{"id":67323,"date":"2024-02-27T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=67323"},"modified":"2024-02-27T09:40:31","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T14:40:31","slug":"pitcher-jose-deleon-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/27\/pitcher-jose-deleon-passes-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard-Luck Pitcher Jos\u00e9 DeLe\u00f3n Passes Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, Jos\u00e9 DeLe\u00f3n<\/a>, a hard-luck pitcher for five major league teams from 1983-95, died at the age of 63. For his career, he was 86-119 with a 3.76 ERA, 1.263 WHIP, 3.61 FIP, and 1,594 strikeouts. But statistics don\u2019t even begin to tell his story. Twice he led the majors with 19 losses. Both times, his team finished 11th<\/sup> of 12 National League teams in runs scored. Twice he recorded more than 200 strikeouts in a season, leading the National League once. His career featured near no-hitters, double-digit strikeout games, and long losing streaks. He was the first pitcher in MLB history to record more than 1,500 strikeouts and not win 100 games.<\/p>\n

Pitcher Jos\u00e9 DeLe\u00f3n Passes Away at 63<\/h2>\n

DeLe\u00f3n was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of 1979\u2019s June Amateur Draft out of high school. He made his Pirates debut on July 23, 1983, at Pittsburgh\u2019s Three Rivers Stadium, defeating the San Francisco Giants, 5-2. In his second outing, he had a no-hitter going against the San Diego Padres at home until one out in the seventh inning. He hung on to pitch his first complete game, winning 10-1. In his third game, he had a no-hitter going against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium until there was one out in the ninth. The Mets would win that game, 1-0, in 12 innings, portending what was to come the next year. DeLe\u00f3n finished 1983 with a 7-3 record, a 2.83 ERA, an impressive 2.51 FIP, and 9.8 strikeouts per nine.<\/p>\n

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Condolences to the family and friends of Jose DeLeon, #Pittsburgh<\/a> #Pirates<\/a> \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f pitcher 1983-86. \ud83d\ude1e<\/p>\n

As a rookie, DeLeon burst onto the scene: 7-3 2.83 ERA 2.51 FIP 26.9K%. \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n

Here DeLeon faces future Hall of Famers Joe Morgan &Mike Schmidt:#LetsGoBucs<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/8fJzYOA4dS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 1986-92 Pittsburgh Pirates (@1992Pirates) February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n