Jimmy Key

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James Edward "Jimmy" Key (born April 22, 1961 in Huntsville, Alabama) was a left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. He won 12 or more games 12 times in his 15 year career.

1 Early career
2 Best years
3 Strengths and weaknesses
4 Hall of Fame potential
5 Accomplishments
6 Teams
7 External link

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Early career

Key was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 1982 amateur draft. He made his Major League debut on April 6, 1984 and was utilized in relief situations through his inaugural year, notching 10 saves and a 4.65 ERA.

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Best years

Key moved into the starting rotation in 1985 and quickly became a cornerstone in the rotation, leading the Blue Jays to their first ever postseason appearance that year. More postseason appearances would follow, culminating in a World Series championship in 1992.

Key was one of the most popular Blue Jays until his departure in 1993 to play for the rival New York Yankees.

His best personal years were in 1987, when he posted an 17-8 record with a league-leading 2.76 ERA, and in 1993, when he went 18-6 with a 3.00 ERA and 173 strikeouts.

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Strengths and weaknesses

Key was one of the premiere 'control' pitchers in the game with a good strikeout-to-walk ratio over most of his career. His fastball was not particularly speedy, but was often effective as he could spot it on both corners of the plate -- although when his throw went high, opponents fared well. He also possessed a fine slider which would start out away from a right-handed hitter but would then break over the outside corner of the plate for a strike. He tended to give up more than his share of home runs even while holding his opponents' on-base percentage to a low level. He was injury-prone with significant down time in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1998.

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Hall of Fame potential

In 2004, his first year of eligibility, Key received less than 5% of the vote (he received 3 votes; the threshold was 25) from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, thus becoming ineligible to appear on future BBWAA ballots. However, he may eventually be considered for induction into the Hall by the Veterans Committee once 20 years have passed from his date of retirement (therefore, in the year 2019), in accordance with current Hall of Fame rules (enacted in 2001).

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