Orlando Gregorio Peña Guevara (born November 17, 1933) is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher. The right-hander played in Major League Baseball for all or parts of 14 seasons between and for 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 ...

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 ...

, Cleveland Indians,

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals and

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 ...

.Baseball Reference
/ref> Born in

Victoria de Las Tunas Las Tunas is a city and municipality in central-eastern Cuba. It is the capital of the Las Tunas Province and was named Victoria de Las Tunas from 1869 to 1976. Geography The city of Las Tunas is located in along the Carretera Central (highway), ...

, he was listed as tall and .

Baseball career

Peña was one of many Cuban players who entered the Cincinnati Redlegs' minor league system in the mid-1950s when the National League club affiliated with the Havana Sugar Kings of the Triple-A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. After four successful years in the Florida State,

Carolina Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in ...

and International leagues, he was recalled by Cincinnati in August 1958 and was the winning pitcher in his MLB debut on August 24. Coming into a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in relief in the eighth inning with the Redlegs trailing 5–4, he held the Dodgers to one hit and no runs and struck out three in two full innings of work. When Cincinnati's Frank Robinson hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning, Peña emerged as the winning hurler. He also earned the first three saves of his MLB career before the 1958 campaign ended. Peña spent all of on the Cincinnati roster, and got into 46

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

. But his effectiveness declined, and he would bounce between Triple-A and the majors for the next three seasons. Acquired by the Kansas City Athletics in August 1962, Peña was plugged into the second-division team's starting rotation and won six of ten decisions, posted a solid 3.01 earned run average and threw six

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 ...

s, including a three-hit shutout against the Angels on August 29. Retrosheetbr>box score: 1962-08-29
/ref> He continued to take a turn in the Kansas City rotation for the next two seasons and won a dozen games each year for the struggling Athletics, but he also led the American League in games lost (20) in and home runs allowed (40) in . When he lost his first six decisions of , Peña was waived to the Tigers, where he became an effective relief pitcher through the end of . In , Peña registered a career-high eight saves for the Tigers and Indians with an earned run average of 3.59, but Cleveland sent him back to the minors in 1968 and Peña would not return to the majors until June 1970 when he signed as a free agent with the Pirates. Working out of the Pittsburgh bullpen, he was successful for his first month with club, but rocky outings during August ruined his Pirate tenure and he was released August 26. The 37-year-old Peña was not ready to retire, however. He signed with the Baltimore Orioles' organization for and was highly effective in minor league assignments (winning 33 games, losing eight, and posting a brilliant 1.14 earned run average in 317

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 ...

) through . He was mediocre in two trials for the Orioles, but, upon being acquired by the Cardinals on June 15, 1973, he became a key part of the Redbirds' bullpen, appearing in 84 games and notching nine wins and seven saves with a 2.36 ERA before being sent to his final MLB destination, the Angels, in September 1974. The Angels released him the following May, but Peña continued pitching in the minors for the next two seasons, and made an abbreviated comeback at age 45 with the Miami Amigos in the 1979 Triple-A Inter-American League. His professional pitching career in organized baseball encompassed 22 years. In all or parts of 14 major league seasons, Peña posted a 56–77 record with 818

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 3.71 ERA in 427

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

, including 93 starts, 21

s, four shutouts, 40 saves, and 1,202

. After his playing retirement, Peña was a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

for the Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

References

External links

Orlando Pena
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Orlando Pena
at Baseballbiography.com
Orlando Pena
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Orlando 1933 births Living people Almendares (baseball) players Baltimore Orioles players California Angels players Chicago White Sox scouts Cincinnati Redlegs players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Daytona Beach Islanders players Detroit Tigers players Detroit Tigers scouts Havana Sugar Kings players High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms players Jersey City Jerseys players Kansas City Athletics players Leones del Caracas players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba Miami Amigos players Miami Orioles players Navegantes del Magallanes players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Omaha Royals players People from Las Tunas (city) Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Cardinals players Seattle Angels players Tiburones de La Guaira players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Tucson Toros players

Baseball career

See also

References

External links