Oswald José Peraza ay-RAH-za(born October 19, 1962) is a Venezuelan former starting pitcher 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), ...

who played for 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 ...

(1988). He batted and threw right-handed. As of the 2014 season, he is the pitching coach for the Dominican Summer League Blue Jays. Peraza was a hard thrower with a

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 thr ...

in the 94–95 range. He also had a good

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 * ...

and a fine

change-up A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

. He was traded from the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

to the

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

for Mike Flanagan on August 31, 1987 in a transaction that was completed four days later on September 4 when

José Mesa José Ramón Nova Mesa (; born May 22, 1966) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1987 through 2007. He played for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners ...

was sent to Baltimore."Baseball Central," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Friday, September 4, 1987.
Retrieved January 29, 2023. Peraza debuted with Baltimore in 1988, then missed the following season with arm problems, which were serious enough to affect the rest of his career. In his rookie season, Peraza posted a 10–14 record with 61

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 5.55 of

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 86

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Peraza, who was once one of the more highly touted prospects in the game, could not make it out of Triple-A ball after 1988 and he retired for good after three injury riddled years (1990–92).

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, o
Retrosheet
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Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
1962 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players Cardenales de Lara players Florence Blue Jays players Frederick Keys players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Hagerstown Suns players Kinston Blue Jays players Knoxville Blue Jays players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Minor league baseball coaches People from Puerto Cabello Rochester Red Wings players Syracuse Chiefs players Venezuelan baseball coaches Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States {{Venezuela-baseball-pitcher-stub

See also

References

External links