Timothy Joseph Layana (March 2, 1964 – June 26, 1999) was an American professional baseball

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, ...

who pitched for the

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 ...

and

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

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).

Career

He attended Loyola High School and was a 1986 graduate of

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

in Los Angeles, where he established 14 LMU pitching records including victories in a season (17) and in a career (35). He led the Lions to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

in 1986. Layana was drafted by the

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

in the third round of the

1986 Major League Baseball draft The 1986 Major League Baseball draft was the 22nd MLB draft that took place in 1986. During this draft 21 future all-stars were drafted: Greg Swindell, Matt Williams, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Roberto Hernández, Jack Armstrong, Dean Pal ...

. He pitched four seasons in the Yankees system before being selected by the

in 1989 in the Rule 5 draft. He made his major league debut with the Reds on April 9, 1990, in an 8–4 Reds win over 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 ...

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 ...

, pitching one hitless shutout inning in relief of starter

Tom Browning Thomas Leo Browning (April 28, 1960 – December 19, 2022) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1984 to 1995, spending almost his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds. In his rookie season in 1985, ...

. He was a key cog in the Reds' 1990 bullpen which included Layana and "

Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags. The team were active from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and br ...

" Rob Dibble, Randy Myers and Norm Charlton as well as relievers Tim Birtsas,

Scott Scudder William Scott Scudder (born February 14, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 1986 MLB amateur draft, Scudder made his Major League Baseball debut wit ...

and

Rick Mahler Richard Keith Mahler (; August 5, 1953 – March 2, 2005) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Atlanta Braves (1979–1988, 1991), Cincinnati Reds (1989–1990) and Montreal Expos (1991). His brother Mickey was a maj ...

. That season, Layana pitched in 55 games with a 5–3 record and 3.49 earned run average in 80 innings. The Reds won the

1990 World Series The 1990 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1990 season. The 87th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending champions and heavily favored American League (AL ...

, defeating 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 ...

in a four-game sweep, but Layana was left off the postseason roster and did not appear in the series. During the 1991 season for the Reds he had a record of 0–2 with a 6.97 ERA in 22 games, and he appeared in 26 games with the Reds' Double-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

. He was released by the Reds before the 1992 season, during which he did not appear in the majors while a member of the

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 ...

system, pitching in 41 games for the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

. After the season, he was released and in 1993 was signed by the Giants, for whom he pitched 55 games with their Triple-A affiliate

Phoenix Firebirds The Phoenix Firebirds were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1958 to 1959, and from 1966 to 1997. Before 1986, the team was known as the Phoenix Giants. The franchise was a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast Le ...

, but just one game in the majors, his final one in the big leagues. He continued to pitch for the Montreal Expos' AAA affiliate the Ottawa Lynx in 1994 and 1995, and played in an independent league in 1997, which was the last season of his pro career. He was baseball coach for Saint Monica Catholic High School in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Layana died on June 26, 1999, when his

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

was broadsided by another car in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

, while returning from a juvenile diabetes golf fundraiser. Layana's three passengers were injured, but were all treated and released. Layana is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

References

External links

Tim Layana at ''Baseball Reference.com''Tim Layana: Mr. Baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Layana, Tim 1964 births 1999 deaths Albany-Colonie Yankees players 20th-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Inglewood, California Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Clippers players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Loyola Marymount Lions baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Oneonta Yankees players Ottawa Lynx players Phoenix Firebirds players Prince William Yankees players Road incident deaths in California Rochester Red Wings players San Bernardino Spirit players San Francisco Giants players Saskatoon Smokin' Guns players Anchorage Bucs players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players Loyola High School (Los Angeles) alumni