Tweet
Hanback Returns, Leads Vegas to 7-3 Victory
Washington, DC (BLB) - Early on a clear and unseasonably warm October morning, Troy Hanback walked the seven blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue to a stadium he called home for 14 seasons. Now just a visitor leaving from his Death Valley team hotel, instead of from his home in Arlington, Hanback didn't know how to get into the stadium.
So like every other game he's ever played at home, he entered the stadium through the Washington Player's Only entrance in the back parking lot.
"I saw Mickey our gate guard, he didn't even look twice. All he said was his usual, 'go get'em today Troy'... I don't think he even realized I was traded," says Hanback.
Mickey may not have noticed, but this isn't the same Troy Hanback that won 3 consecutive titles for the Bats in 2002, 2003, and 2004. That Troy Hanback posted a 10-1 record and a 1.50 ERA in those postseason games, anchoring one of the most dominant rotations in baseball and making Washington the premiere franchise in the BLB.
This Troy Hanback is 35 and tired. On July 27th, three days before the trade deadline, Hanback was sent packing to the New Orleans Dukes. The victim of an unceremonious salary dump, he was dealt to the bottom of the Domestic League along with RF Danny Herrera and a 2nd round draft pick.
"I was making a lot of money, and I wasn't getting it done. Pat did what he had to do. It was time to move on, I guess," replies Hanback when asked about his feelings towards Washington. "I loved my time in Washington, we did some great things here."
There weren't many reporters, fans, or baseball people who were surprised with the move. Hanback was 6-7 at the time with an ERA of 5.77 on the tail end of a four year $58 million contract. It was the highest ERA of his career, even higher than the 5.74 he posted as a Bat rookie in 1997 at the age of 23.
When the 58 win Dukes cut him loose less than 6 days later, without even giving him a start, many just figured he was done and would walk away.
However, within a week, Death Valley had signed him to minor league contract. Ironically, that was the same week that Washington came calling again. Hanback deflects the question when asked why he decided to go to Vegas, instead of back to Washington. After all, his wife and kids are still in the Arlington house he bought at 25. Mixed into his vague and winding answer is a sense that it was time for a fresh start.
And start over is exactly what he's done in Vegas. The desert has given the former ace new life. The Scorpions never intended to put Hanback in their AAA Reno rotation. He immediately took over as the Scorpions 6th starter, joining a collection of some of the best young pitchers in the BLB.
Revitalized by the bright lights of Vegas and his youthful former rivals, Hanback has gone 3-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 7 crucial starts. A month after signing that minor league deal, Hanback was extended by Death Valley for 2 years and $1.6 million.
Having spread 10 hits over 7 innings, Hanback took the mound to start the 8th inning with the Scorpions leading 4-2. Staring him down from the batters box was Pat Ladd, who was just a fresh faced rookie when Washington won it's first title in 2002. As early as July, they had been co-captains and longtime friends. Now they were battling on opposite sides of a Stout Division title.
Ladd got the best of their match-up, crushing an 0-1 pitch from Hanback 456 feet into the Washington bleacher seats where some fans still wore their purple and white Hanback jerseys.
However, it was the old Washington ace who won the day as R.J. Manning came on to rescue his once rival and now teammate, giving the Scorpions and Hanback a 7-3 victory.
The win ties the Scorpions and the Bats for the Stout Division lead, something he's grown accustomed to over his 14 seasons.
Comment