Phil Hennigan

Phillip Winston Hennigan

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 195 lb.
• School Sam Houston State College
• High School Jasper High School
• Debut September 2, 1969
• Final Game July 7, 1973
• Born April 10, 1946 in Jasper, TX USA
• Died June 17, 2016 in Center, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Phil Hennigan pitched five seasons in the major leagues.

Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round of the 1966 amateur draft, Hennigan began his professional career that same year. Pitching for the Reno Silver Sox, Hennigan went 3-8 with a 4.03 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 96 innings of work.

He missed all of 1967 due to military service. In 1968, he pitched for Reno again, going 5-7 with a 3.26 ERA in 80 innings. He struck out 76 batters and walked 32.

In 1969, he mostly pitched for the Waterbury Indians although he saw a few games in the majors. With the Waterbury Indians, he went 10-10 with a 3.39 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 154 innings of work. He made his big league debut on September 2nd of that year, pitching a third of an inning against the Minnesota Twins. The single batter he faced in that game (and the first batter he ever faced in the majors) was future Hall of Famer Rod Carew. Carew flew out to center. Overall, he went 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA in nine relief appearances in his rookie season.

Hennigan made 41 relief appearances and one start for the Indians in 1970, going 6-3 with a 4.02 ERA, 43 strikeouts and 44 walks in 71 2/3 innings of work. He spent seven games with the Wichita Aeros that year as well, going 2-2 with an 8.00 ERA in 27 innings of work.

In 1971, Hennigan went 4-3 with a 4.94 ERA in 57 relief appearances. His 57 appearances led the team, and were fifth overall in the American League. He was also eighth in the league with 14 saves and fourth with 38 games finished. He also appeared in seven games for Wichita that year, going 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings.

Although 1972 was arguably Hennigan’s best season, it would also be his last as an Indian. In 38 games, he went 5-3 with a 2.67 ERA. In 67 1/3 innings of work, he struck out 44 batters, walking only 18. He also saved five games.

Following the 1972 season, he was traded to the New York Mets for pitchers Bob Rauch and Brent Strom. He appeared in 30 games with the Mets in 1973, going 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA. He played his final big league game on July 7th of that year.

Overall, Hennigan went 17-14 with a 4.26 ERA over five big league seasons. In 176 games, he pitched 280 2/3 innings, walking 133 batters and striking out 188. He saved 25 games and finished exactly 100. As a batter, he collected three hits in 30 at-bats for a .100 average. His first hit was the only extra base hit of his career – a double off Bob Locker. He committed two errors for a .980 fielding percentage.

In the minors, he went 21-27 with a 3.80 ERA.

According to the similarity scores at Baseball-Reference.com, Hennigan is most similar statistically to Matt Karchner (through 2016).

Related Sites

• Phil Hennigan at the SABR Bio Project