Esteban Antonio Loaiza Veyna o-EYE-sa(born December 31, 1971) is a Mexican retired

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

. He played in

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for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, Texas Rangers,

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics, and

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. Loaiza was the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

's (AL) starting pitcher in the 2003 All-Star Game. That year, he led the AL in

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

Early career

A graduate of Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, California, Loaiza was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on March 21, 1991. He made his professional debut that year with the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast Pirates The Florida Complex League Pirates are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Pirates. The team plays its h ...

1991, finishing with a 5–1 record and a 2.26

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA) in 11 starts. He moved through the Pirates farm system with stops at Augusta (class A – 1992), Salem (class A – 1993) and Carolina (class AA – 1993-1994). He also played for the Mexico City Red Devils of the Mexican Summer League during the 1993 season. He has played with the Mexicali Aguilas of the Liga Mexicana Del Pacifico.

Major Leagues

Pittsburgh Pirates

Loaiza moved to the big league club in 1995, making his major league debut on April 29, 1995 for the Pirates against the Philadelphia Phillies. He worked five innings in the game, giving up five

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and one unearned run to achieve the first major league win of his career. He finished his rookie season with an 8–9 record and a 5.16 ERA in 31 starts. He began the 1996 season back in the minors with the Triple-A

Calgary Cannons The Calgary Cannons were a minor league baseball team located in Calgary, Alberta, for 18 seasons, from 1985 until 2002. They were a member of the AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) and played at Foothills Stadium. The Cannons displaced the Cal ...

, but was recalled to the majors on June 7.

Texas Rangers

The Pirates traded Loaiza to the Texas Rangers on July 17, 1998, in exchange for

Todd Van Poppel Todd Matthew Van Poppel (born December 9, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Oakland Athletics (, –), Detroit Tigers (1996), Texas Rangers (, –), Pittsburgh Pirates (1998), Chicago Cubs (–), and Cincinnati ...

and

Warren Morris Warren Randall Morris (born January 11, 1974) is an American former college and Major League Baseball player. He is most remembered for his two-out, 9th inning walk-off home run that won the 1996 College World Series for the Louisiana State Un ...

. He spent the next two seasons with Texas, pitching both as a starter and a reliever for the Rangers.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Rangers traded Loaiza to the

on July 19, 2000 for Michael Young and Darwin Cubillán. He pitched with the Blue Jays through 2002.

Chicago White Sox (2003–2004)

On January 24, 2003, Loaiza signed a minor league contract with the

. He enjoyed a career season in 2003, receiving his first career All-Star selection. He led

pitchers in strikeouts (207) and finished second in wins (21) and strikeouts per nine innings (8.23); third in ERA (2.90), and sixth in innings pitched (). Considered for the

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

, Loaiza finished second behind Roy Halladay, ahead of Pedro Martínez and Tim Hudson. Loaiza's 21 wins in 2003 are tied for the most ever in a season for a Mexican pitcher; Fernando Valenzuela won 21 games in 1986. In 2004, Loaiza was selected to his second All-Star Game as a member of the White Sox.

New York Yankees

Soon after his appearance in the All-Star Game, Loaiza was traded to the

on July 31 for

José Contreras José Ariel Contreras Camejo (born December 6, 1971), is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher, who played in the Cuban National Series (CNS), Major League Baseball (MLB), and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team. Cont ...

. He did not perform well in New York, recording a 8.46 ERA in six August starts, and was moved to the bullpen during the final month of the regular season. During the

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against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, he pitched well in two relief outings despite recording the loss in Game 5.

Washington Nationals

On January 18, 2005, Loaiza signed a one-year, $2.9 million deal with the Washington Nationals as a free agent. He went 12–10 with a 3.77 ERA in 34 starts for the Nationals.

Oakland Athletics

On November 28, 2005, Loaiza signed a three-year, $21.4 million contract with the Oakland Athletics. He had a disastrous start to his Oakland career, which led many fans to question his acquisition. Loaiza went 0–3 in April with an 8.35 ERA and opponents batted .385 against him. His early season troubles reached a nadir on April 29 when he gave up six runs in one plus innings to the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, who had the worst record in baseball at the time; the game was not official since it was later rained out. Loaiza's poor performance was at least partly due to injury, as he seemed to have very little velocity on his fastball early in the season (throwing it at as little as 82–83 mph) and was placed on the disabled list with back and shoulder problems on May 2. When he returned on June 8, he was inconsistent, but appeared to be much healthier, due to his ability to demonstrate a much harder 95 mph fastball. On June 25, 2006, Loaiza pitched his first

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

in over two years in a 10–4 victory over the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

. Loaiza finished the 2006 regular season with a 4.89 ERA and a record of 11–9 in 26 starts. Loaiza began the 2007 season on the disabled list due to a strained right trapezius. The A's activated him and moved him back to the 25-man roster on August 22, 2007.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On August 29, 2007, the

claimed Loaiza off waivers from the Athletics. Instead of trading for Loaiza, the Dodgers purchased the remainder of his contract. He made an impressive debut for the Dodgers on September 3, working seven innings and getting the win in an 11–3 victory over the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

, but struggled during the rest of the season, losing his last four decisions. Going into the 2008 season, he had fully recovered from his injuries and regained his spot as the fifth starter in the Dodgers rotation. Loaiza struggled at the beginning of the season, and as a result lost his starting position to lefty Hong-Chih Kuo. After a stint on the DL, Loaiza was designated for assignment on May 24 and subsequently released.

Chicago White Sox (2008)

On June 4, 2008, Loaiza signed a one-year contract with the Chicago White Sox. After three relief appearances and six weeks on the disabled list, he was released on July 25.

Personal life

Family

In 2010, Loaiza married Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera. He made several appearances on her family's

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show, '' I Love Jenni''. Divorce papers were filed on October 1, 2012. A statement, released by Rivera's representatives, stated that the divorce was due to "irreconcilable differences on behalf of both parties derived from private circumstances that occurred during the lapse of their two-year marriage." Rivera died on December 9, 2012, when her private plane crashed, before the divorce was finalized.

Legal issues

On June 14, 2006, Loaiza was arrested after being pulled over by police who clocked his

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at on a

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near San Lorenzo. He subsequently failed a sobriety test. He appeared in court on July 14, 2006. After the incident, Athletics

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Billy Beane banned alcohol in both the home and visitor clubhouse, citing liability issues. Loaiza was arrested on February 9, 2018, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, with over of cocaine, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. He was charged with felony counts of possession or purchase of narcotics and transportation or sale of narcotics. Loaiza pleaded guilty to the charges in August, and was sentenced on March 8, 2019, to serve a three-year prison sentence. He was released from prison on August 6, 2021 and deported to Mexico.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loaiza, Esteban 1971 births Living people American League All-Stars American League strikeout champions Augusta Pirates players Baseball players from Baja California Birmingham Barons players Calgary Cannons players Carolina Mudcats players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Delfines de Ciudad del Carmen players Diablos Rojos del México players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Pirates players Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Mexico Mexican drug traffickers Mexican expatriate baseball players in Canada Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Mexican League baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma RedHawks players People convicted of drug offenses People from Imperial Beach, California Sportspeople from Tijuana Pittsburgh Pirates players Sacramento River Cats players Salem Buccaneers players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tennessee Smokies players Texas Rangers players Toronto Blue Jays players Washington Nationals players 2006 World Baseball Classic players