Hudson joins small club with win over A's
Giants veteran becomes 15th pitcher with victories vs. all 30 MLB teams
SAN FRANCISCO -- Sixteen years ago, on June 8, 1999, Tim Hudson made his Major League debut with the Oakland A's. And on Sunday, Hudson's career came full circle as he defeated his first big league club for the first time.
In doing so during the Giants' 4-3 victory, Hudson joined some elite company, becoming the 15th pitcher in baseball history to earn a win against all 30 current Major League clubs.
"It is pretty cool," Hudson acknowledged. "The most important thing is that we won the ballgame today."
The 40-year-old right-hander tossed five innings against the A's at AT&T Park, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out one. He was previously 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA (11 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings) vs. Oakland. But he insisted he didn't derive any extra satisfaction from beating his original club.
"I had a lot of fun years up there," said Hudson, who pitched for Oakland from 1999-2004. "[But] the only familiar faces are the front-office and medical staffs."
Hudson is the second pitcher to accomplish the feat this season, joining Kyle Lohse, who defeated the final team on his list, the Minnesota Twins, on June 26. Dan Haren and A.J. Burnett are the only other active players with a win against all 30 teams.
Al Leiter, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Barry Zito, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, Woody Williams, Jamie Moyer, Javier Vazquez, Vicente Padilla and Derek Lowe round out the list of the remaining 11 pitchers.
Of his 30 opponents, Hudson has a winning record against 19 of them. He's bested the Mets and Nationals the most, posting an 18-10 record against Washington and an 18-5 record against New York, and has had the least success against the Red Sox at 3-9 with a 6.26 ERA through 12 starts. Hudson has beaten eight different clubs 10 or more times and has at least two wins against all but his two former teams -- Atlanta and now Oakland.
"I've been fortunate to play on some good teams and I've had some guys behind me who really want to win," Hudson said.