Adrián Zabala Rodríguez (August 26, 1916 – January 4, 2002) was a Cuban-born

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played parts of two seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the New York Giants in 1945 and 1949. The , left-hander was a native of

San Antonio de los Baños San Antonio de los Baños is a municipality and town in the Artemisa Province of Cuba. It is located 26 km from the city of Havana, and the Ariguanabo River runs through it. It was founded in 1802. History There are 39 schools in the town, ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Amateur ball, minor leagues, and Cuban ball

Zabala played amateur baseball in Cuba in the mid-1930s, signing with the minor league Panama City Pelicans in 1937. He continued to play professionally in Cuba in the winter while pitching minor league ball independently, then with Jersey City, a Giants farm club. After serving with the Cuban Army in 1943–44, he returned to Jersey City in 1945, and was promoted to the majors in mid-season.

First major league stint and suspension

Zabala made his major league debut on August 11, 1945, starting and winning 10–1 against 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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

at the Polo Grounds. In 1946, Zabala jumped to the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

and was suspended for five years. He pitched two seasons for the

Pericos de Puebla The Pericos de Puebla (English: "Puebla Parrots") are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Puebla, Mexico. History The state of Puebla came upon baseball in the early 1920s when returning Poblanos that had come from militar ...

, then joined the Sherbrooke Athletics of the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

in 1948 while he awaited reinstatement. His suspension was lifted on June 5, 1949, allowing him to return to the Giants.

Second major league stint

Perhaps his finest major league effort came on July 31, 1949, his first game back in New York since 1945. Zabala started the second game of a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field and pitched a complete game

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, winning 9–0. Zabala spent the rest of the season with the Giants, posting a 2–3 record with a 5.27 ERA in 15 games.

Return to the minors

In 1950, Zabala was sent back to the minors, where he played with the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

until 1953. He was then traded to the San Francisco Seals in October with two other players and cash for pitcher

Windy McCall John William McCall (July 18, 1925 – February 5, 2015) was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1948 through 1957 for the Boston Red Sox (1948–49), Pittsburgh Pirates (1950) and New York Giants (1954–57). Listed at tall ...

. In 1955, he joined the Jacksonville Braves, finishing his career there in 1956.

Career overview

Zabala's MLB career totals include 26 games pitched, 4 wins, 7 losses, 9 starts, 3 complete games, 1 shutout, 8

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, and 1 save. He allowed 47

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s in 84.1 innings pitched, giving him an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 5.02. Overall, he pitched professionally for twenty years.

Death

Zabala died at the age of 85 in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Notes

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabala, Adrian Major League Baseball pitchers New York Giants (NL) players Panama City Pelicans players Jacksonville Tars players Jersey City Giants players Pericos de Puebla players Sherbrooke Athletics players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Jacksonville Braves players Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States People from San Antonio de los Baños 1916 births 2002 deaths