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I was 28 before I made the majors.I was part of the regular starting rotation as a rookie for these World Series champs. That was about it. My arm went south and that was that. I did become the first Venezuelan to pitch in the series though. And the name is ...........
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Les Straker!
46 wins to match last year's total -
Born October 10, 1959 in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela; played for the World Champion '87 Twins in his first year. He's my guess, too.Comment
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Pretty obscure answer. But correct. Actually he was 27 based on his late birthday. My fault..
How about the first 'Mexican born' to win 20 in a season?Comment
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Two did it in the same year: Fernando Valenzuela and Teddy Higuera in 1986 46 wins to match last year's total Comment
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But Higuera did it first by just a few days.. I was hoping to get someone to just say Valenzuela.Comment
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Whoops. Sorry if I ruined that. 46 wins to match last year's total Comment
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According to retrosheet.org Higuera won his 20th game against Baltimore on 9/25/1986. Valenzuela won his against Houston on 9/22/1986 so actually Valenzuela did it 3 days before Higuera.Originally posted by janduscframeComment
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Really? I better do some checking as I thought Higuera did it first..It wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong...Comment
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Yeah, retrosheet shows Valenzuela first. The baseball library though says it was Higuera. While the baseball library is a great site, I'd have to side with the retro box scores I think...That's about half a dozen errors I've run across there. Still a pretty small percentage considering all the info they have. Thanks for the correction Utter...Comment
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Yeah, www.baseballlibrary.com has some great information but I've noticed some erroneous information there as well. Check out Dutch Leonard. Look under June 11, 1913 and you'll read that he was on the mound during two steals of home. He would have been 4 years old at the time. If you look at Fernando's information you'll find this:Originally posted by janduscframe
September 22, 1986: Dodgers ace Fernando Valenzuela becomes the National League's first 20-game winner this season, beating the Astros 9–2 on two hits. He's the first Mexican to win 20 games in a season.
So according to the website both pitchers were the first to Mexican win 20 games.
I also noticed a couple of other connections between the two pitchers. Higuera's full name is Teodoro Higuera Valenzuela. And in the 1986 All-Star game Fernando tied Carl Hubbell's record by striking out 5 batters in a row. The 5th strikeout victim was Ted Higuera.Comment
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If I remember correctly I think Higuera struck out quite a few batters in the 86 All Star game too? Do you know where that info is? How many times did both All Star teams have a Mexican born pitcher on the roster prior to that? This isn't trivia, just a question...
The hispanic names can get confusing..I think that backup Reds catcher is really Jose Valentine just like his brother,but he goes by (I forget,Javie? or Javier?)
Would it be appropriate if someone like West Coast would explain in this forum how the names work? I'm curious...For example why did Teddy Higuera go by that name instead of Teddy Valenzuela? I know how the Scandanavian names work but not hispanic..
Westy, here's your chance to educate a dumb Norwegian and anyone else looking in
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Higuera had two strikeouts in 3 innings.Originally posted by janduscframe
The Hispanic custom is to include the mother's maiden name last. So Ted Higuera's mother was Miss Valenzuela before she married. Fernando's mom was Miss Anguamea. That is why Roberto Clemente's HOF plaque had to be changed from Roberto Walker Clemente to Roberto Clemente Walker.Originally posted by janduscframe
Here's a list of 58 Mexican born players that have pitched up to 2004. Not too many all-stars on the list so 1986 might be the only time.Originally posted by janduscframe
Code:Name Years Jesse Flores 1942-1950 Bobby Herrera 1951-1951 Memo Luna 1954-1954 Bob Greenwood 1954-1955 Marcelino Solis 1958-1958 Jorge Rubio 1966-1967 Horacio Pina 1968-1978 Vicente Romo 1968-1982 Jose Pena 1969-1972 Miguel Puente 1970-1970 Hector Torres 1972-1972 Cy Acosta 1972-1975 Max Leon 1973-1978 Francisco Barrios 1974-1981 Aurelio Lopez 1974-1987 Sid Monge 1975-1984 Mario Mendoza 1977-1977 Enrique Romo 1977-1982 Fernando Valenzuela 1980-1997 Luis Gomez 1981-1981 Angel Moreno 1981-1982 Chico Escarrega 1982-1982 Salome Barojas 1982-1988 Alfonso Pulido 1983-1986 Teddy Higuera 1985-1994 Vicente Palacios 1987-2000 German Jimenez 1988-1988 Jose Cecena 1988-1988 Rosario Rodriguez 1989-1991 Narciso Elvira 1990-1990 Hector Fajardo 1991-1995 Armando Reynoso 1991-2002 Ismael Valdes 1994-2004 Isidro Marquez 1995-1995 Andres Berumen 1995-1996 Tavo Alvarez 1995-1996 Juan Acevedo 1995-2003 Antonio Osuna 1995-2004 Esteban Loaiza 1995-2004 Francisco Cordova 1996-2000 Jose Silva 1996-2002 Elmer Dessens 1996-2004 Dennys Reyes 1997-2004 Ricardo Rincon 1997-2004 Rigo Beltran 1997-2004 Roberto Ramirez 1998-1999 Miguel del Toro 1999-2000 David Cortes 1999-2003 Luis Rivera 2000-2000 Daniel Garibay 2000-2000 Rodrigo Lopez 2000-2004 Victor Alvarez 2002-2003 Oliver Perez 2002-2004 Juan Cerros 2003-2003 Oscar Villarreal 2003-2004 Luis Ayala 2003-2004 Edgar Gonzalez 2003-2004 Jorge de la Rosa 2004-2004
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Funny how a guy's memory can play tricks. In my mind I see Higuera just mowing them down.... Wrong again. But three shutouts innings ain't bad.
Thanks for the Hispanic explanation...Comment
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