Horacio Piña García ee'-nyah(born March 12, 1945) is a Mexican former

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

over eight seasons between and . Piña also played professionally in Mexico for all or portions of nine years. He batted and threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and . Piña reached the major leagues in 1968 with 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, spending two years with them before moving to the Washington Senators/ Texas Rangers (–),

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

(),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(), California Angels () and Philadelphia Phillies (). His most productive season came in 1972 with the last-place Rangers, when he posted career-numbers in saves (15), strikeouts (60) and games pitched (60). Traded to the

for

Mike Epstein Michael Peter Epstein (born April 4, 1943), nicknamed "Super Jew", is an American former professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels of Major League Ba ...

on December 1, 1972, he responded with a 6–3 mark, eight saves and career-highs in ERA (2.76) and innings (88.0), helping them to clinch the ALCS and the World Series Championship. He was dealt from the Athletics to the Cubs for Bob Locker at the Winter Meetings on December 3, 1973.Durso, Joseph. "4 Trades Made at Meetings," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 4, 1973.
Retrieved January 26, 2023. In an eight-season career, Piña posted a 23–23 record with a 3.25 ERA and 38 saves in 314 games. In three post-season games he had a perfect 0.00 ERA in five innings. As a pitcher in the Mexican League, Piña threw a no-hitter in 1975 and a perfect game in 1978 while posting a 21–4 record with a 1.94 ERA that year. Piña gained induction in the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

References

*''The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia'' – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pina, Horacio 1945 births Living people Baseball players from Coahuila California Angels players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians players Leones de Yucatán players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Mexico 20th-century Mexican sportsmen Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Oakland Athletics players Pericos de Puebla players Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Reno Silver Sox players Texas Rangers players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players

See also

References

External links