Camilo Alberto Pascual Lus (born January 20, 1934) is a Cuban former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
right-handed
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
. During an 18-year baseball career (1954–71), he played for the original modern Washington Senators franchise (which became the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
,
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
, and
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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
. He was also known by the nicknames "Camile" and "Little Potato."
Pascual's best pitches were his fastball and devastating overhand curveball, described by
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...
as the "most feared curveball in the American League for 18 years". His curveball has been rated in the top 10 of all-time. Over his career, he compiled 174 wins, 2,167
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...
s, and a 3.63
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 number ...
. He was elected to the American League
All-Star
An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry.
Sports
"All-star" as a sport ...
team 5 times (from 1959 to 1962, and in 1964). In the second 1961 All-Star Game, he pitched three hitless innings and struck out four. He holds the opening day strikeout record as he fanned 15 in a 10-1 win versus the Boston Red Sox in the 1960 season opener.
Early life
Pascual was born on January 20, 1934, in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Carlos was also a future pitcher in Cuba and in American major league baseball. Carlos had the Cuban-Spanish nickname Patato, meaning short or a runt. Pascual, as the younger brother, became known as Patato Pequeño. When they later came to the United States, patato, sounding like potato, was mistranslated; and the brothers became known in the U.S. as Potato and Little Potato.
Playing career
Minor leagues and Cuban League
Pascual had begun playing amateur baseball in Cuba as a teenager, but his first professional play came in the United States. As a 17-year-old, Pascual left Havana and spent the 1951 season as a minor league free agent pitching for the Class-D Chickasha Chiefs in the Oklahoma Sooner State League and two Class-C teams, the Big Spring Broncs in the
Longhorn League
The Longhorn League was the name of a Minor league baseball circuit that operated from through in the Southwestern United States. In , it was renamed the Southwestern League and operated through before changing its name to the Sophomore Leagu ...
and Geneva Robins in the New York Border League. The latter team was made up largely of Cuban players signed by Washington Senator's scout Joe Cambria, including future Minnesota Twins teammate
Julio Bécquer
Julio Bécquer Villegas (December 20, 1931 – November 1, 2020) was a Cuban-born American professional baseball player, a first baseman who played in 488 games over seven seasons (1955; 1957–61; 1963) for the Washington Senators / Minnesota ...
. Pascal would finish the season with a combined record of 5–4 with a 4.64 ERA and 46 walks in 64 innings. Despite his less than overwhelming stats, the 18-year-old Pascual was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent prior to the start of the 1952 season.
Pascual would spend the 1952 season in Class-B pitching for the Havana Cubans and the
Tampa Smokers
The Tampa Smokers was a name used between 1919 and 1954 by a series of minor league baseball, minor league baseball teams based in Tampa, Florida. The nickname was a nod to the History of Ybor City, local cigar industry, which was the most impor ...
inning
In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...
s over 24 games. His first professional play in Cuba came in the 1952-53 Winter League, playing for Tigres de Marianao. Pascual learned his renowned curveball from Cuban pitching legend and Marianao manager Adolfo Luque. He would be back with the Florida League's Havana Cubans for the entire 1953 season, and would compile similar stats as the year before (10-6, 3.00 ERA, 68 walks, 141 Inn in 25 games).
Following the 1953 season, he was traded from Marianao to his hometown Elefantes de Cienfuegos in the Cuban League, competing for the Caribbean World Series. The team won championships in 1956, 1960 and 1961. One of his teammates was Pedro Ramos, with whom he formed a top pitching duo. Ramos also would be a future teammate on the Washington Senators. Pascual would continue to play for Cienfuegos until
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
closed the country in 1961. Pascual was only able to leave Cuba for the United States in 1961 after high level negotiations. Pascual was a Cuban League MVP in 1955-56, and was one of the decades old league's historically best pitchers.
Major leagues
Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins
Pascual would go north with the Senators in 1954 and would make his major league debut on April 15, mopping up the last 3 innings of a 6–1 loss to 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
for losing pitcher Bob Porterfield. The 20-year-old Pascual would put in an encouraging rookie season for the 66–88 Senators, finishing 4–7 with a 4.22 ERA, 3 saves and one
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 48 appearances (3 starts). However, walks would continue to plague the young pitcher, as he would finish the season with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of less than one (60
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...
s and 61 walks).
Pascual would continue to be used primarily as a reliever in 1955 and would improve his strikeout ratio, but this would be about the only statistic he would improve on over his rookie season as he would finish with a 2–12 record and 6.14 ERA – mirroring the club as a whole which won only 53 games. However, Pascual would steadily improve, lowering his ERA and increasing his win total every year from 1955 to 1959. In 1959, he would be named to his first of four consecutive All-Star teams, making the August 3, 1959 All-Star roster (though not the July 1959 team). Pascual finished 1959 with 17–10 record, a 2.64 ERA, and 185 strikeouts in innings. He also led the league in both complete games (17) and shutouts (6), as well as WAR, while also receiving some support in the MVP balloting.
The period from 1959 to 1964 would see Pascual's peak years. He would win at least 12 games every season while leading the league in complete games, shutouts, and strikeouts three times each. He was selected to American League All-Star teams in five of those years (both 1960 All-Star teams, the second 1961 All-Star team, both 1962 All-Star teams, and the 1964 team, in addition to his 1959 selection); actually playing in three of those games (1961-62, 1964). During that time, the Senators moved to Minnesota, beginning the 1961 season as the Minnesota Twins, and Pascal moved with the team.
