Ernest Carlos Camacho (born February 1, 1955) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1980 to 1981 and 1983 to 1990. His best season came with the 1984 Cleveland Indians, when he led the team with 23 saves.

Early life

Ernie grew up playing baseball in his hometown of

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

, first as a

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Alisal High School Alisal High School is an American public high school opened in 1965 and located in Salinas, California. Alisal's school colors are green, black and white. Their mascot is Tommy the Trojan. Demographics Currently, there are about 3300 students ...

and

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems in ...

. Ernie was drafted by major league teams three times out of Hartnell College: the

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 ...

selected him in the 12th round of the June 1975 draft, the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

took him in the fourth round of the January 1976 draft, and the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

selected him in the first round of the June 1976 draft.

Career

After signing with Oakland, Ernie played for the team's minor-league affiliates until he made his major-league debut in 1980. In April 1981, he was the player to be named later that completed an earlier trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for

Bob Owchinko Robert Dennis Owchinko (born January 1, 1955) is a former professional baseball pitcher. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or parts of ten seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1976 and 1986, for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, Oa ...

. After making a few major-league appearances with the 1981 Pirates, he was sent to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

in a multiplayer trade before the 1982 season. He spent 1982 in the minor leagues before being granted free agency. Ernie was briefly with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

organization before being traded along with

Gorman Thomas James Gorman Thomas III (born December 12, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder and right-handed hitter. Thomas played in the American League (AL) with the Milwaukee ...

and

Jamie Easterly James Morris Easterly (born February 17, 1953) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in the major leagues for the Atlanta Braves (1974–79), Milwaukee Brewers (1981–83) and Cleveland Indians (1983–87). On June 30, ...

to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

for

Rick Manning Richard Eugene Manning (born September 2, 1954) is a former center fielder and current broadcaster in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Cleveland Indians (1975-) and Milwaukee Brewers (1983–1987), and has been a color commentator ...

and

Rick Waits Michael Richard Waits (born May 15, 1952) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Waits, who threw left-handed, played all or part of twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers (1973), Cleveland Indians (1975 ...

on June 6, 1983."Brewers trade Thomas," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Tuesday, June 7, 1983.
Retrieved August 24, 2018. In 1984, Camacho led the Indians in saves with 23. Early in the 1985 season, Camacho had arm problems. He required two surgeries - one in April and one in October - which cost him the 1985 season. He had a short stint on the disabled list due to more arm problems in 1986. Camacho attributed the injury to having not thrown the ball in a full season. He was back in the closer role in late May 1986. After a 20-save season in 1986, Ernie was never again able to sustain that level of effectiveness. After being granted free agency in late 1987, he had short stints with both major-league and minor-league teams over the next three seasons. The 1989 Triple-A season was one of his most encouraging, as he saved 13 games for the

Phoenix Firebirds The Phoenix Firebirds were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1958 to 1959, and from 1966 to 1997. Before 1986, the team was known as the Phoenix Giants. The franchise was a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast Le ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

; in 13 games for the San Francisco Giants that season, he had a 2.76

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

but did not register any saves. He retired after the 1990 season.

Later life

After his retirement from baseball, Ernie worked for a school district in Salinas, performing plumbing and electrical work. He contributed to fundraising and awareness for

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

, a disease that affected his father. Camacho also established an educational foundation and a youth baseball clinic in Salinas.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
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Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camacho, Ernie 1955 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from California Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Charlies players Charros de Jalisco players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cleveland Indians players Diablos Rojos del México players Edmonton Trappers players Hartnell College alumni Houston Astros players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Modesto A's players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Oakland Athletics players Ogden A's players Phoenix Firebirds players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Rochester Red Wings players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Salinas, California St. Louis Cardinals players Sun City Rays players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players