In my last article, I discussed the best Cuban born batters and fielders, for which there were some obvious choices. Today I want to shift to the mound and reminisce about some of the best Cuban retired pitchers. It was hard to narrow down the list, but I think picked some of the best. Certainly you might have some worthy pitchers to add to the list, so feel free to put them in the comment section at the bottom.
First up, Luis Tiant, born in Marianao, Cuba. Tiant played for the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and the California Angels. Tiant had a 19-year career where he had four 20-win seasons. His all-time stats boast a 229-172 win-loss record, 3.30 ERA, 187 complete games, 49 shut outs, 3486.1 innings pitched and 2416 strikeouts. He was a 3-time All-Star, 1975 Babe Ruth Award recipient, 1972 AL Comeback player of the Year and has been inducted in the Venezulan Baseball Hall of Fame (yes, he is Cuban!), and the Boston Red Sox HOF. In 1968 Tiant as a starter had a 1.60 ERA one of the lowest ever by a starter.
Mike Cuellar is from Las Villas, Cuba, and pitched 15 years for the Cincinnati Reds, St Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles and the California Angels. He had some pretty good numbers in the 15 years he played, including a 185-130 record, 3.14 ERA, 172 complete games, 36 shutouts, 2808.0 innings pitched and 1632 strikeouts. Cuellar was a 4-time All-Star, 2-time World Series winner and won 1969 AL Cy Young. The year Cuellar won the Cy Young he had a 23-11 record, the next season he had a 24-8 record, which is really impressive. Cuellar pitch in 5 ALCS games and three World Series, games going 4-4, 2.85 ERA, 4 complete games and 56 strikeouts. One of his best games in the playoffs was in 1973 against the Oakland A’s. Cuellar would pitch the whole game, which went into the 11th inning of game three, ultimately losing to the A’s 2-1.
This next pitcher didn’t have a long career, only pitching 9 seasons, but he was a playoff stud and a decent pitcher all around. The pitcher I am talking about is Orlando Hernández, from Villa Clara, Cuba. Also known as El Duque, Hernández pitched from 1998-2007, missing all of 2003 due to injury. In his 9-year career he played for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, and in 2003 he was with the Montreal Expos though he never played a game with them (season-long injury). Hernández went 90-65, 4.13 ERA, 1314.2 ERA and 1086 strikeouts, he did win 4 World Series titles and was the ALCS MVP in 1999. Hernández doesn’t have mind-blowing regular season stats, but his post-season numbers are where it counts. El Duque had a 9-3 record, 2.55 ERA, 19 games pitched, 14-post season games starts, 106.0 innings pitched and 107 strikeouts. He was a great play-off pitcher, and I believe that had he not been injured in 2003 he could have helped the Expos make a stronger play-off push.
The next and final pitcher I have chosen is EL Duques brother, Livan Hernández. Although he hasn’t officially retired yet, he was one of the strongest Cuban pitchers. Hernández is from Villa Clara, Cuba, and pitched 17 years for quite a few teams including the Florida Marlins, San Fransisco Giants, Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers. His numbers are 178-177 record, 4.44 ERA, 50 complete games, 3189.0 innings pitched and 1976 strikeouts. He won the World Series in 1997 and won the World Series MVP that year and the NLSC as well, he’s a 2-time All-Star. Funny enough, he won a Silver Slugger in 2004 with the Expos. Hernández was a good playoff performer like his brother, going 7-3 in 12 games, with 10 of them started, 68.0 innings pitched with 47 strikeouts. He did have a terrible World Series against the Anaheim Angels, but all in all he was a good play-off performer.
The final pitcher I have chosen for this list is, Dolf Luque, born August 4th 1890, in La Habana Cuba. Luque pitched 20 years from 1914-1935 with the Boston Brave, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Robins and the New York Giants. His all-time stats include a 194-179 record, 3,24 ERA, 206 complete games, 26 shut-outs, 3220.1 innings pitched and 1130 strikeouts. His best season was in 1923 with the Reds, he had a 27-8 record, 1,93 ERA, 28 complete games, with 322.0 IP and 151 strikeouts, the win loss record is astounding. He was also a 3-time World Series winner, 2 time NL ERA Champ, NL Win Champion and 3-time NL Shut-out leader.
So there you have it, some of the best Cuban pitchers our there. Of course there is the honorable mention list, which contains names like Diego Segui, Camilo Pascual, Jose Contreras, Danny Baez and Adrolis Chapman. Yes, Adrolis is still playing, but he will on day be on this list of great Cuban pitchers. Cuba has always been a powerhouse with baseball players, and although we don’t get to see everyone of their players, we are lucky that we have been able to see a few of them.
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