Tim Hudson’s pitching in the second round of the playoffs — after 16 years
SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Hudson has done a lot of things in his MLB career he should be proud of: he’s a four-time All Star, a Cy Young runner-up, a 20-game winner, MLB’s active wins leader with 214 and he’s respected around the league.
There’s one thing Hudson hasn’t done in his 16-year career and it might seem like a surprise: he’s never played on a team that made it out of the first round of the playoffs.
That is, until this year with the San Francisco Giants. Hudson played on some good teams with the Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves. In fact, only twice in his career has he played on a team that finished below .500. His teams won a lot of regular season games, but they never fared too well in the playoffs.
Not only is Hudson in a League Championship Series for the first time in career, he’s starting a pivotal Game 3 on Tuesday for the Giants against the St. Louis Cardinals. The series is tied 1-1. The Giants are looking to rebound from a gut-punch of a loss in Game 2. The Cardinals want to take control. After 16 seasons of waiting for a moment like this, Hudson’s right in the center.
That fact isn’t lost on anyone wearing Cardinals or Giants uniforms. Giants manager Bruce Bochy praised Hudson’s knowledge and experience on Monday. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny talked about the great job Hudson has done throughout his career. Opposing pitcher John Lackey said he has “nothing but respect” for Hudson. Giants first baseman Brandon Belt said Hudson’s “someone we all look up to.”
As for Hudson himself?
“It’s exciting for me to finally be here,” he said Monday.
Hudson walked off the field after the Giants’ workout next to Madison Bumgarner, the team’s ace who shut down the Cardinals in Game 1. Their lockers are next to each other, and when the Giants clinched their spot in the NLCS, Bumgarner was most thrilled for Hudson.
Look at the contrast: There’s Bumgarner, 25, who has already won two World Series, winning games on the mound in both of them. And there’s Hudson, 39, who has pitched in the seven different postseasons, but only now has made it to the second round. Heck, only twice before 2014 had Hudson’s team won games in which he pitched. He did his part to get the Giants here, pitching 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his NLDS start.
The second round, as they say, has been a long time coming for Hudson.
“I know a lot of the guys in the locker room, my teammates, have tasted that champagne and had that success and that’s something I’m still looking for,” Hudson said. “I’m real eager for this series to get going and for me to pitch [Tuesday] and hopefully get on to that next step, which is that goal of winning a World Series.”
It’s slightly surprising that we’re even talking about this in 2014, considering how much success Hudson had early in his career. He was in the playoffs four straight seasons in his early years with the A’s, leading the famous staff that also included Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. That A’s team was bounced out of the playoffs in the first round fourth straight years, the last of which was 2003, when the A’s took a 2-0 lead on the Boston Red Sox in the 2003 ALDS and then lost three games in a row. Hudson was just 27, carrying around years of first-round disappointment.
Back in his A’s days, Hudson seemed like he had years of playoff success in front of him — the same thing we might say today about young stars such as Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.
“I obviously didn’t think it would take this long for me to get to my first NLCS,” Hudson said. “Early on in your career, you think that when you’re on teams that are really good and you have success, you think it’s going to be an every‑year thing, getting to the playoffs and having an opportunity to win the World Series. You realize, it’s not that easy.
“I try to talk to some of the young guys about it — don’t take these opportunities for granted because next thing you know, you’ll blink your eyes and you’ll be 16 years in the league and never got past the first round.”
He’s here now — older, wiser, not throwing as hard, but more cerebral on the mound.
“Might not be nearly as much power as there was back in ’99,” Hudson said. “But I feel like I have much better game plans nowadays.”
You might Hudson’s well aged for the big stage.
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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
