1972
Born November 3, 1972
Ramon Santana, San Pedro de Macorís, D.R.
Armando Benítez Marquee
b. November 3, 1972 · Baltimore Orioles 1994–1998, New York Mets 1999–2003, New York Yankees 2003, Seattle Mariners 2003, Florida Marlins 2004, 2007, San Francisco Giants 2005–2007, Toronto Blue Jays 2008
In 2004, for Florida, he saved 47 games with a 1.29 earned run average, which is one of the best seasons a closer has had, and it is not what his name brings up. What it brings up is October: the home run to Bernie Williams in the 1996 Championship Series, the walk to Paul O'Neill in the first game of the 2000 World Series, and a run of blown saves for the Mets that the city catalogued.
Fifteen seasons gave him 289 saves, 32nd on the all-time list, with a 3.13 earned run average and 946 strikeouts in 779 innings — a strikeout rate that in his era almost nobody matched. He was Reliever of the Year in 2001, when he saved 43 for New York.
He was Dominican, signed at seventeen, and threw very hard for a long time across seven clubs. The 2014 ballot gave him one vote of 571.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 2003, 2004 |
| Reliever of the Year Award | 1 | 2001 |
| The Sporting News Reliever of the Year | 1 | 2001 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | BAL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1995 | BAL | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1996 | BAL | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1997 | BAL | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1998 | BAL | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1999 | NYM | 77 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 2000 | NYM | 76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2001 | NYM | 73 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 2002 | NYM | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2003 | NYM/NYY/SEA | 69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 2004 | FLA | 64 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 2005 | SFG | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2006 | SFG | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2007 | FLA/SFG | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2008 | TOR | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 762 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | BAL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 0.90 |
| 1995 | BAL | 1 | 5 | 44 | 0 | 2 | 47.2 | 37 | 30 | 37 | 56 | 5.66 |
| 1996 | BAL | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 14.1 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 20 | 3.77 |
| 1997 | BAL | 4 | 5 | 71 | 0 | 9 | 73.1 | 49 | 20 | 43 | 106 | 2.45 |
| 1998 | BAL | 5 | 6 | 71 | 0 | 22 | 68.1 | 48 | 29 | 39 | 87 | 3.82 |
| 1999 | NYM | 4 | 3 | 77 | 0 | 22 | 78.0 | 40 | 16 | 41 | 128 | 1.85 |
| 2000 | NYM | 4 | 4 | 76 | 0 | 41 | 76.0 | 39 | 22 | 38 | 106 | 2.61 |
| 2001 | NYM | 6 | 4 | 73 | 0 | 43 | 76.1 | 59 | 32 | 40 | 93 | 3.77 |
| 2002 | NYM | 1 | 0 | 62 | 0 | 33 | 67.1 | 46 | 17 | 25 | 79 | 2.27 |
| 2003 | NYM/NYY/SEA | 4 | 4 | 69 | 0 | 21 | 73.0 | 59 | 24 | 41 | 75 | 2.96 |
| 2004 | FLA | 2 | 2 | 64 | 0 | 47 | 69.2 | 36 | 10 | 21 | 62 | 1.29 |
| 2005 | SFG | 2 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 19 | 30.0 | 25 | 15 | 16 | 23 | 4.50 |
| 2006 | SFG | 4 | 2 | 41 | 0 | 17 | 38.1 | 39 | 15 | 21 | 31 | 3.52 |
| 2007 | FLA/SFG | 2 | 8 | 55 | 0 | 9 | 50.1 | 49 | 30 | 29 | 57 | 5.36 |
| 2008 | TOR | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 5.68 |
| Career | — | 40 | 47 | 762 | 0 | 289 | 779.0 | 545 | 271 | 403 | 946 | 3.13 |
On this day & linked events
1994
Major-league debut: Armando Benítez
Armando Benítez made a major-league debut on July 28, 1994.
2008
Final major-league game: Armando Benítez
Armando Benítez played a final major-league game on June 6, 2008.
Image: User Chrisjnelson on en.wikipedia, public domain