: José Miguel Fornieles y Torres (January 18, 1932 – February 11, 1998) was a

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), ...

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 ...

from

La Habana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. The right-hander pitched a one hitter in his major league debut on September 2, .

Washington Senators

Fornieles signed with the Washington Senators at eighteen years old, and went 17-6 with a 2.86

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 ...

for the Big Spring Broncs of the

Longhorn League The Longhorn League was the name of a Minor league baseball circuit that operated from through in the Southwestern United States. In , it was renamed the Southwestern League and operated through before changing its name to the Sophomore Leag ...

in his first professional season. In , Fornieles went 14-12 with a 2.66 ERA for his hometown

Havana Cubans The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class Triple-A (baseball), AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's 1960 Cinc ...

, and received a call up to the Senators that September. In the second game of a September 2 double header with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

, the only

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

Fornieles allowed was a second inning

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Joe Astroth Joseph Henry Astroth (September 1, 1922 – May 3, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and remained with the team when they moved wes ...

. He also allowed six walks, but did not allow a single base runner from the sixth inning on. On September 19, Fornieles was called upon by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Bucky Harris Stanley Raymond "Bucky" Harris (November 8, 1896 – November 8, 1977) was an American professional baseball second baseman, manager and executive. While Harris played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators and Detroit Tige ...

to relieve Julio Moreno in the second inning against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Already trailing 3-0, Fornieles held the Bosox scoreless on three hits for the remainder of the game. He also scored one of the five runs his Senators scored on their way to a come from behind victory. He ended the season at 2-2 with a 1.37 ERA. With the Senators in need of left-handed pitching, he was dealt to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

at the

Winter meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

for

Chuck Stobbs Charles Klein Stobbs (July 2, 1929 – July 11, 2008) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox (1947–51), Chicago White Sox (1952), Washington Senators / Minnesota ...

Chicago White Sox

Fornieles went 8-7 with a 3.59 ERA in , splitting his time between 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 ...

and making spot starts. After getting off to a decent start to the season, Fornieles began to sputter. His 8.68 ERA in the month of June led manager Paul Richards to lose faith in him. After sitting on the bench unused for two weeks, he was optioned to the

Charleston Senators The Charleston Senators were an American minor league baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They were the first professional baseball team to play in Charleston, beginning play in 1910. The team was inactive during a few periods, playin ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in mid-July. He returned to the White Sox in September, but made just one appearance. After also splitting the season between the White Sox and minor leagues, Fornieles was traded at the start of the season with

George Kell George Clyde Kell (August 23, 1922 – March 24, 2009) was an American Major League Baseball third baseman who played 15 seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics (1943–1946), Detroit Tigers (1947–1952), Boston Red Sox (1952–1954), Chicago W ...

, Connie Johnson and

Bob Nieman Robert Charles Nieman (January 26, 1927 – March 10, 1985) was an American professional baseball player and scout. An outfielder, he spent all or parts of a dozen Major League Baseball seasons with the St. Louis Browns (1951–52), Detroit Tiger ...

to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

for Jim Wilson and

Dave Philley David Earl Philley (May 16, 1920 – March 15, 2012) was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball. A switch hitter who threw right-handed, he debuted on September 6, and played his final game on August 6, . He was born in Paris, Texas. ...

Baltimore Orioles

Paul Richards, now managing the Orioles used Fornieles much more regularly in Baltimore. In a little over a year with the club, Fornieles pitched 168 innings in 45 appearances. On June 14, , he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Billy Goodman William Dale Goodman (March 22, 1926 – October 1, 1984) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder who played 16 seasons for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Colt .45s, from 1947 through 1962. Go ...

Boston Red Sox

Between his two clubs, Fornieles pitched a career high 182.1 innings in 1957. After being used as both a starter and reliever his first two seasons in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Fornieles became strictly a reliever in , and soon emerged as one of the top

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 ...

s in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. He pitched 82 innings, all out of the bullpen in , and went 5-3 with eleven saves (4 less than league leader

Turk Lown Omar Joseph "Turk" Lown (May 30, 1924 – July 8, 2016) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of 11 seasons (1951–54, 1956–62) with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. The ...

). In , he went 10-5 with a 2.64 ERA, and tied 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Johnny Klippstein John Calvin Klippstein (October 17, 1927 – October 10, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher (mostly a reliever), who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for a number of teams, over an 18-season career. The most prominent portio ...

for the league lead with fourteen saves. Fornieles also had an AL best 48

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, and set a major league record with seventy appearances out of the bullpen. He was the first ever recipient of the ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' AL

Fireman of the Year Award The ''Sporting News'' Reliever of the Year Award was an annual award presented to the best relief pitcher in each league in Major League Baseball (MLB). It was established in by ''The Sporting News'' (TSN) as the Fireman of the Year Award. At th ...

. Fornieles' eight saves at the 1961 All-Star break earned him a selection to Paul Richards' AL squad. He appeared in the eighth inning of the game, and surrendered a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

to the first batter he faced, the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

George Altman George Lee Altman (born March 20, 1933) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who had a lengthy career in both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball. A three-time National League All-Star, he appeared in 991 g ...

