Books and articles about Jeff Reardon

Jeff Reardon's bullpen exploits lifted both Montreal and Minnesota to unexpected success. A good 1980 season with the Mets prompted Reardon's trade to the Expos for Ellis Valentine. The bearded New Englander was the only hurler with 20 or more saves each season from 1982 to 1988. He led the majors with 41 saves in 1985, but slumped slightly in 1986. At age 31, the University of Massachusetts history major was traded to the Twins. After a shaky start, the hard thrower's relief work earned him Minnesota's Most Valuable Player award and a World Championship ring in 1987; he saved two games and won one in the LCS. During the season, he had more strikeouts than innings. In 1990 Reardon signed with the Red Sox and enjoyed several successful years with the BoSox.

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RELATED LINKS Submissions » Some Expos Nostalgia by Maxwell Kates Around the Web » Former Top Reliever Charged With Robbery from nytimes.com (12/28/05) » Reardon's is a tale layered with tragedy from boston.com (12/28/05) » MLB Notes: Former reliever Reardon charged with robbery from nwsource.com » Twins| Jeff Reardon's Baseball Career from startribune.com » Image: Jeff Reardon from startribune.com » Troubles overwhelm ex-Twin from twincities.com » Former Sox closer Reardon arrested for armed robbery from projo.com » Photos Depressed Reardon charged with armed robbery from newsday.com » Jeff Reardon from sun-sentinel.com » Jeff Reardon from baseball-reference.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

A true stopper, Reardon rarely worked more than one inning in any game. He surpassed 30 saves each year from 1986 to 1989, and with 30 saves in 1992 passed Rollie Fingers on the all-time saves list (he was later passed by Lee Smith and Dennis Eckersley) as well as becoming the first closer to record 350 saves. Traded to Atlanta at the end of the '92 season Reardon spent the '93 season with Cincinnati, where he began to lose his old form and for only the third time in his career recorded an earned run average above four. Reardon would finish his magnificent career playing 11 games with the New York Yankees in '94 with a sorrowful earned run average of 8.38. (ME/DT)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 29, 1981: Montreal trades OF Ellis Valentine to the Mets for P Jeff Reardon, OF Dan Norman, and a player to be named. Valentine will play just 159 games for the Mets, while Reardon will blossom into one of baseball's best relievers. » October 3, 1981: The Mets lose 5–4 to the Expos, though New York's Mike Cubbage hits an 8th inning home run, off Jeff Reardon. It is Cubbage's last ML at bat. » August 26, 1982: The Expos Jeff Reardon (7-3) wins a pair in relief over the Astros, 3–2 and 5–3. » May 12, 1985: David Palmer and Jeff Reardon combine on a 6-hitter to pitch the Expos to a 4–0 win over Atlanta. The Expos staff has now pitched 39 consecutive scoreless innings, and will add two more tomorrow. Atlanta also sets a club record by not scoring in 35 straight innings; they'll add three more to that tomorrow. » May 30, 1986: Mike Fitzgerald's homer and single are the Expos only hits in their 1–0 victory over Houston. Bryn Smith and Jeff Reardon combine on a 3-hitter for Montreal. » February 3, 1987: The Expos trade ace reliever Jeff Reardon and C Tom Nieto to the Twins for P Neal Heaton, C Jeff Reed, and a pair of minor leaguers. » October 25, 1987: Series MVP Frank Viola and reliever Jeff Reardon hold the Cardinals to six hits as the Twins capture game seven 4–2 to win their first World Championship in Minnesota. The franchise's last World Championship came in 1924 as the Washington Senators. » June 19, 1988: Bert Blyleven wins his 250th career game as Minnesota beats Seattle 3–1. Jeff Reardon picks up his 20th save of the season, giving him seven straight 20-save seasons. » September 17, 1988: Pitching in the 9th inning, Jeff Reardon saves his 40th game of the season in Minnesota's 3–1 win over Chicago, becoming the first pitcher ever to save 40 games in a season in each league. Reardon saved 41 for the Expos in 1985. » July 15, 1989: Jeff Reardon saves his 250th game as the Twins beat the Red Sox 3–2. » September 14, 1989: Jeff Reardon saves Minnesota's 2–0 win over Toronto to become the first pitcher ever to record at least 30 saves in five consecutive seasons. » December 6, 1989: The Mets trade reliever Randy Myers to the Reds for fellow closer John Franco; Joe Carter and Fred Lynn are sent by Cleveland to San Diego for Sandy Alomar, Carlos Baerga. and Chris James; and free-agent relief specialist Jeff Reardon signs with the Red Sox. » June 7, 1990: At Fenway, Red Sox pitchers Greg Harris and Jeff Reardon combine on a one-hitter, beating the Yankees, 3–0. » August 31, 1990: Dennis Eckersley saves his 40th game of the season in Oakland's 4–2 win over Texas to join Dan Quisenberry and Jeff Reardon as the only pitchers to save 40 games twice. » August 14, 1991: Jeff Reardon of the Red Sox and Lee Smith of the Cardinals both reach the 30-save level for the 6th consecutive season, tying the major league record. Reardon notches his in a 2-1 win over Cleveland, while Smith saves St. Louis' 5-4 victory over the Mets. » June 15, 1992: Red Sox P Jeff Reardon moves into first place on the all-time save list with number 342. It comes in Boston's 1–0 win over the Yankees. John Dopson is the winner over Scott Sanderson. Phil Plantier's homer is the only score. » August 30, 1992: The Red Sox send P Jeff Reardon to the Braves in exchange for minor leaguers Nate Minchey and Sean Ross. » April 13, 1993: Cardinals' P Lee Smith sets an all-time major league record with his 358th career save, breaking Jeff Reardon's mark. Smith preserves St. Louis' 9-7 win over the Dodgers. » April 20, 1995: Jeff Reardon, 39, announces his retirement. He is 2nd on the all-time list for saves (367).