Timothy Joseph Layana (March 2, 1964 – June 26, 1999) was an American professional baseball who pitched 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 ...

and 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 ...

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), ...

(MLB).

Career

He attended Loyola High School and was a 1986 graduate of

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

in Los Angeles, where he established 14 LMU pitching records including victories in a season (17) and in a career (35). He led the Lions to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

in 1986. Layana was drafted 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 ...

in the third round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft. He pitched four seasons in the Yankees system before being selected by the

in 1989 in the Rule 5 draft. He made his major league debut with the Reds on April 9, 1990, in an 8–4 Reds win over the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

at the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

, pitching one hitless shutout inning in relief of starter

Tom Browning Thomas Leo Browning (April 28, 1960 – December 19, 2022) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1984 to 1995, spending almost his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds. In his rookie season in 1985, Br ...

. He was a key cog in the Reds' 1990 bullpen which included Layana and "

Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a group of supervillain Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutants appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. This group exists in Marvel's shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe. These characters are the pers ...

" Rob Dibble, Randy Myers and Norm Charlton as well as relievers

Tim Birtsas Timothy Dean Birtsas (born September 5, 1960) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Though history remembers the "Nasty Boys" as a trio, according to Rob Dibble, Birtsas' name should be included when talking about the famed World Series wi ...

Scott Scudder William Scott Scudder (born February 14, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1st round of the 1986 MLB amateur draft, Scudder made his Major League Baseball debut with the Cincinn ...

and

Rick Mahler Richard Keith Mahler (August 5, 1953 – March 2, 2005) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Atlanta Braves (1979–1988, 1991), Cincinnati Reds (1989–1990) and Montreal Expos (1991). His brother Mickey was a majo ...

. That season, Layana pitched in 55 games with a 5–3 record and 3.49 earned run average in 80 innings. The Reds won the

1990 World Series The 1990 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1990 season. The 87th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending champions and heavily favored American League (AL) ...

, defeating the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

in a four-game sweep, but Layana was left off the postseason roster and did not appear in the series. During the 1991 season for the Reds he had a record of 0–2 with a 6.97 ERA in 22 games, and he appeared in 26 games with the Reds' Double-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

. He was released by the Reds before the 1992 season, during which he did not appear in the majors while a member of 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 ...

system, pitching in 41 games for the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

. After the season, he was released and in 1993 was signed by the Giants, for whom he pitched 55 games with their Triple-A affiliate

Phoenix Firebirds The Phoenix Firebirds were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1958 to 1959, and from 1966 to 1997. Before 1986, the team was known as the Phoenix Giants. The franchise was a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast Le ...

, but just one game in the majors, his final one in the big leagues. He continued to pitch for the Montreal Expos' AAA affiliate the Ottawa Lynx in 1994 and 1995, and played in an independent league in 1997, which was the last season of his pro career. He was baseball coach for Saint Monica Catholic High School in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Layana died on June 26, 1999, when his

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...

was broadsided by another car in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, while returning from a juvenile diabetes golf fundraiser. Layana's three passengers were injured, but were all treated and released. Layana is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

References

External links

Tim Layana at ''Baseball Reference.com''Tim Layana: Mr. Baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Layana, Tim 1964 births 1999 deaths Albany-Colonie Yankees players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Inglewood, California Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Clippers players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Loyola Marymount Lions baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Oneonta Yankees players Ottawa Lynx players Phoenix Firebirds players Prince William Yankees players Road incident deaths in California Rochester Red Wings players San Bernardino Spirit players San Francisco Giants players Saskatoon Smokin' Guns players Anchorage Bucs players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players