The art of broadcasting the big moment
Thursday is a seemingly innocuous off day for the Red Sox. But for Liam Hendriks, it will be anything but ordinary.
It will be the moment Hendriks joins one of Major League Baseball's most exclusive clubs, marking the moment the reliever has 10 years in the big leagues.
"It’s something I never expected to get to," Hendriks told WEEI.com. "Obviously, I didn’t have the easiest route. It’s the hard work, perseverance and the resiliency have all gotten me to this point right now and it’s something I’m pretty pumped about it. It’s something I didn’t expect, especially earlier in my career when I was up and down and struggling to stick on a roster. It was kind of like a pipe-dream. To get to the 10-year mark, it’s pretty special."
The milestone is one of the most cherished among major leaguers considering about six percent of the more than 23,000 players to play in the big leagues have reached 10 years.
Tuesday, Toronto's George Springer became the latest player to earn the honor. Another familiar name to reach the 10-year mark this season will be Minnesota's Christian Vazquez and Mookie Betts of the Dodgers. Last season, Xander Bogaerts managed the feat, while Jackie Bradley Jr. sits less than a season away.
For Hendriks, the magnitude of the moment first hit home in 2013 when his Minnesota Twins club celebrated a 10-year anniversary for a 39-year-old teammate.
"I think the biggest one for me was when Jamey Carroll got to 10," Hendriks remembered. "He was a guy who was almost 30 when he got called up for the first time and never got sent back down. He was just the ultimate teammate. Watching him and watching the guys around him celebrate him getting to that mark, that was pretty special. It kind of sank in that this is an achievement. And when you break down, there aren’t too many guys who have gotten to that mark.
"It was just the elation on Jamey’s face and the way the guys rallied around him. It was definitely a good time. It was one of those times you cherish being a part of. There haven’t been too many of those situations in my career where we have been able to do that for guys. Watching him be that way, it was pretty special."
For Hendriks, his journey started on Sept. 6, 2011 when he turned in a seven-inning start for the Twins. At the the time, reaching something like he has waiting for him Thursday seemed liked a foreign concept.
"I definitely didn’t think this far ahead," Hendriks said. "At that point, I had little bit of ego on me so I just thought that is how it was going to be. I was going to be in the big leagues. I was going to make a ton of money. This is the track. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But at that point I was 22 years old. I had a decent start against the White Sox and I thought it was just going to progress from there. But nothing about my career has got exactly to expectations, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Everybody has a story different than others."
The unorthodox path ultimately makes Hendriks appreciate the honor even more.
He was first designated for assignment by Minnesota after the 2013 season, at which time he was claimed off waivers by the Cubs. Just 10 days later he was waived again, at which time it was the Orioles turn to pick him up. And then, even before the start of the 2014 campaign, Hendriks was let go by Baltimore and subsequently scooped up by Toronto.
There would be a trade to Kansas City later in 2014, followed by another deal back to Toronto after the season. In 2015, Hendriks finally found some momentum with a trade to Oakland, where he would ultimately become an All-Star.
It was after 2020 season when the righty became a free agent that the idea of reaching the 10-year point actually got on his radar.
But the plan to celebrate in the final year of his deal with the White Sox hit a snag after Chicago didn't pick up his fourth-year option, leaving him as a free agent who would be celebrating with a new team while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
"It was obviously a bittersweet thing. Not being able to play is not your ideal scenario," said Hendriks, who threw from 90 feet for the first time during his rehab, Monday. "It’s not what you really dream of when you think of getting done, but it’s part and parcel with how my career has gone. Nothing has been the way it has been expected to go."
Including the manner in which he will honor the moment.
"We will celebrate. My wife definitely has something planned, but she also said, ‘I don’t believe it’s real until you get back to pitching.’ Maybe the team will do something on this day and my wife will do something when I get back," Hendriks noted.
And as for his path back to actually pitching as a 10-year veteran, the 35-year-old said, "It’s progressing really well. Unfortunately for me, I’m not exactly the most patient person. So going through the timeline and going through the progression is painstaking for me. But I know it’s better in the long run. The goal is still August and hopefully I can get back and the way the team going it can be in the middle of a playoff race and we can surprise a lot of people that wrote us off."