Horacio Piña

Who is Horacio Piña?

Horacio Piña García [pee'-nyah] is a former relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball between 1968 and 1978. Piña also played professionally in Mexico for several years. He batted and threw right-handed.

Piña reached the major leagues in 1968 with the Cleveland Indians, spending two years with them before moving to the Washington Senators, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, California Angels and Philadelphia Phillies. His most productive season came in 1972 with the last-place Rangers, when he posted career-numbers in saves, strikeouts and games pitched. Traded to the Athletics before the 1973 season for Mike Epstein, he responded with a 6–3 mark, eight saves and career-highs in ERA and innings, helping them to clinch the ALCS and the World Series Championship. In an eight-season career, Piña posted a 23–23 record with a 3.25 ERA and 38 saves in 314 games. In three post-season games he had a perfect 0.00 ERA in five innings.

As a pitcher in the Mexican League, Piña threw a no-hitter in 1975, posted a 21–4 record with a 1.94 ERA and pitched a perfect game in 1978, and gained induction in the Salón de la Fama del Béisbol de México in 1988.