Rafael Edgardo Montalvo Torres (born March 31, 1964) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher. He played in

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 ...

(MLB) for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, and in the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL) for the

Wei Chuan Dragons The Wei Chuan Dragons () are a Taiwanese professional baseball team. They are a member of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The team originally existed between 1990 and 1999. In 2019, negotiations were held to revive the fran ...

China Times Eagles The China Times Eagles () were a professional baseball team belonging to the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) that existed between 1993 and 1997. History Originally formed as an amateur club Black Eagles in 1990, this club was purchase ...

, and

Mercuries Tigers The Mercuries Tigers () were a professional baseball team belonging to Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) between 1990 and 1999. History The Tigers were owned and administered by the local Mercuries Corporation whose then cha ...

. His time in the big leagues consisted of only 1 inning in 1 game at the age of 22. Montalvo holds the record with several other pitchers for having the shortest career.

Career

Montalvo's one appearance came on Sunday, April 13, , as a member of the

. He pitched one inning against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

and allowed one run, one hit, and two walks. Shortly thereafter he was demoted to the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

in the minor leagues. After the Astros reached the 1986 NLCS he was awarded $500 as his share of the winnings.

The game

Montalvo was brought into the game to pitch the top of the 8th inning in front of 8,739 fans at the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, formerly and also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, United States. It seated around 50,000 fans, with a record atte ...

. With Montalvo on the mound, Glenn Hubbard grounded out to the pitcher; Ozzie Virgil flied out to left; Omar Moreno tripled; and Rafael Ramirez grounded out to the pitcher. In the 9th inning

Dale Murphy Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philade ...

walked and

Bob Horner James Robert Horner (born August 6, 1957) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and first baseman who played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Atlanta Braves. After a record-setting NCAA College ...

walked.

Frank DiPino Frank Michael DiPino (born October 22, 1956) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). On S ...

then replaced Montalvo. The game ended with an Atlanta Braves 8–7 victory. Houston Chronicle beat writer Neil Hohlfield claimed that Montalvo made nice "goalie like" plays on balls hit at him by Hubbard and Ramirez, but did not have much control of his pitches

Post-playing career

In 2007 Montalvo served as the pitching coach for the minor league

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

in the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

system. He now resides in Texas with his wife.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montalvo, Rafael 1964 births Living people Alacranes de Campeche players Albuquerque Dukes players Atlantic City Surf players Edmonton Trappers players Houston Astros players Industriales de Monterrey players Lethbridge Dodgers players Lodi Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Mexican League baseball pitchers Midland Angels players Sportspeople from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico Rieleros de Aguascalientes players San Antonio Dodgers players Baseball players from San Juan, Puerto Rico Tigres del México players Tucson Toros players Vero Beach Dodgers players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Italy Fortitudo Baseball Bologna players China Times Eagles players Mercuries Tigers players Piratas de Campeche players Wei Chuan Dragons players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Taiwan