Greatest Latino Legend Pitchers
By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">Jesse Sanchez MLB.com reporter - Their names are common. Their feats are not. It's not surprising, then, that the Latino pitching legends of Major League Baseball are often identified with one name. Their names are common. Their feats are not. It's not surprising, then, that the Latino pitching legends of Major League Baseball are often identified with one name.Pedro. Marichal. Fernando. The list goes on and on.
But who are the starting pitchers for Major League Baseball's Latino Legends team? Not even today's one-name wonders know for sure.
"[Juan Marichal is] the one everybody talks about," Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez said. "All the different kinds of pitches he threw from all those angles. That big kick. And he's in the Hall of Fame. He never did win the Cy Young Award. But he's in the Hall of Fame. That's pretty good."
"Since I've been playing professional baseball and seeing the guy pitch, [Martinez is] one of the best," Twins pitcher Johan Santana said. "I like the way he handles himself when he's pitching. That proves to me that you don't have to be over six-feet tall to do things out there."
The Chevrolet presents the Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team program commemorates the storied history and immense contribution that players of Latin American heritage have made to Major League Baseball. As part of the program, a ballot featuring 60 Latino players representing seven different countries and territories has been created, and from Aug. 29 through Oct. 10 fans will be able to vote, via ballots in English and Spanish, at participating Chevy dealerships nationwide or online at MLB.com.
Where does Fernando Valenzuela rank? As a rookie with the Dodgers, he threw a five-hit, 2-0 shutout against Houston to start the 1981 campaign and a string of eight consecutive complete-game wins. Five of his first eight victories were shutouts and word quickly spread about the young phenom in Los Angeles. The frenzy was dubbed "Fernandomania."
"It was the most unbelievable thing I have ever witnessed, that Fernandomania," former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said. "Everybody wanted to see him, everybody wanted to meet him, and everybody wanted to see him pitch. Every team we went in to play, they were hoping to see him pitch. He drew a lot of fans and he's one of the finest competitors I have ever had play for me. He was sensational."
• Joaquin Andujar, Dominican Republic (1976-1988): In 13 seasons, Andujar went 127-118 with a 3.58 ERA in 2,153 innings over 405 games. He was a four-time All-Star and won 20 games for the Cardinals in 1984 and 1985. He posted a career-best 2.47 ERA in 1982.
• Bartolo Colon, Dominican Republic (1997-present): A two-time All-Star, Colon has a 2-2 record and 3.45 ERA in seven postseason games. In his first 273 games, the right-hander went 135-80 with a 3.34 ERA. He has won at least 10 games in every season since 1998.
• Mike Cuellar, Cuba (1959-1977): Cuellar's best season came in 1974, when he went 22-10 with a 3.11 ERA, five shutouts and 20 complete games. In 15 seasons, Cuellar went 185-130 with a 3.14 ERA, racking up 1,632 strikeouts, 172 complete games and 36 shutouts in 2,808 innings over 453 games.
• Martin Dihigo, Cuba (1923-1945): Dihigo is enshrined in the baseball hall of fames in Cuba, the United States, Venezuela and Mexico, and he is regarded as the best Latino player to never play in the Major Leagues. The outfielder/pitcher was the star attraction for the Cuban Stars and rose to prominence in the Negro Leagues in large part because he was too dark-skinned for any Major League team to take a chance on him in the pre-Jackie Robinson era. He went 256-136 on the mound in the Negro Leagues and was a career .316 hitter.
• Vernon "Lefty" Gomez, Mexico (1930-1942, 1943): Elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1972, Gomez was a seven-time All-Star for the Yankees. He was a 20-game winner four times and won the pitching Triple Crown in 1934 and 1937.
• Livan Hernandez, Cuba (1996-present): Hernandez won 17 games for the Giants in 2000 and has won at least 10 games in a season seven times in his career. In his first 28 starts for the Nationals this season, Hernandez went 14-6 with a 3.87 ERA. He is 6-2 with a 3.99 ERA in 10 postseason appearances.
• Dolf Luque, Cuba (1914-1935): Known as The Pride of Havana, Luque was one of the first Cubans to succeed in the Major Leagues. He led the league in ERA in 1923 and 1925 with ERAs of 1.93 and 2.63, respectively. He went 27-8 in 1923 and led the league in shutouts in 1921, 1923, and 1925. He finished in the top 10 in saves in 1919, 1921, 1932, 1933 and 1934, and he went 194-179 with a 3.24 ERA over 20 seasons.
• Juan Marichal, Dominican Republic (1960-1975): Marichal compiled 243 wins and a 2.89 ERA. He started 451 games and completed 244 of them, pitching 52 shutouts. He was inducted into Cooperstown in 1983, the first player from the Dominican Republic to enter the Hall of Fame.
• Dennis Martinez, Nicaragua (1976-1988): Known as El Presidente, Martinez was the first player from Nicaragua to play in the Major Leagues. He went 245-193 with a 3.70 ERA in 692 games in his career. A four-time All-Star, Martinez pitched a perfect game for Montreal against Los Angeles in 1991.
• Pedro Martinez, Dominican Republic (1992-present): A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Martinez won for the first time in 1997, while with the Expos, and in 1999 and 2000 with the Red Sox. He has appeared in three All-Star Games and has declined to appear in the Midsummer Classic twice. Martinez entered the 2005 season with a .705 winning percentage -- the best among pitchers with 200 or more decisions. In 1999, he became the first pitcher in history to have 300-strikeout seasons in each league.
• Camilo Pascual, Cuba (1954-1971): A five-time All-Star starting in 1959 to 1962 and in 1964, Pascual went 174-170 with a 3.75 ERA and 36 shutouts in 18 Major League seasons. Pitching for the Senators and later for the Twins, he led the league in strikeouts from 1961 to 1963 and was among the leaders in shutouts in 1959, 1961 and 1962. He struck out 2,167 batters in 2,930 2/3 career innings.
• Jose Rijo, Dominican Republic (1984-2002): While with Cinncinati, Rijo was named the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1990 after going 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA against Oakland. He went 116-91 with a 3.24 ERA over 376 games.
• Johan Santana, Venezuela (2000-present): The left-hander had a breakout season in 2004, going 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA for the Twins. He was named the American League Cy Young Award winner, American League Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News, Major League Player's Choice Award's American League Most Outstanding Pitcher, the Warren Spahn Award winner by the Oklahoma Sports Museum and the Satchel Paige Award winner by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Before 2004, his career high in wins was 12.
• Luis Tiant, Cuba (1964-1982): An All-Star in 1968, 1974 and 1976, Tiant led the league with a 1.60 ERA in 1968 and a 1.91 ERA in 1972. El Tiante went 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA over 19 seasons. He won 20 games four times and led the American League in shutouts three times.
• Fernando Valenzuela (1980-1997): In 17 big-league seasons, Valenzuela compiled a 173-153 record and a 3.54 ERA for the Dodgers, Angels, Orioles, Phillies, Padres and Cardinals. He threw a no-hitter for the Dodgers in 1990 and ranks among the all-time leaders in nearly all of the franchise's record books.