Baseball Career
Rogers was assigned to the Texas Rangers farm team after being drafted in the 39th round for $1,000 when he was 17 years old. He graduated from Plant City High School in Florida in 1982, where he played baseball only during his senior season, hitting .375 as a right fielder (he played shortstop in his senior league). He was converted into a pitcher on the strength of his throwing arm and left-handedness. Rogers spent seven years in the minor leagues before making it to the Rangers in 1989 as a reliever. He became a starting pitcher for the club in 1993.
During his career, he played for the Texas Rangers (1989–95, 2000–02, 2004–05), the New York Yankees (1996–97), Oakland Athletics (1998–99), the New York Mets (1999), the Minnesota Twins (2003), and the Detroit Tigers (2006–08).
With the Detroit Tigers in 2006, Rogers won 17 regular season games, and excelled in the post-season with 23 straight scoreless innings over his three starts.
He is one of only three pitchers in Rangers history through 2009 to win at least 17 games in 31 starts or fewer (17 wins in 31 starts in 1995), along with Scott Feldman (17 wins in 31 starts in 2009) and Ferguson Jenkins (18 wins in 30 starts in 1978).
Read more about this topic: Kenny Rogers (baseball)
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