Brad Havens

Bradley David Havens

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 196 lb.
• High School Clarence M. Kimball High School
• Debut June 5, 1981
• Final Game July 23, 1989
• Born November 17, 1959 in Highland Park, MI USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Brad Havens was part of the trade that brought Rod Carew from the Minnesota Twins to the California Angels. Carew was 2-3 with 2 walks in his career against Havens.

He came to the majors with the Twins just before the 1981 strike and pitched well over the second half of that season, even if his win/loss record was just 3-6. His ERA was a solid 3.58 in 14 games, with a 43/24 K/W ratio. In 1982, with a last-place Twins team, he finished 10-14, 4.31 and was the staff ace along with veterans Bobby Castillo, who was 13-11, 3.66, and Albert Williams (9-7, 4.22). It looked like he would be one the Twins' main pitchers going forward, but he had a terrible year in 1983, when he was 5-8, 8.18 and ended up back in the minors.

He did not pitch in the majors in 1984, but with the AAA Toledo Mud Hens, he was the American Association Pitcher of the Year, going 11-10, 2.98 with 12 complete games in his 25 starts. The Baltimore Orioles gave him a second chance in 1985, after acquiring him in a trade for P Mark Brown, but he was just 0-1, 8.79. He was better for the AAA Rochester Red Wings, with a record of 8-10, 4.85. After the season, Bill James put him on his "Ken Phelps All-Star team", in the 1987 Baseball Abstract, which was a list of players who like Phelps were talented and had success in the minors, but were not getting a chance to play in the majors for whatever reason. James cited the fact that he was lefthanded, had two good pitches and a good strikeout rate, yet hadn't had much success in the majors, but added that he was more reluctant to include him than most other names on the list, because "in his case I really don't understand what the problem is." But, as he added: "If you don't know why a pitcher can't win, that's better than having a pitcher that you do know why he can't win but can't do anything about it."

He never did return to being a front-line pitcher, but he was useful in four more seasons in the major leagues, with Baltimore, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers, almost exclusively as a relief pitcher. He retired after the 1989 season, which he split between Cleveland, Detroit and Toledo, which was now the Tigers' top affiliate.

Notable Achievements

• 1984 Pitcher of the Year International League Toledo Mud Hens
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons; 1 (1982)