Lester Paul Straker Bolnalda (born October 10, 1959) is a former professional baseball right-handed

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

. He played two seasons for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in 1987-88. Straker is currently the pitching coach for the DSL Phillies.

Career

A ten-year minor leaguer, Straker went all the way to the

1987 World Series The 1987 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1987 season. The 84th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Minnesota Twins and the Nation ...

in his rookie year. As a young prospect, Straker was released by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

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 ...

. He made his major league debut with the Twins as their number-three starter behind

Frank Viola Frank John Viola Jr. (born April 19, 1960) is an American former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Minnesota Twins (1982–1989), New York Mets (1989–1991), Boston Red Sox (1992–1994), Cincinnati Reds (1995), and ...

and

Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Blyleven recorded 3,701 ...

. Straker became the first

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 to pitch in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

when he started games three and six. He began 1988 on the disabled list and never completely recovered his form, being released when the season was over. He played two additional seasons in the minor leagues. In his two-season, 47-game career, Straker had a record of 10–15, with 99

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, one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, one save, and a 4.22

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 ...

Coaching

Straker was named as the pitching coach for the DSL Phillies for the 2018 season.

External links

Pura Pelota
1959 births Living people Albany-Colonie A's players Billings Mustangs players Cedar Rapids Reds players Eugene Emeralds players Greensboro Hornets players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Mexican League baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players Minor league baseball coaches Navegantes del Magallanes players Orlando Twins players People from Ciudad Bolívar Portland Beavers players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Saraperos de Saltillo players Sultanes de Monterrey players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Tigres de Aragua players Toledo Mud Hens players Venezuelan baseball coaches Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Waterbury Reds players Jungo Bears players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Italy {{Venezuela-baseball-pitcher-stub

Career

Coaching

See also

External links