Emilio Antonio Fossas Morejon (born September 23, 1957) is a Cuban former
left-handed
In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...
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 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) from 1988 to 1999 for the
Texas Rangers,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
,
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
,
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
, and
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 ...
.
Amateur career
Fossas attended St. Mary's High School in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
, and was selected as a 12th round pick by the
Texas Rangers during the
1979 Major League Baseball draft
The 1979 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 5–7, 1979, via conference call.
First round selections
The following are the first-round picks in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.
''*'' Did not sign
Compensation Picks
Other ...
. The previous year he had been drafted by 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 ...
, but decided not to sign with the team, instead finishing his college studies and collegiate career at
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...
in Tampa. In 1978, he played
collegiate summer baseball
Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
for the
Falmouth Commodores
The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...
.
Professional career
At the age of 31, Fossas received a promotion to the majors in 1988 with the Rangers,
who released him during the offseason. Although he only pitched innings that initial year, Fossas eventually became an entrenched yeoman
setup pitcher
In baseball, a setup man (or set-up man, also sometimes referred to as a setup pitcher or setup reliever) is a relief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the eighth inning, with the closer pitching the ninth.
As ...
with 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 ...
from 1989 to 1990, 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 ...
from 1991 to 1994, and the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
from 1995 to 1997.
Fossas' greatest success came as a left-handed specialist reliever, or
LOOGY, a pitcher who was brought in expressly to face one or two particularly dangerous left-handed batters (during Fossas's tenure, this included such players as
Fred McGriff
Frederick Stanley McGriff (born October 31, 1963) is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1986 through 2004. Nicknamed "Crime Dog", a word play on McGruff the Crime Dog, he was one of the ...
,
Ken Griffey Jr.
George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mari ...
,
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...
, and
George Brett
George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, designated hitter, and first baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals.
Brett's 3,154 career hit ( ...
). For example, against the hall of famers, Brett and Griffey, Fossas held them to only 6 hits in 42 at bats, which is a .143 batting average. As a left-handed reliever with an unorthodox delivery, he was well-suited to this role, and often faced only one or two batters in each appearance. With Boston in 1992, Fossas made 60 appearances, but due to his specialized use he pitched a total of less than 30 innings. Fossas amassed 7 career saves; five of those required him to only retire one batter (a left handed hitter) for the final out.
In 1998 he pitched for the
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
,
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
and returned to the
Texas Rangers in what would be his last full year before finishing his career with 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 1999.
Coaching career
Fossas became a pitching coach for
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...
Owls in 2005. He became the pitching coach for the minor league
Dayton Dragons
The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark. In 2011, they broke the record for most ...
in 2009.
On November 19, 2024, Fossas was hired to serve as the pitching coach for the
Gastonia Ghost Peppers of the
Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...
.
Personal life
Fossas lives in Florida with his wife Pura, daughter Keila, and son Mark.
References
External links
Tony Fossasat Baseball Almanac
Tony Fossasat Baseball Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossas, Tony
1958 births
Living people
Baseball players from Havana
Asheville Tourists players
Boston Red Sox players
Burlington Rangers players
Chicago Cubs players
Columbus Clippers players
Denver Zephyrs players
Edmonton Trappers players
Falmouth Commodores players
Gulf Coast Rangers players
Iowa Cubs players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from Cuba
20th-century Cuban sportsmen
Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States
Milwaukee Brewers players
New York Yankees players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Oklahoma City RedHawks players
St. Louis Cardinals players
South Florida Bulls baseball players
Seattle Mariners players
Texas Rangers players
Tulsa Drillers players
Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada
Plataneros de Tabasco players
Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico