For Tom Henke, the intimidating Jays reliever known as The Terminator, it became obvious years ago that his window of opportunity for entry to Cooperstown had closed. So, when he received Monday’s phone call from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame at St. Marys, Ont., he was quick to warm up to the honour.
Henke, via conference call, claimed he always felt Canada was a second home and was quick to identify his favourite, non-World Series memory involving Toronto’s fans. It was a moment that unfolded Aug. 2, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium, his first home game in a Jays uniform.
Henke had just been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, joining the team in Baltimore in late July against the O’s. He was twice a winner in the four-game series, with a couple of two-inning shutout stints. When the Jays got home, Bobby Cox called him in to pitch the ninth, nursing a 5-3 lead against his former Rangers teammates. He was introduced on the p.a. and he describes the scene.
“We had just come from Baltimore where we had always had trouble winning,” Henke recalled. “I finally got out on the mound in front of the Toronto fans and they wouldn’t let me pitch. They stood up for at least a good 10-minute ovation. Coming from Texas where we were getting maybe 10,000 people a game to having (the huge crowds) in Exhibition Stadium — about 10-15 per cent of them couldn’t even see the game — that is still in my mind one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen in my life in baseball. Pitching the first time and getting that kind of reception.”
Henke quickly terminated George Wright, Wayne Tolleson and Bobby Jones for his first of 217 saves in a Jays uniform. On June 18, Henke will join B.C. native Allan Simpson, founder of the publication Baseball America, and Prince Edward Island native George (Dandy) Wood as this year’s inductees at the baseball museum, 30 minutes northeast of London, Ont.
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