In 1962, Pascual went 20-11 and led the league in complete games, shutouts and strikeouts to help notch his first 20-win season. In a reversal from his earlier career, his 3.5–1 strikeout to walk ratio also led the American League. In 1963, he had arguably his best season with a 21-9 win lost record, a 2.46 ERA, leading the league in complete games and 202 strikeouts. In 1964, his record fell to 15–12, but the team overall was not as good as the previous two years, falling to sixth place with a record below .500.
1965 would see the Twins/Washington franchise return to the World Series for the first time since Washington lost the 1933 series to the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
. However, after starting the season 8–2, injuries limited Pascual to nine relatively ineffective second-half starts, and shoulder surgery in August. He recovered in time for the team's stretch run and American League pennant win, but lost his World Series matchup with Claude Osteen in Game 3 against the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
. The Dodgers defeated the Twins 4–3 to win the World Series. Pascual would continue to have arm problems in 1966 and would pitch only 103 innings in 21 games, both career lows.
New Washington Senators, Reds, Dodgers, Cleveland
In 1961, an American League
expansion team
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
began play in Washington, D.C., once again called the Washington Senators.
Seeing the writing on the wall, the Twins traded Pascual and once-promising second baseman Bernie Allen on December 3, 1966 to the new Washington Senators for 35-year-old relief pitcher Ron Kline. Although no longer over-powering or the durable innings-eater he had once been, Pascual would have a minor renaissance during the 1967 and 1968 seasons while in Washington. He won a total of 25 games while leading the Senator' staff in wins and finishing second in both innings and strikeouts both seasons.
Pascal was the Senators opening day pitcher in 1969, the seventh time he had the honor. However, Pascual would get off to a brutal start in 1969 (2-5, 6.83 ERA, 38 walks in innings) and Washington would sell his rights to the Cincinnati Reds on July 7, where he gave up seven runs in seven innings over the rest of the year. Unable to make the club in spring training 1970, the Reds released Pascual on April 4, 1970 or April 13, 1970, with the Los Angeles Dodgers signing him on April 13, 1970. He pitched for the Dodgers until August and for the Cleveland Indians for the first half of the 1971 season, but would only see action in a total of 19 games and he retired at the end of the season.
Career
Over his career, Pascual led the league in strikeouts in 1961 (221), 1962 (206), and 1963 (202) and as of the start of the 2025 season, he is 71st on the all-time strikeout list (2,167). However, he was also in the top 10 in the league in walks and home runs allowed five times in his career and is 87th and 120th all-time in those categories as of the start of the 2025 season. Pascual led the league in complete games three times (1959, 62, 63), and came in second two more times (1961, 64). Pascual was a 20-game winner twice, in 1962–63, and also finished with a career-high in complete games (18) in both of those seasons.
Pascual posted a .205
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
home runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...
. He is one of only 7 pitchers in MLB history to hit 2 grand slams, the first on August 14, 1960, in a game against the New York Yankees, and the second on April 27, 1965 in the 1st inning of a game against the Cleveland Indians.
Yankee shortstop
Tony Kubek
Anthony Christopher Kubek (born October 12, 1935) is an American former professional baseball player and television sportscaster, broadcaster. During his nine-year playing career with the New York Yankees, Kubek played in six World Series in the ...
said of Pascual's curveball, “'He’d come straight over the top with it and it would just dive off the table. The spin was so tight, you couldn’t identify the pitch until it was too late. It didn’t flutter, it didn’t hang, it just kept biting. When Pascual was right, nobody had a chance. That curve was unhittable.'”
Retirement
After his playing career ended, Pascual retired to Miami where he had lived since 1960. From 1978 to 1980, Pascual was the Minnesota Twins pitching coach for manager Gene Mauch. He scouted for the
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
from 1982-1988, and then for the Dodgers beginning in 1989. After 1989, he worked as an international scout for the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
and the Dodgers. He was originally hired by the Dodgers to scout in Venezuela, but scouted players from other nations as well. Among the major leaguers Pascual has signed are
Jose Canseco
José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established hims ...
Miguel Cairo
Miguel Jesús Cairo i'-row(born May 4, 1974), is a Venezuelans, Venezuelan former professional baseball infielder and currently the Coach (baseball), bench coach for the Washington Nationals. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine ...
, and Franklin Gutiérrez. He served as an international scout until he had almost turned 80. His brother Carlos Pascual scouted for the Yankees,
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
and Mets, most notably signing Dwight "Doc" Gooden for the Mets.
Caribbean Series
The Caribbean Series ( Spanish: ''Serie del Caribe'') is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in ...
ties him with José Bracho and Rubén Gómez for the most all-time wins in the tournament.
On May 29, 2010, he was elected in the inaugural class of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame at the Roman Amphitheater in Altos de Chavón, in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
. He later became the 24th former Twins player inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame, during a ceremony held on July 15, 2012.
He was honored on February 18, 2017, when his name was added to the "Pitching Wall of Great Achievement" at the Ted Williams Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
He was named Cuba's outstanding athlete of 1959.
In 2020, ''
The Athletic
''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...
'' ranked Pascal's 1963 season as the third best by a right-handed pitcher in Twins history, and his 1962 season as eighth best.
List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders
:''This list is for pitchers. For career strikeouts by batters, see List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders''
The following list is of the top 100 pitchers in career strikeouts in Major League Baseball. In baseball, a s ...