Héctor Raul Guerrero Wagner (November 26, 1968 – June 5, 2017) was a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

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(MLB) from 1990 to 1991.

Early life

Wagner was born in 1968 in

San Juan de la Maguana San Juan de la Maguana is a city and municipality in the western region of the Dominican Republic and capital of the San Juan Province (Dominican Republic), San Juan province. It was one of the first cities established on the island; founded in 15 ...

in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Career

Wagner originally signed with the Kansas City Royals as an amateur free agent on May 13, 1986. He began his professional career the following year, 1987, as a member of the Royals' rookie minor league team, the GCL Royals. He pitched in 13 games that season, starting 12 of them, and had a win–loss record of 1–3 and an earned run average (ERA) of 3.06. The following season, Wagner was promoted to the

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

. He pitched a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

through seven innings in a match against the Spokane Indians on August 14 in a 5-1 victory. He finished the season having pitched 15 games for the Emeralds, going 4-9 with a 3.68 ERA. The Royals invited Wagner to

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to start the 1989 season, and although he did not make the final roster, the team noted that he had a shot to make the roster later that season. He spent the season with the Appleton Foxes of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, where he pitched in 24 games, won 6 and lost 11, and finished the season with an ERA of 4.56. Wagner spent the 1990 season with the Memphis Chicks, the Royals' Double-A minor league affiliate. In 40 games, primarily as a

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 ...

, he had a 12-4 record, a 2.02 ERA, and over 133

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. In September, the Royals brought him to the major league roster, and he made his major league debut on September 10, 1990 against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. Wagner pitched in five games for the Royals in 1990, losing two and finishing the season with an ERA of 8.10. He was the eighth youngest player in Major League Baseball that season. As the 1991 season began, Wagner was on the

40-man roster 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, an ...

, and after participating in spring training with the team, he started the season with the

Omaha Royals Omaha ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 41st-most-populous city, Omaha had a popu ...

, the Royals' Triple-A minor league affiliate. In late May, Royals' pitcher Mark Davis was placed on the disabled list, and Wagner was called up to the major league roster in his place. He made two starts for the Royals that season, winning one and losing one, and finishing with an ERA of 7.20. After the two appearances, he was sent back to Omaha, where he finished the season with a 5-6 record and a 3.44 ERA. In 1992, he was to pitch for the Royals, but needed

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surgery and ended up missing the season. After recovering from the surgery, Wagner split his time in 1993 between the Memphis Chicks and the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

of the Royals minor league system. He pitched in ten games for Memphis, winning two and losing four, and he started 13 games with Wilmington, finishing the season with a 1-7 record and a 3.38 ERA. At the end of the season, the Royals released him, which ended his professional career for some time. He attempted a comeback in 1999 and 2001, playing for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

in the independent Atlantic League. He pitched in 20 combined games those two seasons, then pitched in four games for the Pennsylvania Road Warriors the following year, his last season in the minor leagues.

Death

In 2013, Wagner was diagnosed with stomach cancer. On June 5, 2017, he died from the disease at the age of 48 years old in

Clifton, New Jersey Clifton is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Criss-crossed by several major highways, the city is a regional commercial hub for North Jersey and is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area.L ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Hector 1968 births 2017 deaths Águilas Cibaeñas players Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Deaths from stomach cancer Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States People from San Juan de la Maguana Baseball players from San Juan Province (Dominican Republic) Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Newark Bears players Pennsylvania Road Warriors players Appleton Foxes players Chinatrust Whales players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Eugene Emeralds players Gulf Coast Royals players Guerreros de Oaxaca players Memphis Chicks players Omaha Royals players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Uni-President Lions players Wilmington Blue Rocks players