Néstor Isaías Chávez Silva (July 6, 1947 - March 16, 1969) was a Venezuelan 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 ...

who played in

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), ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in 1967.

Career

Chávez was born on July 6, 1947 in Chacao, Miranda State,

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 ...

. He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1964 after producing a 34–3 record at the college. Chávez was nicknamed "Látigo" (whip) in his homeland, both for his stunning and sharp

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 ...

. Listed at , , Chávez was one of the best pitching prospects in the Giants farm system. At 19, he was called up to the big club after a combined 47–20 mark in the minors. In two games with the Giants, he compiled a 1–0 record with three

strike out 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 denot ...

s and a 0.00

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. Compa ...

in five innings. After the season, he had shoulder surgery and was sidelined for more than a year. Chávez was ready to start his rehabilitation in the minors in 1969. On March 16 of that year, Chávez died in

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

Zulia State Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu language, Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the States of Venezuela, 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest popu ...

, in one of the worst aircraft tragedies in Venezuelan history, after

Viasa Flight 742 Viasa Flight 742 was an international, scheduled passenger flight from Caracas, Venezuela to Miami International Airport with an intermediate stopover in Maracaibo, Venezuela that crashed on 16 March 1969. After taking off on the Maracaibo to Miam ...

struck power lines while taking off, killing all 84 aboard and 71 on the ground. He was 21 years old.

References

External links

Néstor Chávez
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League career statisticsHome Page (in Spanish)
1947 births 1969 deaths Decatur Commodores players Estrellas Orientales (VPBL) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Navegantes del Magallanes players People from Miranda (state) Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Springfield Giants players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1969 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Venezuela Waterbury Giants players {{Venezuela-baseball-pitcher-stub

Career

See also

References

External links