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In his 21st and final season pitching in the major leagues, LaTroy Hawkins continued to laugh in the face of Father Time and put up another season with respectable numbers.
Things got off to a rough start for the 42-year-old pitcher, as he accumulated an ERA of 10.50 while blowing two saves in the month of April. His early struggles lead to a demotion from the closer role, where he was replaced by Adam Ottavino. Shortly after, Hawkins found himself on the 15-day disabled list with a biceps injury, and stayed on it much longer than 15 days. This led most to believe Hawkins' farewell season would be cut short as the Rockies had a handful of young relievers in the minors ready to take his spot, and there wasn't much of a reason for the Rockies to push him to return.
Hawkins missed the entire month of May and early part of June, but eventually made his return to the mound in Miami on June 11. Spanning 17 appearances from June 11 to July 24, Hawkins was completely dominant as he had an ERA of just 1.10 during that stretch. Whatever early struggles he had were behind him and Hawkins was once again one of the few reliable arms in the Rockies bullpen.
And ... then a small trade happened. LaTroy Hawkins, along with some shortstop, were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, giving Hawkins a chance to win his first World Series ring in his final year.
His time as a Rockie came to a close as he finished with an ERA of 3.63 in 2015, and a cumulative ERA of 3.41 over three seasons with Colorado.
Hawkins made 18 appearances with the Blue Jays during the regular season, allowing five earned runs while striking out 14 and walking just three, ending his final regular season on a good note. He pitched just 1⅔ innings in the postseason and got rocked for seven runs as the Blue Jays were ultimately eliminated by the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS.
From 1995 to 2015, Hawkins appeared in 1,042 games for 11 teams, finishing with a career ERA of 4.31. Even though he came up short of earning a World Series ring, LaTroy Hawkins was an extremely humble player and had one of most incredible careers in the history of professional sports. Hats off to you, LaTroy.