. After retiring

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

on a flyball to center, he gave up a

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of bot ...

before being lifted in favor of

Hoyt Wilhelm James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angel ...

. A second All-Star game was held on

July 31 Events Pre-1600 *30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. * 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...

, however, Fornieles was not included on that team. Fornieles ended the season with a career high fifteen saves. He also brought his ERA down to 4.68. He earned only five saves in , as rookie

Dick Radatz Richard Raymond Radatz (April 2, 1937 – March 16, 2005) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "The Monster", the , right-hander had a scorching but short-lived period of dominance for the Boston Red Sox in the e ...

replaced him in the closer's role with an AL best 24 saves. Used as a starter in a June 20 doubleheader with the Cleveland Indians, Fornieles tied a modern major league record by hitting four Cleveland batters with pitches. On June 14, , Fornieles' contract was sold to 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 order to make room on the major league roster for pitching prospect

Bob Heffner Robert Frederic Heffner (born September 13, 1938) nicknamed "Butch", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher with the Boston Red Sox (–), Cleveland Indians (), and California Angels (). He stood tall and weighed , in his playing days. ...

Retirement

Fornieles went 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA for the Twins before being released on July 22, 1963. He signed with 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 ...

in February , but failed to make the club out of

Spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. He died in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

at the age of 66.

Career stats

Fornieles' only career home run came on September 8, 1961 against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Paul Foytack Paul Eugene Foytack (November 16, 1930 – January 23, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 312 games in Major League Baseball between 1953 and 1964 for two American League clubs, the Detroit ...

Caribbean career

In between, Fornieles played winter ball with the Tigres de Marianao club of the Cuban Professional Baseball League in a span of eight seasons from 1952-53 – 1960-61.Miguel Fornieles – Liga Cubana de Béisbol Profesional
''Desde mi palco de fanático''. Article by Rogelio Manzano, journalist and Cuban baseball researcher (in Spanish). In the 1952–1953 season, Fornieles posted a 12-5 record for Marianao while leading the Cuban League pitchers with a 2.33

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 ...

. He pitched 155 innings in 29 games, and earned the league's Rookie of the Year honors.Mike Fornieles Article
SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on January 22, 2018. During the 1956-1957 season, Fornieles went 11-7 with a 2.47 ERA in 29 pitching appearances, allowing only 115 hits in 142 innings of work. With a one-two punch in the rotation of

Jim Bunning James Paul David Bunning (October 23, 1931 – May 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher and politician who represented Kentucky in both chambers of the United States Congress. He was the sole Major League Baseball athlete to ha ...

and Fornieles, Marianao defeated the defending champion Elefantes de Cienfuegos and their ace

Camilo Pascual Camilo Alberto Pascual Lus (born January 20, 1934) is a Cuban former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During an 18-year baseball career (1954–71), he played for the original modern Washington Senators franchise (which became the Mi ...

to win the title and represent Cuba in the 1957 Caribbean Series. In Game 4 of the Series on February 10, Fornieles hurled a three-hit,

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

7–1 victory against the

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of C ...

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 ...

. After two days of rest, he started Game 10 on February 13, also against Venezuela. He did not record a decision, as Cuba scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 5–4, and the Series title. Overall, Fornieles finished with a 1-0 record, a 2.81 ERA and 13

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 in 16 innings.Antero Núñez, José. Series del Caribe. Jefferson, Caracas, Venezuela: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987. Fornieles returned to Cuba in the winter of 1957-1958 to play for Marianao. In a very solid effort, he went 11-6 with a 2.09 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 155 innings. Once more, the Tigres captured the Cuban League title and advanced to the

1958 Caribbean Series The tenth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in 1958. It was held from February 8 through February 13 with the champions teams from Cuba, Tigres de Marianao; Panama, Carta Vieja Yankees; Puerto Rico, Criollos de C ...

. Fornieles started the Opening Game of the Series on February 8, and he led his team to a 10–2 victory over the

Industriales de Valencia The Industriales de Valencia was a baseball club who played from 1955 through 1968 in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The Industriales joined the league as a replacement for the Santa Marta BBC. The Industriales were based at Valencia ...

of Venezuela. On February 11, again with two days of rest, Fornieles faced Venezuela in

Game 7 A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (MLB) (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (NBA) (all rounds of the NBA pl ...

. But he struggled this time and Venezuela scored eight runs in the first two innings en route to an 8–1 victory. Nevertheless, Cuba won the Series with a 4–2 record to become the first team to win its third straight championship (fifth overall) in Caribbean Series history. Overall, Fornieles had a record of 2-1 with a 3.08 ERA in his four series appearances, all against Venezuela.
Cuban Baseball League statistics :''Some statistics are incomplete because there are no records available at the time of the request''.

References

External links

SABR Biography Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fornieles, Mike 1932 births 1998 deaths American League All-Stars Baltimore Orioles players Big Spring Broncs players Boston Red Sox players Charleston Senators players Chicago White Sox players Havana Cubans players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Marianao players Minnesota Twins players Baseball players from Havana Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players