Horacio Piña García
ee'-nyah(born March 12, 1945) is a Mexican former
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...
who played in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
over eight seasons between and . Piña also played professionally in Mexico for all or portions of nine years. He batted and threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and .
Piña reached the major leagues in 1968 with the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...
, spending two years with them before moving to the
Washington Senators/
Texas Rangers (–),
Oakland Athletics (),
Chicago Cubs (),
California Angels () and
Philadelphia Phillies (). His most productive season came in 1972 with the last-place Rangers, when he posted career-numbers in
saves (15),
strikeouts (60) and
games pitched (60). Traded to the
Oakland Athletics for
Mike Epstein on December 1, 1972, he responded with a 6–3 mark, eight saves and career-highs in
ERA (2.76) and
innings (88.0), helping them to clinch the
ALCS and the
World Series Championship. He was dealt from the
Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
to the
Cubs for
Bob Locker at the
Winter Meetings
Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...
on December 3, 1973.
Durso, Joseph. "4 Trades Made at Meetings," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 4, 1973.
Retrieved January 26, 2023. In an eight-season career, Piña posted a 23–23 record with a 3.25 ERA and 38 saves in 314 games. In three post-season games he had a perfect 0.00 ERA in five innings.
As a pitcher in the Mexican League
The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country.
The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...
, Piña threw a no-hitter in 1975, posted a 21–4 record with a 1.94 ERA and pitched a perfect game
Perfect game may refer to:
Sports
* Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners
* Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game
* Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...
in 1978, and gained induction in the ''Salón de la Fama del Béisbol de México'' in 1988.
See also
* Players from Mexico in MLB
References
*''The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia'' – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English.
External links
Horacio Piña
- Baseball Biography
Salón de la Fama del Béisbol de México (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pina, Horacio
1945 births
Living people
Baseball players from Coahuila
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Cleveland Indians players
Leones de Yucatán players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from Mexico
Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States
Oakland Athletics players
Pericos de Puebla players
Philadelphia Phillies players
Portland Beavers players
Rieleros de Aguascalientes players
Reno Silver Sox players
Texas Rangers players
Washington Senators (1961–1971) players