No loyalty
Did you notice who picked up the save for Tampa Bay against the Detroit Tigers Friday night?
It was Troy Percival.
You might remember that Percival briefly played for the Tigers. The Tigers signed him as a free agent before the 2005 season and paid him $6 million.
What did they get for their investment? A total of 25 innings and 8 saves before he got hurt. The Tigers paid Percival another $6 million in 2006 even though he never threw a pitch.
You can’t fault a guy for getting hurt.
But what I do fault Percival for is a lack of loyalty. When he felt healthy enough to pitch again in 2007, he chose to return with the St. Louis Cardinals instead of the Tigers. He moved on to Tampa Bay this year and has 24 saves.
All of you Todd Jones bashers will enjoy the final irony of the story. It was largely because of Percival’s injury that the Tigers signed Jones to take over as closer before the 2006 season.
It is Percival who led to all of those roller coaster rides that Jones has given us over the past three seasons.