Friday Afternoon Travesty: Tom Henke has never received his due

I think I have posted about this before, but I'm not sure, search tells me no, it is one of my favorite saws when talking Jays.

Tom Henke is maybe the greatest player the Jays ever had.

I know he'll never get to the Hall of Fame like some guys, and he never won an MVP, and I don't think was ever seriously considered for a Cy Young. Look at his career though and find another Jay who was so stunningly good the whole time he was with the team (8 years). He was there for both the mid 80's and the the early 90's. His being so good all those years, that anchor that didn't have to be worried about, is what helped build a team that in the early 90's that could win back to back WS, even if he wasn't there for the second one.

I don't think it's any stretch to say no Henke no World Series. They had nobody else when he came up in 85, and Duane Ward was still 4 or 5 years away. Who knows what he would have been without Henke there in his early years.

The only guy I really think can be put in the same league is Jimmy Key, but in my opinion he has always received a lot more acclaim than Henke ever did. Well for me anyways, I think a lot of recent fans may not even know Key existed.

Unlike a lot of closers he quit at 37, after yet another great season. He probably could have "hung on" racking up saves for another 5 years or so. He probably would have gone over 400 for his career, he may have even hooked on somewhere he could have been a star for the last couple of years.