1933
Born November 17, 1933
Las Tunas, Las Tunas, Cuba
Orlando Peña Marquee
b. November 17, 1933 · Cincinnati Redlegs 1958–1959, Cincinnati Reds 1960, Kansas City Athletics 1962–1965, Detroit Tigers 1965–1967, Cleveland Indians 1967, Pittsburgh Pirates 1970, Baltimore Orioles 1971, 1973, St. Louis Cardinals 1973–1974, California Angels 1974–1975
He went 12-20 for the 1963 Kansas City Athletics, who lost 89 games, and led the American League in losses. He also struck out 128 that year for a club that gave him nothing behind him.
He was a Cuban right-hander who left the island after 1960 and never went back. Fourteen seasons gave him 56 wins against 77, 40 saves, 1,202 innings and a 3.71 earned run average across 427 appearances for nine clubs, with long stretches in the minor leagues in between.
He came back at thirty-seven for Pittsburgh in 1970, then pitched for St. Louis and California and was still relieving in 1975 at forty-one. He pitched in Mexico for years after that. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | CIN | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1959 | CIN | 46 | 34 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 0 | .088 |
| 1960 | CIN | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1962 | KCA | 13 | 31 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 0 | .161 |
| 1963 | KCA | 35 | 62 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 0 | .145 |
| 1964 | KCA | 42 | 75 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 33 | 0 | .160 |
| 1965 | DET/KCA | 42 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .176 |
| 1966 | DET | 54 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .111 |
| 1967 | CLE/DET | 50 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 |
| 1970 | PIT | 23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1971 | BAL | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1973 | BAL/STL | 53 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .143 |
| 1974 | CAL/STL | 46 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| 1975 | CAL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 429 | 264 | 12 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 19 | 127 | 0 | .136 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | CIN | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 15.0 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 0.60 |
| 1959 | CIN | 5 | 9 | 46 | 8 | 5 | 136.0 | 150 | 72 | 39 | 76 | 4.76 |
| 1960 | CIN | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 2.89 |
| 1962 | KCA | 6 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 89.2 | 71 | 30 | 27 | 56 | 3.01 |
| 1963 | KCA | 12 | 20 | 35 | 33 | 0 | 217.0 | 218 | 89 | 53 | 128 | 3.69 |
| 1964 | KCA | 12 | 14 | 40 | 32 | 0 | 219.1 | 231 | 108 | 73 | 184 | 4.43 |
| 1965 | DET/KCA | 4 | 12 | 42 | 5 | 4 | 92.2 | 96 | 43 | 33 | 79 | 4.18 |
| 1966 | DET | 4 | 2 | 54 | 0 | 7 | 108.0 | 105 | 37 | 35 | 79 | 3.08 |
| 1967 | CLE/DET | 0 | 4 | 50 | 1 | 8 | 90.1 | 72 | 36 | 22 | 74 | 3.59 |
| 1970 | PIT | 2 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 37.2 | 38 | 20 | 7 | 25 | 4.78 |
| 1971 | BAL | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 14.2 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3.07 |
| 1973 | BAL/STL | 5 | 5 | 53 | 2 | 7 | 106.2 | 96 | 35 | 22 | 61 | 2.95 |
| 1974 | CAL/STL | 5 | 2 | 46 | 0 | 4 | 53.0 | 51 | 13 | 21 | 28 | 2.21 |
| 1975 | CAL | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 2.13 |
| Career | — | 56 | 77 | 427 | 93 | 40 | 1202.0 | 1175 | 495 | 352 | 818 | 3.71 |
On this day & linked events
1958
Major-league debut: Orlando Peña
Orlando Peña made a major-league debut on August 24, 1958.
1975
Final major-league game: Orlando Peña
Orlando Peña played a final major-league game on May 1, 1975.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain