Ted Lily and the LA Dodgers: A new beginning
Ted Lily, 34, was once a Los Angeles prospect in his youthful years. Unable to cement his place with the team at that time, the veteran pitcher found he was traded away to the Montreal Expos at the age of just 20. After spending some time there, he was sent to the Yankees as part of a trade agreement with Hideki Irabu. He found himself playing under current LA Dodgers’ manager Torre who handed him a few chances back then to perform on the mound in the New York Jersey.
Subsequently, due to a deal involving a trade, Lily became a member of Oakland Athletics who later on traded him for Bobby Kielty to the Toronto Blue Jays. There, Lily created a name for himself where he became one of the only individuals to represent his ball club in the All-Stars team in the 2004 American League. His tenure at the club earned him the esteemed reputation of being a star pitcher with the highest strikeouts and wins. Unfortunately, due to a rift with John Gibbons during a match up against his former team, friction began between the two enormous entities, splitting the relationship into two.
Ted eventually made his way to the Chicago Cubs where he became the team’s lone dependent left-arm pitcher. Most notably, the contribution he made never got him over an Earning Runs Average of 2.18, making him one of the stars in the team. Ted played at least 6 innings of the 5 starts he made for the Cubbies, and never exceeded 3 runs in allowance. The veteran went on to star for the country in the 2009 World Classic Baseball event, playing against Venezuela and Puerto Rico where he did not find much luck. He was also given the cap for the All-Stars team that year, making him the only Cubs player to go there to perform.
On June 13th 2010, Ted Lily almost mirrored the legendary Cubs pitcher, Mitt Pappas’ no hitter record, in a match against the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately for him, the record couldn’t be conquered as Juan Pierre singled off his pitch in the ninth innings of the game, leaving the pitcher disarrayed, for his attempt at the record.
Now the veteran Pitcher finds himself in a team where he began his professional Major League Baseball career. After being traded to the Dodgers with Ryan Theoriot against 3 players, Lily looks forward to make his mark in a team which disowned him and a coach who duly gave him the attention any youngster would want. On the reunion with his previous coach, the pitcher said, “This is a special night for me, no question about it; I really enjoyed playing for Joe in New York. He really gave me my chance when I wasn't pitching well there. He stuck with me, and that's not usually how it works in New York with young guys, because you're not going to see too much action when you're struggling. So I was lucky that he gave me a shot."
With that said the game against the Padres marked Ted’s first appearance as the starting Pitcher for the team. Lily struck six out and allowed just two hits in 87 pitches he delivered, before being replaced by Hong Chih Kuo in the 8th inning. The one homer came of the first hit by Miguel Tejada, who was bought from Baltimore in a trade swap. The experienced pitcher was hit twice in the first innings after which he went on to give the Padres an annoyingly hard time. His manager describes it like this, “Lilly made it look easy. He gave up two hits in the first inning, and that was it. When you go to a new club, it's awfully nice to be able to pay dividends right away. This kid has got a lot of passion inside, but he's really calm out there. Lilly certainly gave us a lift tonight. We beat one of the better pitchers in the league."
The match marks a good building relationship between Lily and the team as his efforts pounced the team to a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres, making this a fundamental moment for the team looking to better its chances at the division title in the league.
Tags: