Last night, I played the my last series of the 2012 Illowa APBA League season against John Brandeberry’s Rising Bamm Beanos. I won four of nine games but that’s not the big story to me.
The big story was pitcher John Lackey.
See, John Lackey was pitching his last series after a 10-year career in the IAL. He is retiring after this season. I drafted Big John in 2003 and while he hasn’t been a big superstar, he has been consistent in my rotation ever since his rookie year. The Thunderchickens haven’t always given him the offensive support he probably deserved (see 2010, when he was 9-11 with a 3.07 ERA), but he’s always given his best on the mound.
This past year was a rough one for Lackey. He was a D plain, a rarity for him and his job was simply to eat up innings. He certainly did that unceremoniously. Going into December’s series, he was 6-16 with a 5.91 ERA but pitched 221 innings for us.
As we headed into the last two series of the year though, John Lackey pitched like he had something to prove. He may have been a D pitcher with no letters but he pitched like an AZ. Against Don Smith’s Molly Putts Marauders on Boxing Day, he was superb, pitching two complete games and allowing just three runs in 18 innings. Unfortunately, for Big John, he lost Game 1 by the score of 1-0.
Last night against the Beanos was Lackey’s swan song… his last hurrah. And boy, he gave the Thunderchicken fans something to cheer about. In Game One, he spread out 12 hits and gave up just one run in a complete game 2-1 win. Game Five was John Lackey Day at Thunderchicken Park and the man of the day rose to the occasion. Lackey pitched a five-hit shutout walking just one batter and the Thunderchickens won 1-0.
All told, John Lackey (again, a D pitcher) gave up just FOUR runs in his last four starts, all complete games. With the final win, he tied for the team lead in wins.
Then he retired from the Illowa APBA League.
For his career, Lackey finished 102-112 with a 4.04 ERA and 1417 strikeouts.
| YEAR | CLUB | G | GS | CG | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | W | L | Sv | ShO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | TCHIX | 15 | 15 | 3 | 103 | 94 | 50 | 44 | 37 | 76 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3.84 |
| 2004 | TCHIX | 33 | 33 | 4 | 199 1/3 | 203 | 112 | 96 | 84 | 144 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 4.33 |
| 2005 | TCHIX | 33 | 32 | 3 | 198 | 178 | 85 | 78 | 61 | 143 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3.55 |
| 2006 | TCHIX | 32 | 32 | 5 | 208 2/3 | 154 | 94 | 80 | 60 | 169 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 3.45 |
| 2007 | TCHIX | 33 | 33 | 6 | 217 | 194 | 116 | 107 | 77 | 173 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 4.44 |
| 2008 | TCHIX | 30 | 30 | 12 | 207 2/3 | 163 | 93 | 82 | 50 | 149 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 3.55 |
| 2009 | TCHIX | 24 | 24 | 3 | 163 1/3 | 177 | 97 | 93 | 48 | 121 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 5.12 |
| 2010 | TCHIX | 26 | 26 | 5 | 176 | 145 | 74 | 60 | 39 | 131 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 3.07 |
| 2011 | TCHIX | 32 | 32 | 6 | 214 2/3 | 185 | 91 | 84 | 81 | 154 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3.52 |
| 2012 | TCHIX | 41 | 28 | 17 | 257 | 297 | 164 | 149 | 90 | 157 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 5.22 |
| 10 | Totals | 299 | 285 | 64 | 1944 2/3 | 1790 | 976 | 873 | 627 | 1417 | 102 | 112 | 1 | 9 | 4.04 |
