Kei Igawa Ties Joe "the Roa Constrictor" Roa's Record at Scranton

In coal town, he's as big as Joe Biden.

Kei Igawa this year tied the all-time Scranton-Wilkes Barre single season record for wins with 14, putting him up there with the great Joe Roa.

Topps today named Kei to the Triple A All-Star team. Says Topps:

"Igawa led the Yankees in starts (24), wins (14), innings pitched (156.1) and strike outs (117). His 14 wins tied Joe Roa’s franchise record set in 2002."

So who was Joe Roa, aka "the Roa Constrictor?" Some notes:

In 1995, Roa went 17-3 for the Indians Triple A team in Buffalo.

In 2002, Roa for the Red Barons of Scranton Wilkes-Barre, went 14-0 with a 1.86 ERA.

Lifetime in the minors, he went 122-67. In the majors, he was 9-16.

He pitched for 12 major league organizations.

Roa was the Indian to be named later in the 1996 trade that sent Jeff Kent, Julian Tavarez and Jose Vizcaino to the Giants for Matt Williams.

Roa made only 2 errors in his entire major league career.

In his entire career, Joe Roa earned $977,000, according to Baseball Reference.

Last year, Kei Igawa made that in about six weeks.