Andrew John Rincon (March 5, 1959 - August 28, 2023) was a former

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), ...

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 ...

from

Monterey Park, California Monterey Park is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. The city's motto is "Pride in the past, Faith in the future". Mo ...

. A multi-sport athlete in high school, Andy was a two-time All-CIF baseball player and was the 1977 CIF Southern Section Player of the Year in baseball at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs California, where he played alongside future MLB player and coach Mike Gallego. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the 5th round of the

1977 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The White Sox surprised some when they passed on right-handed pitcher Bill ...

. He was a "

September Call-up A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

" in 1980. He started four games, going 3–1 with a 2.61 ERA. This earned him another brief look the next year, when he had a similar 3–1 record, this time with a 1.77 ERA in five starts. That season, he was hit in his pitching arm by a line drive by

Phil Garner Philip Mason Garner (born April 30, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as an infielder with the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and ...

, thus hampering his career. In 1982, Rincon started six games and relieved in five games, finishing with a 2–3 record and 4.73 ERA for a Cardinals team that would go on to win the World Series. His final MLB appearance was on May 22, 1982. He finished the 1982 season with the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

' AAA affiliate, the Louisville Redbirds. In 1983, he went 1-2 with a 4.65 ERA in 6 appearances for the Redbirds. The Cardinals released him at the end of 1983. 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 (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

signed him that offseason, but he never pitched in the majors again. He continued to pitch in the minor leagues, compiling a 50-55 record with a 4.04 ERA in 172 appearances from 1977 to 1989, playing for the Calgary Cardinals, Gastonia Cardinals, St. Petersburg Cardinals, Arkansas Travelers, Springfield Redbirds, Louisville Redbirds, Nashua Pirates, Hawaii Islanders, Aguascalientes Rieleros and Fresno Suns. He threw a no-hitter for the Islanders in 1984. In his final professional season in 1989, Andy went 1-0 in 11 relief appearances for the Arkansas Travelers. Andy died August 28, 2023.

References

External links

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Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rincon, Andy 1959 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Cardinals players Calgary Cardinals players Hawaii Islanders players Gastonia Cardinals players St. Paul High School (Santa Fe Springs, California) alumni People from Monterey Park, California Baseball players from Los Angeles County, California