Luis Mercedes Escobar Sánchez (September 24, 1953 – February 4, 2005), nicknamed "Escoba" (broom), was 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 ...

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), ...

who played for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. He also played in Japan for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Career

A native of

Cariaco Cariaco is a town in the state of Sucre, 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 co ...

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 ...

, Sánchez was signed by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1971. After playing through 1976 in the minor league systems of Houston and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Sánchez appeared in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. Sánchez was the Angels' closer from 1983 to 1984. After the emergence of

Donnie Moore Donnie Ray Moore (February 13, 1954 – July 18, 1989) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Chicago Cubs (1975, 1977–79), St. Louis Cardinals (1980), Milwaukee Brewers (1981), Atlanta Braves (1982–8 ...

in 1985, he divided his time in the

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 ...

as a

middle reliever In baseball, a middle reliever or middle relief pitcher, is a relief pitcher who typically pitches during the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings of a standard baseball game. In leagues with no designated hitter, such as in the National League pri ...

or set-up man. In 1986 and 1987, he pitched for the Yomiuri Giants. In a five-year major league career, Sánchez posted a 28–21 record with 216

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, 27 saves and a 3.75

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 369

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 ...

. Sánchez died in Vargas State, Venezuela at age 51.

External links

Retrosheet info pageVenezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
1953 births 2005 deaths Albuquerque Dukes players California Angels players Caribes de Oriente players Cedar Rapids Astros players Cocoa Astros players Columbus Astros players Dubuque Packers players Edmonton Trappers players Llaneros de Portuguesa players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Mexican League baseball pitchers Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers People from Sucre (state) Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players Salt Lake City Gulls players Spokane Indians players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Canada Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Japan Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Yomiuri Giants players {{Venezuela-baseball-pitcher-stub

Career

See also

External links