Kyle Farnsworth

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**Kyle Farnsworth**

New York Yankees — No. 48
Relief Pitcher
Born: April 14, 1976 (1976-04-14) (age 32) Wichita, Kansas
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 29, 1999 for the Chicago Cubs
Selected MLB statistics (through June 8, 2008)
Win-Loss	29-47
Earned Run Average	4.47
Strikeouts	702
Teams
Chicago Cubs (1999-2004) Detroit Tigers (2005) Atlanta Braves (2005) New York Yankees (2006-present)

Kyle Lynn Farnsworth (born April 14, 1976 in Wichita, Kansas) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher, for the New York Yankees. He is 6'4" and weighs 235 lbs.

Farnsworth graduated from Milton High School in Milton, Georgia in 1994. During high school, he played baseball, basketball, and football. He continued to play baseball in college at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, which is located in Tifton, Georgia.

Farnsworth was drafted in the 47th round by the Chicago Cubs.

1 Major League career
- 1.1 Cubs, Tigers, and Braves
- 1.2 New York Yankees
2 Incidents
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Major League career

[edit] Cubs, Tigers, and Braves

Prior to becoming a Yankee, Farnsworth played for the Chicago Cubs (1999-2004) and the Detroit Tigers (2005).

On July 31, 2005, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for pitchers Zach Miner and Roman Colon.

In his last 58 appearances in the 2005 season Farnsworth posted a 1.62 ERA and held opponents to a .162 average. He converted 16 straight save opportunities after failing to convert his first 2.

[edit] New York Yankees

Following the season, Farnsworth signed with the New York Yankees, replacing Tom Gordon as the team's primary set-up man, joining a revamped Yankees bullpen that also included newcomers Octavio Dotel and Ron Villone to help bridge the gap to closer Mariano Rivera. The deal, worth $17 million over three years, was the second highest offer Farnsworth received. The Texas Rangers reportedly offered $25 million over four years and the closer job. However, he first learned of the Rangers' interest when he was taking his physical for the Yankees. Farnsworth also decided against re-signing with the Braves, whom he grew up rooting for, where he also would have been a closer rather than a setup man. He felt the Yankees would give him the best chance to win a championship and decided to sign with them.

He struggled in the 2006 season, accumulating a 4.36 ERA. His struggles continued in the 2007 season.

When Farnsworth joined the Yankees, he began wearing glasses, which he'd never done before. He allegedly borrowed these glasses from a bartender in SoHo. This prompted sports announcers to nickname him Professor Farnsworth, a reference to a character from the animated series Futurama. The Professor Farnsworth nickname was also promoted on the MLB humor site The Dugout.

[edit] Incidents

He is also somewhat infamous for a brawl that occurred in the 2003 season when his former team, the Chicago Cubs, were playing the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ball Park. Reds pitcher Paul Wilson stepped out of the batter's box after an inside pitch, and started to yell at Farnsworth. Farnsworth then met Wilson a short distance from home plate and speared him to the ground. He was suspended 3 games for his actions.

In August 2004, after blowing a save, he kicked an air conditioning unit in the tunnel to the clubhouse, causing him to sprain his knee and land on the disabled list.

Farnsworth also was involved in a bench-clearing fight in the 2005 season while playing for the Detroit Tigers, against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park. After three batters on both teams had been hit by pitches, triggering stern warnings to both teams from the umpires, Tigers shortstop Carlos Guillén approached the mound after he was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by the Royals' Runelvys Hernandez. Both benches and bullpens cleared. After order appeared to have been restored, Farnsworth charged Royals pitcher Jeremy Affeldt and tackled him to the ground in a similar fashion as he did with Paul Wilson. He was ejected from the game.^[1] Beginning on August 9, 2005, Farnsworth served a 5-game suspension for his role in the altercation.

On July 29, 2007, Farnsworth had a falling out with his catcher, Jorge Posada. On a previous pitch, Posada asked for a slider. Instead of throwing a slider, Farnsworth threw a blazing fastball that struck Posada on the wrist. When Posada approached the mound to ask why he threw the fastball, Farnsworth turned away. The two began arguing, causing third baseman Alex Rodriguez to come in and break it up. Manager Joe Torre then pulled Farnsworth, and was forced to bring in closer Mariano Rivera to come into the game in a non-save opportunity.^[2]

On April 17, 2008, Farnsworth threw behind Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez. Ramirez had hit home runs earlier in the 2nd and 3rd innings of the game. In the top of the 7th inning, Farnsworth's first pitch was a 97 mph fastball that sailed directly behind Ramirez's neck, nearly beaning the Red Sox outfielder. While Farnsworth claimed that the ball slipped out of his hand as a result of trying to throw the ball as hard as possible, Ramirez was skeptical and surmised that the pitch was retaliation for Alex Rodriguez being plunked the prior night after hitting a home run in the game. Following Farnsworth's pitch, the umpire issued warnings to both dugouts that any ill-intentions from that point forward would result in ejections.^[3] Farnsworth has appealed the three-game suspension handed down by the MLB. The suspension was reduced to one game.