Enrique Romo Navarro (born July 15, 1947) is a Mexican former professional baseball
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...
who played for the
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They 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 League ...
(1977–78) and
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
(1979–82). Romo batted and threw right-handed. He was born in
Santa Rosalía,
Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...
, and is the younger brother of
Vicente Romo
Vicente is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer").
Vicente may refer to:
Location
*São Vicente, Ca ...
, who also pitched in the majors.
Career
In a six-season career, Romo posted a 44–33 record with a 3.45
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 ...
, 52
saves, and 436
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...
s in 350
games pitched
In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...
.
Romo pitched 11 seasons in
Mexican baseball
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 ...
prior to making his major league debut for the Seattle Mariners in 1977 at the age of 29. In his
rookie
A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year).
In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
season, he led the Mariners with 16 saves.
He was acquired along with
Tom McMillan and
Rick Jones by the
Pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
from the Mariners for
Mario Mendoza
Mario Mendoza Aizpuru (born December 26, 1950) is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder. Mendoza, a lifetime .215 hitter, is best known for being the source of the name for the threshold for batting ineptitude, the " Mendoza Line", ...
,
Odell Jones
Odell Jones (born January 13, 1953 in Tulare, California) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers, in pa ...
and
Rafael Vásquez at the
Winter Meetings
Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...
on December 5, 1978. His most productive season came with the
1979 World Series
The 1979 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1979 season. The 76th edition of the World Series was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Pittsburgh Pirates (98–64) and ...
Champions, with whom he had a 10–5 mark, a 2.99 ERA, career-highs in games (84) and
innings
An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...
(129.3), exclusively as a
set-up man for
closer Kent Tekulve
Kenton Charles Tekulve ( ; born March 5, 1947), nicknamed "Teke", is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played f ...
. Romo also made two appearances in the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
, won by Pittsburgh over the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles 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) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
in seven games. On October 1, 1980, he slugged a grand slam home run against the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
.
In 1983, Romo failed to report to
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
, first indicating he would arrive late due to one of his children dealing with chicken pox,
and then later not attending at all, announcing the intention to join an unsanctioned league in Mexico. Pittsburgh warned Romo that such a move would require them to fine him $500 for each day of camp that he missed;
ultimately, Romo remained in Mexico.
Legacy
Along with his brother Vicente, Romo is a member of the
Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame
The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) is a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León. ...
, having been inducted in 2003. In 2010, the Romo brothers had their uniform numbers retired by
Yaquis de Obregón
The Yaquis de Obregón ( en, Obregón Yaquis) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. The “Yaquis” are the only team in league history to have won three consecutive league championships ...
of the
Mexican Winter League.
In 2015, Romo was announced as being part of the 2016 induction class of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame.
See also
*
List of players from Mexico in Major League Baseball
This is an alphabetical list of 129 baseball players from Mexico who played Major League Baseball between and .
__NOTOC__
A
* Juan Acevedo
* Alfredo Aceves
* Cy Acosta
* Mel Almada
* Gabe Alvarez
* Tavo Álvarez
* Víctor Álvarez
* Rub ...
References
External links
, o
Enrique Romo- Baseballbiography.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romo, Enrique
1947 births
Living people
Algodoneros de Unión Laguna players
Baseball players from Baja California Sur
Charros de Jalisco players
Diablos Rojos del México players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from Mexico
Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States
Mexican League baseball pitchers
Ostioneros de Guaymas players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Porteños de Puerto México players
Seattle Mariners players
Yaquis de Obregón players
People from Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur