Bobby Thigpen Reflects on Saves Record as K-Rod Closes In

BRISTOL, Va. —  Game time at DeVault Stadium is still hours away, and Bobby Thigpen is seated at his desk, typing away on his laptop computer.

His young players quietly joke around in the cool confines of their clubhouse and ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ blares from the television. But Thigpen, the second-year Bristol White Sox manager is oblivious to the distractions. He’s too busy, preparing for that night’s Appalachian League game with the Princeton Rays.

Thigpen eventually leans back in his chair, folds his arms and ponders a reporter’s questions.

Once more, he is asked to recall his finest season as a major-league pitcher, 1990, the summer he saved a record 57 games for the Chicago White Sox.

And, once more, he is asked what it will mean to him if the record falls.

It is a line of questioning that will not go away. The reason: His saves record is in jeopardy.

It has withstood onslaughts before – from Dennis Eckersley, John Smoltz, Billy Wagner and Mariano Rivera – but it might not this summer.
Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels already 50 saves and, with more than a month to play, the reliever known as K-Rod is well in position to pass Thigpen.

“I’ve been saying all along, for the last 10-18 years, that somebody’s going to come along [and break the record],” Thigpen said. “A team’s going to play the same as we did, and that’s what’s going to happen. This is his year.”

Thigpen understands, because 1990 was like that for him. It was the ultimate moment of his nine-year big-league career. He posted a 1.83 ERA, was an American League All-Star and closed games for a team that was in the thick of a pennant race all summer.

“It went by so quick,” Thigpen said. “When you’re involved in a season like that and you’re throwing and getting in that many games, it flies by … It started right off the bat from day one. I ended up in almost half the games that year, and that’s not counting the times I got up and throw and don’t get in the game.

“That seemed to help me. I seemed to perform better the more I threw and the more I stayed active.”

Thigpen made his big-league debut in 1986 with Chicago after a standout career at Mississippi State University. He quickly established himself as a reliable reliever, saving 34 games in both the 1988 and 1989 seasons. The 26-year-old right-hander entered the ’90 season regarded as one of the top closers in the American League.

It didn’t take him long to prove his worth. On opening day against Milwaukee, Chicago manager Jeff Torborg summoned Thigpen from the bullpen with one out in the top of the ninth inning. He mowed down the final two hitters to preserve a 2-1 win.

The next night, he got the final outs of another victory. The milestone season was set in motion. By June 10, Thigpen had 20 saves and the Sox were embroiled in a hotly contested race in the American League West Division with the Oakland Athletics.

“All of a sudden it clicked for us,” Thigpen said. “We played so many close games, and we were able to come away with a lot of wins.”

Thigpen was so dominant in the first half of that season that he was selected to the American League All-Star team. He fittingly responded by tossing a shutout inning of relief at Wrigley Field, punctuating it with a strikeout of Darryl Strawberry.

Thigpen closed in on the saves record, 46, set four years earlier by ex-New York Yankee Dave Righetti. He passed it on Sept. 3 at old Comiskey Park, closing out a 4-2 win over Kansas City. He got future Hall of Famer George Brett to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to secure save No. 47.

No media spectacle

The media scrutiny surrounding his achievement was far from what it has been this summer, when Thigpen shares a graphic nighly on ESPN with Rodriguez.

“There wasn’t that big of a deal made of it as it is now, for some reason,” Thigpen said. “A lot of it had to do with our team, I think. We were battling for a spot at the time. Oakland was the powerhouse at the time with [manager] Tony LaRussa and [Mark] McGwire and [Jose] Canseco and those guys. They were the team to beat and had been for a while.

“Here we are, a surprise team. It’s August, September, and we’re only 3-4 games out and we had a big series coming up with them ... My teammates were great and the bullpen was great that year as far as getting in front of me and getting the game to me.”

The White Sox fell short of the division title, but he could take some solace in the fact that the record was his.

Ironically, Thigpen saved just 56 games the rest of his career and pitched his final game in the majors in 1994. Thigpen disputes suggestions that the ‘90 season wore out his arm.

“I never had any arm problems,” he said. “To me, looking back, the save opportunities weren’t there before or after. The next year I think I ended up with 30 saves, and people were saying something’s wrong with him. Well, I didn’t even have 40 save chances. People don’t see the overall picture. Our team played 50-something one-run games that year.”

New No. 37
Thigpen is back in his familiar No. 37 White Sox uniform this summer, but things have changed.

Instead of jogging in from the bullpen in the ninth inning, he’s exchanging lineup cards at home plate before the first pitch. Instead of closing games, he’s managing them.

Thigpen, 45, went 25-43 in his first season as a manager and struggled at times with his new position. However, this summer the Sox were in the thick of the Appalachian League West Division race and
entered Monday’s game with Pulaski with a 34-29 record and assured of a winning season.

“I was really looking forward to coming back here this year,” Thigpen said. “Last year, I felt like a rookie myself. It was starting all over and I was doing things I wasn’t necessary accustomed to, especially managing a ballclub. This year, I had an idea of what was expected and what needed to be done. So far, we’ve had a pretty good year.”

True enough, but quite often these days, that fact can be lost among persistent questions about his saves record.

“I don’t want to take anything away from K-Rod in California,” Thigpen said. “He’s the one doing it, not me. Whether or not they get a comment or quote from me, it doesn’t really matter. Don’t take it away from him. He’s the one having the year and the one doing it. It’s good for him and more power to him.”

Thigpen said he suspects Rodriguez will pass him sometime during the middle of September.

“If that happens, it happens,” he said.

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