Luis Mercedes Escobar Sánchez (September 24, 1953 – February 4, 2005), nicknamed "Escoba" (broom), was a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

. He also played in Japan for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Career

A native of Cariaco,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, Sánchez was signed by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 1971. After playing through 1976 in the minor league systems of Houston and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Sánchez appeared in the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. Sánchez was the Angels' closer from 1983 to 1984. After the emergence of

Donnie Moore Donnie Ray Moore (February 13, 1954 – July 18, 1989) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Chicago Cubs (1975, 1977–1979), St. Louis Cardinals (1980), Milwaukee Brewers (1981), Atlanta Braves (1982� ...

in 1985, he divided his time in the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

as a middle reliever or set-up man. In 1986 and 1987, he pitched for the Yomiuri Giants. In a five-year major league career, Sánchez posted a 28–21 record with 216

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s, 27 saves and a 3.75

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 369

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

. Sánchez died in Vargas State, Venezuela at age 51.

External links

Retrosheet info page
1953 births 2005 deaths Albuquerque Dukes players California Angels players Caribes de Oriente players Cedar Rapids Astros players Cocoa Astros players Columbus Astros players Dubuque Packers players Edmonton Trappers players Llaneros de Portuguesa players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Mexican League baseball pitchers Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Sucre (state) Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players Salt Lake City Gulls players Spokane Indians players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Canada Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Japan Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Yomiuri Giants players 20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen {{Venezuela-baseball-pitcher-stub

Career

See also

External links