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Player
in the Spotlight: Robb Nen
by Daniel
Paulling
February 21, 2005
Name: Robb Nen
Age: 35, Ht: 6-5, Wt: 255
Team: San Francisco Giants
Role: Closer
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Year/Team
|
Win-Loss
|
Saves
|
Ks
|
ERA
|
|
1993 – Tex/FL
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2-1
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0
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39
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6.75
|
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1994 - FLA
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5-5
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15
|
60
|
2.95
|
|
1995 – FLA
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0-7
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23
|
68
|
3.29
|
|
1996 - FLA
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5-1
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35
|
92
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1.95
|
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1997 – FLA
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9-3
|
35
|
81
|
3.89
|
|
1998 – SF
|
7-7
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40
|
110
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1.52
|
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1999 – SF
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3-8
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37
|
72
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3.98
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2000 – SF
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4-3
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41
|
92
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1.50
|
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2001 – SF
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4-5
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45
|
93
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3.01
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2002 - SF
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6-2
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43
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81
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2.20
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Robert
Allen Nen was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 1987 in the thirty-second
round. Little did they know they were going to be helping the Florida
Marlins and San Francisco Giants so tremendously.
Nen broke into the major leagues at the age of 23 with the Texas
Rangers. He was then dealt to the Florida Marlins during the 1993
season as a young fireballer without great stats. The Marlins saw
something they liked in the youngster and used him as their closer
in 1994. He proved them to be very astute in their move and provided
them with four great years anchoring the bullpen. The Marlins then
traded him during the 1997 firesale to the San Francisco Giants.
Nen lasted five years with the Giants, including a World Series
appearance, before injuring his shoulder severely.
He's gonna get mad at us for saying nice things about him,”
laughed Giants relief pitcher Scott Eyre. “I'll miss him. I'll
still put No. 31 on my spikes out of respect. The guy was awesome.
I liked Robb Nen for being Robb Nen and he pitched for the Giants
until his arm was literally hanging by a thread.”
And that arm, actually the shoulder, caused Nen to end his career
on Sunday with 314 saves and 2.98 ERA. Many batters will remember,
not fondly, of Nen’s delivery. The closer would start the wind
up and then he would move his left leg forward to begin to deliver
the ball. Only here, he would pause, tap his toe on the ground,
and then lift his foot up once again to deliver the 97 MPH heat
he had. This movement destroyed any sort of timing hitters had.
But many others will remember Nen’s 2002 season.
"What he did in 2002 showed what kind of a person he was,"
said reliever Jason Christiansen. "If it wasn't for him, we
wouldn't have gone to the World Series. If it wasn't for him doing
what he did [getting hurt], he'd still be pitching now. It cost
him his career. He put the team above himself. Everybody who was
here in 2002 has so much respect for what he did. If it hadn't been
for him, we wouldn't have gone to the World Series."
Nen pitched the entire 2002 season hurt, but when the playoffs rolled
around, he most definitely wasn’t going to miss it. He wanted
the ball that much.
"I don't have any regrets about anything I did at any time,"
Nen said about pitching through pain in 2002 campaign. "I may
regret some pitches, how I pitched to somebody, but as for pitching,
I'd have done things the same way now.
"For me, I played this game to win and go to the World Series."
And now he won’t have a chance to throw the last pitch of the
Fall Classic.
"I'm 99 percent sure," Nen said about retirement. "If
I get a wild hair about coming back, and six or eight months from
now I pick up a ball and feel good again, I might think about it.
"But that's probably not going to happen."
It would be great if it could, but if it doesn’t, you have
already given everything you could, Mr. Nen, to the Rangers, to
the Marlins, to the Giants, and to baseball. Thank you.
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