Oswaldo Antonio Mairena (born July 30, 1975 in

Chinandega Chinandega () is a city and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is Nicaragua's 2nd most important city (economy) and 6th largest ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

) is a former

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), ...

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 ...

for 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 ...

and

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

Biography

Mairena represented Nicaragua at the 1995 Pan American Games and the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Immediately after his performance in the Olympics, he was signed by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

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 ...

. He began pitching in the Yankees organization in 1997 with the

Greensboro Bats Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

. He was promoted in 1998 to the

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

, and promoted again to the

Norwich Navigators Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

in 1999, where he finished the season with a 4–3 win–loss record and a 2.67

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 ...

(ERA) in 43 games. He spent the first half of 2000 with Norwich until July 21, when he was traded with Ben Ford to the

for

Glenallen Hill Glenallen Hill (born March 22, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Hill played with the Toronto Blue Jays (1989–91), Cleveland Indians (1991–93), Chicago Cubs (1993–94, 1998–2000), San Francisco Giants (1995–97 ...

. After spending August in the minor leagues, Mairena was promoted to the Cubs' major league roster. He made his debut on September 5, and finished the season with an 18.00 ERA in two games. In 2001, Mairena was traded during

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 ...

to the

for

Manny Aybar Manuel Antonio Aybar (born May 4, 1972) is a retired pitcher who has played in Major League Baseball and Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed. Aybar began his professional career in as a shortstop in the St. Louis Cardi ...

, and split the season between the

Calgary Cannons The Calgary Cannons were a minor league baseball team located in Calgary, Alberta, for 18 seasons, from 1985 until 2002. They were a member of the AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) and played at Foothills Stadium. The Cannons displaced the Calg ...

and

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

. In 2002, he spent the first half of the season with Calgary until his promotion to the major league roster. He pitched in 31 games for the Marlins and had a 2–3 record and an ERA of 5.35. He spent all of 2003 with the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an e ...

, pitching in 61 games for the team. Mairena was released from the team after 2003, and spent 2004 with the

Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

. He spent 2005 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 ...

, splitting the season between the

Guerreros de Oaxaca The Guerreros de Oaxaca (English: Oaxaca Warriors) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico. Their home field is Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos. History In October 1995, a group of businessmen, ...

and

Vaqueros Laguna The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...

, and ended his professional career representing Nicaragua at the 2005 Baseball World Cup and the 2007 Pan American Games.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mairena, Oswaldo 1975 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Baseball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Calgary Cannons players Chicago Cubs players Columbus Clippers players Diablos Rojos del México players Expatriate baseball players in Canada Florida Marlins players Greensboro Bats players Guerreros de Oaxaca players Gulf Coast Marlins players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Nicaragua Mexican League baseball pitchers Nicaraguan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Nicaraguan expatriate baseball players in the United States Nicaraguan expatriate sportspeople in Canada Norwich Navigators players Olympic baseball players of Nicaragua Pan American Games bronze medalists for Nicaragua Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for Nicaragua People from Chinandega Portland Sea Dogs players Tampa Yankees players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Vaqueros Laguna players Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Uni-President Lions players