Julio Segundo Machado Rondón (born December 1, 1965) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n former

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) right-handed

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

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 ...

(1989–90) and

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 ...

(1990–91). Machado's MLB career was cut short when he was imprisoned on involuntary murder charges in Venezuela. He later coached and played in Venezuelan winter baseball leagues.

MLB career

Machado started his career with the Mets. He made his MLB debut in and started the season with the Mets as well. He was demoted to the Class AAA Tidewater team, where he saved eight games before being recalled to the Mets in July. At the time, the Mets were looking for consistent right-handed relief pitchers, having traded

Roger McDowell Roger Alan McDowell (born December 21, 1960) is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1996. He played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dod ...

the previous year. Later that season, Machado was traded to the Brewers, along with

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 ...

Kevin Brown Kevin Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Kevin Brown (blues musician) (born 1950), English blues guitarist * Kevin Brown (author) (born 1960), American journalist and translator * Kevin Brown (poet) (born 1970), American poet and teacher * Kevin ...

, in exchange for

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Charlie O'Brien Charles Hugh O'Brien (born May 1, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics (1985), Milwaukee Brewers (1987–90), New York Mets (1990–93), Atlanta Bra ...

and a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

player. Machado had a decent

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

, good control and willingness to challenge hitters. He also pitched a better-than-average

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

and a

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

. In a three-year career, Machado posted a 7–5 record with 151

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 and a 3.12

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 ...

in 147

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 ...

Shooting

Spending the 1991 offseason in his homeland, Machado fatally shot a woman following an auto accident on December 8. More than two weeks later, Machado was missing and the Brewers said that they were planning for 1992 with the assumption that Machado would not be on the team. Though he was described as a fugitive, Venezuelan reporters said that Machado would probably turn himself in after the holidays. He was held in a

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

prison while an investigation was carried out from the middle of January to early March. He admitted that he fired the shots, but he said that he did so in self-defense, afraid that he was being robbed. When Machado was granted conditional freedom pending a trial on charges of involuntary murder, he was not allowed to leave Venezuela. Shortly thereafter, thieves stole the car of the prosecutor in Machado's case and they set it on fire. Machado was convicted and, following appeals, he was sentenced to 12 years in 1996. He was released in 2000.

References

External links

1965 births Águilas del Zulia players Clearwater Phillies players Jackson Mets players Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Milwaukee Brewers players New York Mets players Peninsula Pilots players People from Zulia Reading Phillies players Spartanburg Phillies players Spartanburg Suns players Sportspeople convicted of murder St. Lucie Mets players Tidewater Tides players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Venezuelan people convicted of murder {{Venezuela-baseball-pitcher-stub

MLB career

Shooting

See also

References

External links