Teodoro Higuera Valenzuela (born November 9, 1957) is a Mexican 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
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, ...
. He played
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
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...
.
Early career
Higuera was named the rookie of the year with the
Indios de Ciudad Juárez
Club de Fútbol Indios de Ciudad Juárez, commonly referred as Indios de Ciudad Juárez or simply Indios, was a Mexican football club. Founded in 2005 when CF Pachuca moved its Pachuca Juniors to Ciudad Juárez, it was promoted to the Primera Di ...
during the
1981 Mexican League season. In 1983, his contract was purchased by the Brewers. After one year in the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
, Higuera earned a spot in the team's 1985 rotation after winning a competition with Japanese pitcher
Yutaka Enatsu
is a former Japanese pitcher regarded as one of the best Japanese people, Japanese strikeout pitchers of all-time. In , he recorded 401 strikeouts, which is still the world record.
Enatsu was a big player in the Black Mist Scandal (Japanese base ...
. In his first season with Milwaukee, he posted a 15–8 record with a 3.90
ERA
An era is a span of time.
Era or ERA may also refer to:
* Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time
* Calendar era
Education
* Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school
* ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia
* E ...
en route to winning
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
''The Sporting News'' Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award established in 1946 by ''The Sporting News''. For the first three years (1946–1948) and again in 1950, there was a single award. In 1949 and since ...
in 1985.
was one of Higuera's best seasons. He had his only 20-win season, going 20–11 with 207
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 2.79 ERA. It was the first 20-win season by a Mexican-born pitcher in the American League. That season, he was also selected for his only
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...
appearance. In the game,
Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (; November 1, 1960 – October 22, 2024), nicknamed "El Toro", was a Mexican professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from 1980 to 1997 (except for a one-year sabba ...
struck Higuera out in the fifth inning to tie
Carl Hubbell
Carl Owen Hubbell (June 22, 1903 – November 21, 1988), nicknamed "the Meal Ticket" and "King Carl", was an American Major League Baseball player. He was a pitcher for the New York Giants of the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained ...
's All-Star record with five consecutive strikeouts.
He followed up his 1986 campaign by winning 18 games in 1987 and setting team marks for strikeouts (240) and consecutive scoreless innings (32).
Over his first four years in the league, Higuera had a won loss record of 69–38, 766 strikeouts and a 3.25 ERA and was poised for greater success. However, he began to suffer injury problems that would limit his playing time.
Injuries and retirement
Back surgery and sprained ankles limited Higuera to 22 starts in 1989, although he came back to go 9–6. He was healthy for most of 1990 but had a record of 11–10 with 129 strikeouts. Nevertheless, the Brewers were convinced that he could return to form and signed him to a four-year, $13.1 million contract.
Higuera tore his rotator cuff in 1991 and endured several surgeries. He missed the entire
1992 season and saw limited action in 1993 and 1994. The Brewers did not offer him a contract in and Higuera attempted a comeback with the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
. He did not make the team and retired that season.
Post-retirement
Higuera has served as a pitching coach for his native Mexico in the 2006, 2009, and 2013
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...
. In 2011, Higuera was inducted into the
Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame
The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Mexicano (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) is a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León, inaugurated on 10 ...
.
[http://baseballdeworld.com/2011/01/24/higuera-named-mexican-hall-fame/ ]
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higuera, Teodoro
1957 births
Living people
American League All-Stars
Beloit Brewers players
Denver Zephyrs players
El Paso Diablos players
Indios de Ciudad Juárez (minor league) players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from Mexico
20th-century Mexican sportsmen
Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Mexican expatriate baseball players in Canada
Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States
Mexican League baseball pitchers
Mexican League Rookie of the Year Award winners
Milwaukee Brewers players
New Orleans Zephyrs players
Baseball players from Los Mochis
Piratas de Campeche managers
Sultanes de Monterrey players
Vancouver Canadians players