Filomeno Coronado Ortega (born October 7, 1939) is a retired American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

who appeared in 204

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 ...

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

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, Washington Senators 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 ...

over all or parts of ten seasons (1960–1969). A

right-hander In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, he stood tall and weighed .

Career

Ortega was born in

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located southeast of Phoenix within the city's metropolitan area. Incorporated on July 6, 1920, Gilbert was once known as the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World". It is the fifth-larg ...

and graduated from

Mesa High School Mesa High School is a public high school in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jackr ...

in 1959. Signed by the Dodgers in 1959 to a $75,000 bonus, the 18-year-old Ortega was immediately assigned to Triple-A

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, where he got into 22 games, 16 as a

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 ...

. He spent part of 1960 with Spokane, the bulk of the year with Class B Green Bay, and was called to the Dodgers in September for his first taste of MLB action. He had another late-season audition in , then made the Dodger roster in , appearing in 24 games with three starts for a contending team. Ortega was sent to Triple-A for one game in 1962, but in , Ortega spent a full

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

season with Spokane, and appeared in only one game with the Dodgers. In he logged a full season in the majors, working in 34 games for Los Angeles and making 25 starts. He won seven of 16 decisions but showed promise with four

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 and three

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, including a three-hitter against the contending

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 ...

on August 23. But the Dodgers slumped to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

and, in search of pitching help, included Ortega in a blockbuster December 4, 1964, seven-player trade with the Washington Senators which saw Los Angeles obtain veteran left-hander Claude Osteen for slugger Frank Howard. Managed by former Dodger teammate

Gil Hodges Gilbert Ray Hodges (''né'' Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was widely regarded as t ...

, Ortega took a regular turn in the Senators' rotation, with 94 starting appearances over his first three seasons, including the 1965 "Presidential Opener". His best campaign came in , when he set career highs in games started (34),

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 ...

(219),

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 (122) and

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 ...

(3.03). But his performance declined in with only five wins in 17 decisions and a poor 4.98 earned run average, and Ortega's contract was sold to the California Angels just prior to the season. The Angels used him in five games in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

during the campaign's early weeks, then sent him to the minors, where he pitched for the rest of his pro career, retiring in 1972. During his ten-year MLB career, Ortega compiled 46 wins (against 62 defeats), 20 complete games, nine shutouts, 549

s, and a 4.43

. In 951 innings pitched, he permitted 884 hits and 378

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac

1939 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Cafeteros de Córdoba players California Angels players Green Bay Dodgers players Hawaii Islanders players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa High School alumni Mexican League baseball pitchers Native American people from Arizona Native American baseball players Sportspeople from Gilbert, Arizona Baseball players from Maricopa County, Arizona Spokane Indians players Sultanes de Monterrey players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub