1961
Born December 31, 1961
San Gabriel, CA, USA
Rick Aguilera Marquee
b. December 31, 1961 · New York Mets 1985–1989, Minnesota Twins 1989–1999, Boston Red Sox 1995, Chicago Cubs 1999–2000
He was a starter for the Mets who won the 1986 World Series and a closer for the Twins who won the 1991 one, which is an unusual pair of credits. Sixteen seasons gave him 318 saves — 24th all-time — 86 wins, 1,291 innings and a 3.57 earned run average, with three All-Star selections.
Minnesota got him in the trade that sent Frank Viola to New York in 1989 and made him a closer almost immediately. He saved 40 or more twice and was the club's closer for a decade, apart from a spell in 1996 when it put him back in the rotation and he made 19 starts.
He pitched three innings of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth in the sixth game of the 1991 World Series, one of the best series the game has had. The writers gave him three votes of 520 in 2006.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 3 | 1991, 1992, 1993 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1993 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | NYM | 22 | 36 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .278 |
| 1986 | NYM | 32 | 51 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .157 |
| 1987 | NYM | 18 | 40 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 0 | .225 |
| 1988 | NYM | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| 1989 | MIN/NYM | 47 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1990 | MIN | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1991 | MIN | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1992 | MIN | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1993 | MIN | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1994 | MIN | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1995 | BOS/MIN | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1996 | MIN | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1997 | MIN | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1998 | MIN | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1999 | CHC/MIN | 61 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 2000 | CHC | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 737 | 139 | 12 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 37 | 0 | .201 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | NYM | 10 | 7 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 122.1 | 118 | 44 | 37 | 74 | 3.24 |
| 1986 | NYM | 10 | 7 | 28 | 20 | 0 | 141.2 | 145 | 61 | 36 | 104 | 3.88 |
| 1987 | NYM | 11 | 3 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 115.0 | 124 | 46 | 33 | 77 | 3.60 |
| 1988 | NYM | 0 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 24.2 | 29 | 19 | 10 | 16 | 6.93 |
| 1989 | MIN/NYM | 9 | 11 | 47 | 11 | 7 | 145.0 | 130 | 45 | 38 | 137 | 2.79 |
| 1990 | MIN | 5 | 3 | 56 | 0 | 32 | 65.1 | 55 | 20 | 19 | 61 | 2.76 |
| 1991 | MIN | 4 | 5 | 63 | 0 | 42 | 69.0 | 44 | 18 | 30 | 61 | 2.35 |
| 1992 | MIN | 2 | 6 | 64 | 0 | 41 | 66.2 | 60 | 21 | 17 | 52 | 2.83 |
| 1993 | MIN | 4 | 3 | 65 | 0 | 34 | 72.1 | 60 | 25 | 14 | 59 | 3.11 |
| 1994 | MIN | 1 | 4 | 44 | 0 | 23 | 44.2 | 57 | 18 | 10 | 46 | 3.63 |
| 1995 | BOS/MIN | 3 | 3 | 52 | 0 | 32 | 55.1 | 46 | 16 | 13 | 52 | 2.60 |
| 1996 | MIN | 8 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 111.1 | 124 | 67 | 27 | 83 | 5.42 |
| 1997 | MIN | 5 | 4 | 61 | 0 | 26 | 68.1 | 65 | 29 | 22 | 68 | 3.82 |
| 1998 | MIN | 4 | 9 | 68 | 0 | 38 | 74.1 | 75 | 35 | 15 | 57 | 4.24 |
| 1999 | CHC/MIN | 9 | 4 | 61 | 0 | 14 | 67.2 | 54 | 22 | 12 | 45 | 2.93 |
| 2000 | CHC | 1 | 2 | 54 | 0 | 29 | 47.2 | 47 | 26 | 18 | 38 | 4.91 |
| Career | — | 86 | 81 | 732 | 89 | 318 | 1291.1 | 1233 | 512 | 351 | 1030 | 3.57 |
On this day & linked events
1985
Major-league debut: Rick Aguilera
Rick Aguilera made a major-league debut on June 12, 1985.
2000
Final major-league game: Rick Aguilera
Rick Aguilera played a final major-league game on September 6, 2000.
Image: slgckgc, CC BY 2.0