Henry John Aguirre (January 31, 1931 – September 5, 1994), commonly known as Hank Aguirre, was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player and business
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
. He played 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), ...
(MLB) as a left-handed
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 1955 to 1970, most prominently for the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
where he was a two-time
All-Star player and, was the
American League ERA leader in 1962. Aguirre also played for 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 ...
,
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
and the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
. After his athletic career, he went on to become a successful businessman in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
. His last name was typically pronounced "ah-GEAR-ee."
Youth in California
Nicknamed "Mex" because he was of Mexican descent, Aguirre was born on January 31, 1931, in
Azusa, California
Azusa (Tongva language, Tongva: ''Asuksa-nga'') is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located 20 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown Los Angeles.
...
, to Jenny Alva, who was born in Los Angeles Ca, and Jose Aguirre. Jose was born in Jalisco, Mexico in 1902 and emigrated with his family during the time of the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
. Jose and Jenny had seven children.
In his youth, Hank Aguirre worked for his father's business, the Aguirre Tortillas Factory in
San Gabriel. He made, packaged and delivered tortillas. At 4 a.m., the young Aguirre would make deliveries — mostly running — before school. He graduated from
Mark Keppel High School
Mark Keppel High School (MKHS) is a four-year California Distinguished School located in the city of Alhambra, California, in the Alhambra Unified School District. The school is on the southern edge of Alhambra, adjacent to the city of Monterey ...
in
Alhambra, California
Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...
, in 1949, but his "goofy feet" (his words) prevented him from being selected to be part of the baseball team. He graduated from
East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communiti ...
in 1951.
Pitching career
As a rookie for 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 ...
in 1956, Aguirre struck out
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
legend
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
the first time he faced him. After the game, Aguirre asked Williams to autograph the ball. Reluctantly, Williams complied. A couple of weeks later Aguirre faced Williams again. This time the "Splendid Splinter" smashed Aguirre's first offering for a home run. While circling the bases, Williams yelled to Aguirre, "Get that ball, and I'll sign it, too."
He pitched in the big leagues for 16 years for four different teams. Before the 1958 season began, Aguirre was traded to the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
, where he remained for 10 years from 1958 to 1967. Aguirre was principally a
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 ...
until 1962. During a 1962 game at Yankee Stadium, Tigers manager
Bob Scheffing
Robert Boden Scheffing (August 11, 1913 – October 26, 1985) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and front-office executive. Nicknamed "Grumpy", the native of Overland, Missouri, is most often identified with the Chicago ...
used him as a
starter when
Don Mossi
Donald Louis Mossi (January 11, 1929 – July 19, 2019) was an American major league pitcher from 1954 to 1965. He was a left-handed control pitcher whose strikeout-to-walk ratio was regularly among the league leaders (he led the league in 1961) ...
had arm trouble. Scheffing wanted a left-hander to pitch against the Yankees, and he chose Aguirre. Aguirre joined the Tigers starting rotation and finished the 1962 season with a 2.21
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 ...
(ERA) in 42 games (22 as a starter), the best in Detroit since
Hal Newhouser
Harold Newhouser (May 20, 1921 – November 10, 1998), nicknamed "Prince Hal," was an American professional baseball player. In Major League Baseball (MLB), he pitched 17 seasons on the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, from 1939 through 1 ...
in 1946. Having pitched over 100 innings (216 in total) for the first time in his career, Aguirre led the Major Leagues in ERA (0.33 points lower than Sandy Koufax who was second best), won 16 games, and was selected to the American League All-Star team. He also led the American League in WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) with a 1.051 average. Aguirre also finished 17th in the 1962 American League Most Valuable Player voting.
Aguirre lost his spot in the Tigers starting rotation in 1966, and returned to the bullpen. Before the start of the 1968 season, Aguirre was traded by the Tigers to the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
for a player to be named later. In one season with the Dodgers, Aguirre allowed only three runs in 39 innings for a 0.69 ERA. Despite the good season, Aguirre was released by the Dodgers and spent the final two seasons of his big league career pitching for
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager and coach (baseball), coach. He playe ...
's Chicago Cubs, where he was a combined 4–0 in 1969 and 1970.
In 16 MLB seasons, Aguirre finished with a record of 75–72 in 1,375 innings pitched, with 856 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.24.
Aguirre spent three years (1972–74) as a
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
for the Cubs. He was initially hired as the team's bench coach, tasked with serving as an intermediary between irascible manager
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager and coach (baseball), coach. He playe ...
, his players and the Chicago media. The post was created in the aftermath of a player revolt against Durocher in 1971. After Durocher's firing in July 1972, Aguirre continued on the Cubs' staff as
bullpen
In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...
coach (1973) and pitching coach (1974). He managed in 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 ...
' organization in 1975–76.
Batting
Aguirre had a reputation as one of baseball's worst-hitting pitchers. He had an .085 lifetime average, going 33-for-388 at the plate, with no home runs, striking out 236 times while drawing 14 walks.
Post-baseball career
In 1979, with the encouragement and support of Jack Masterson, an executive with
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
of America, and attorney John Noonan, Aguirre founded Mexican Industries, Inc. The company, based in Detroit, operated as a labor-intensive, minority-oriented enterprise that supplied specialized parts to American automobile manufacturers. After a difficult start, Mexican Industries thrived during the 1980s, becoming a multimillion-dollar business and creating hundreds of jobs (primarily for the Hispanics of southwestern Detroit's "Mexicantown"). In 1987 Aguirre was named "Businessman of the Year" by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Aguirre died on September 5, 1994, following a two-year battle with prostate cancer. He is buried in San Gabriel in the churchyard of the (Roman Catholic)
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September ...
, "where he worshiped as a boy."
Upon his death, control of the privately owned company Aguirre had founded passed to his adult children. In 1999, Mexican Industries, Inc., was unionized (following several unsuccessful attempts over the previous two decades) by the
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...
labor union under
Bob King. In 2001, the firm filed for bankruptcy, laid off its workers, and subsequently closed its doors. According to union activists, "Workers blame
the owners, not only for hostility toward their union but for mismanaging the company."
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
In baseball, earned run average (ERA) is a statistic used to evaluate pitchers, calculated as the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. A pitcher is assessed an earned run for each run scored by a baserunner who reach ...
References
Further reading
*Copley, Robert E. ''The Tall Mexican: The Life of Hank Aguirre — All-Star Pitcher, Businessman, Humanitarian''. Houston: Piñata Books/Arte Público Press (1998).
External links
:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguirre, Hank
1931 births
1994 deaths
People from Azusa, California
American baseball players of Mexican descent
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
Bakersfield Indians players
Baseball players from California
Deaths from cancer in Michigan
Charleston Senators players
Chicago Cubs coaches
Chicago Cubs players
Cleveland Indians players
Deaths from prostate cancer
Detroit Tigers announcers
Detroit Tigers players
Duluth Dukes players
Indianapolis Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
Major League Baseball bench coaches
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball pitching coaches
Minor league baseball managers
Peoria Chiefs players
Reading Indians players
San Diego Padres (minor league) players
Screwball pitchers