A valued middle reliever and occasional closer for several playoff teams over the course of his lengthy career, the right-handed Andersen will probably best be remembered as the man traded to the Red Sox for future MVP Jeff Bagwell. After Houston dealt him to Boston in August 1990, Andersen pitched in just 15 games for the BoSox (not including his loss in Game One of the ALCS to Oakland) before signing with San Diego the following year. Bagwell went on to become the most potent hitter in Astros history.
A notorious clubhouse prankster and cutup, Andersen became well-known for posing offbeat questions such as, “Why do we drive on parkways and park in driveways?” He spent 10 years in the minor leagues while making brief appearances in the majors every other year from 1975 to 1981, when he arrived to stay with Seattle. His 2.65 ERA that year led the Mariners’ staff. Andersen enjoyed his greatest success with the Astros, whom he pitched for from 1986 (when he was a key bullpen performer on the club’s NL West winning squad) through the Bagwell trade in 1990. In 1987 he won nine games in relief and saved five others for Houston. In two separate stints with the Phillies, Andersen pitched in a pair of World Series ten years apart — in 1983 and 1993.
