I remembered nothing about Derek Livernois aside from his name. I couldn't even pin down a time frame. Was it from when I first started Baseball Heavy? Or was it even further back, back to my days as a teenage soda jerk?
Turns out that sometimes, I have a killer memory! Derek Livernois played for the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1991, '92, and '93. How many combined games? 38.
Livernois' Red Sox career began in 1985 at age 18, when he pitched for the short-A Elmira Pioneers. He played for Greensboro, Winter Haven, Lynchburg, and New Britain before coming to the PawSox at age 24.
And so it came to pass that in 1991, Derek Livernois started in five Pawtucket games and gave up 23 earned runs. He finished with a 10.53 ERA. Who knows, maybe it was one bad game?
1992, DL spent most of his time in New Britain at the Double A level, but he started 6 Pawtucket games. He did much better, only giving up 18 earned runs.
In 1993, Derek Livernois pitched in 27 PawSox games. He started 14 of them. His ERA was 5.72. He gave up 13 home runs. His strikeout/walk ratio was 1.86. What more do you need to know?
And that was it. That is where the data ends. Derek Livernois didn't wind up on the Rochester Red Wings. He didn't head for the indy leagues. He certainly didn't crack the big leagues. Derek Livernois, six foot righty, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist.
Until today, when I decided to write about someone I'd been thinking about for a week. And I hit the search engines. Deep. As in, Page 68 out of 156,000 results deep. That's what I do, I sift through search results until I get to the Sino-Russian websites.
Derek Liversnaps:
1. I think this is him. Living in North Carolina.
2. Aha! Livernois was a 15th round draft pick for Boston in 1985. He was a star pitcher at Lyman High School in Florida. So says writer Herky Cush. Great name.
3. A lot of people don't know this, but sometimes the Pawtucket Red Sox are referred to as the 'PawSox'. Well, guess what? The New Britain Red Sox were evidently referred to as the 'BritSox'. Get out! "With his stuff, Derek epitomizes pitching [as opposed to throwing]," manager Jim Pankovits said. "Making the hitters guess, hitting spots, moving the ball around. That's what pitching is all about." This quote is from a 'Derek Livernois is New Britain' story. And it is here.
4. Rhode Island's Ken Ryan worked with Livernois. I'll bet he has some stories!
5. And I am only linking to this tangential Lynchburg story because it kicks off with this killer line: "Scott Taylor and Vinnie Degifico aren't the guys most people think about when they talk about the Lynchburg Red Sox ballclub." HA!
6. Whoa, mustache!
7. "Obviously, we want to win every game now," said [Lynchburg] Sox starter Derek Livernois, who struck out 11 in seven innings to improve to 9-8. "It's better to go into the playoffs hot than cold. Plus now guys are trying to put up some good numbers." And the team's manager? GARY ALLENSON. NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE,GARY!
8. Derek pitched alongside Roger Clemens. I wonder if he learned anything?
9. In May of 1993, Livernois pitched a two-hitter against the Norfolk Tides but did not get the win.
10. WILDLY UNRELATED: Did Royce Clayton have a brother named 'Royal'?
11. This article refers to Livernois as a lefty.
12. In 1991, Derek Livernois went to a hospital in Worcester to have scar tissue removed from his shoulder.
13. "This is amazing," said Britsox pitcher Derek Livernois, surveying the damage from the stands. "I think it will hurt some of us starters. I needed to get some work in today." Flooding at the ballpark! Look at mother nature on the run in the nineteen nineties!
I guess that's it. I was hoping for a testimony from the man himself, revealing why he chose to exit stage left rather suddenly, but they never write those stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment