second game of a doubleheader (remember those?) against the Royals. He was relieving Musselman again with the Jays up, 4-2 in the eighth and Frank White on second. He gave up a sacrifice fly to “Bye-Bye” Balboni, but got out of the inning still up, 4-3. In the ninth, he got Eisenreich to fly out, but gave up a single to Beniquez, who was replaced on the base by Willie Wilson who stole second. Tom then struck out Seiczer, and was one out away from the win. He walked George Brett intentionally, then Tartabull unintentionally, loading the bases. A wild pitch scored Wilson and tied the score. Frank White singled, scoring Brett. The Jays go down, 5-4. Henke took the loss.

His line score: 1-1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K.

On August 31, Tom came in relief in the eighth with Toronto ahead of the Angels, 7-6. He gave up the tying run in the ninth, but held the Angels scoreless in the tench. In the eleventh, things deteriorated quickly. Howe singled to right, Ray sacrificed him to second. Joyner was intentionally walked, setting up a double play. Buckner flied to right, allowing Howe to go to third. Whitt allowed a ball to get by him, scoring Howe. LP-Henke.

His line score: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.

Against the Yankees on the September 7, Henke relieved Wells with a runner on third (Wells had struck out Lombardi, but Whitt allowed the ball to get by him and Lombardi reached first. Wells then threw a wild pitch. Lombardi went to second, then advanced to third on an Easler fly out). Henke gave up a single to Henderson, which tied the game, 5-5. Tom then picked Henderson off, ending the inning. In the ninth, Randolph led off with a single, and he stole second on a pitch that struck out Mattingly. Winfield struck out. Pasqua singled to center, scoring Randolph. LP-Henke.

His line score: 1-1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

In his six losses, Henke pitched 12 innings and gave up 16 hits, 14 runs (13 earned), walked nine, and struck out 14. His ERA was 9.75. He allowed 12.3 hits and 19.2 baserunners per 9 innings. In games where he had no decision, his stats were 82 IP, 46 H (5.1 per IP), 13 R, 13 ER, 16 BB (only 1.8 per 9 innings}, 114 Ks (12.5 per 9 innings), and an ERA of 1.43.

So, there you have it — one pitcher goes 6-0 with an ERA of 7.04, another goes 0-6 with an ERA of 2.49. As Joe Garagiola used to say, “Baseball is a funny game,” and as I never tire of telling my children — although they doubtless tire of hearing it — “It’s better to be lucky than good.”