Pedro Borbón, Jr.

Who is Pedro Borbón, Jr.?

Pedro Félix Borbón Marte, generally known in English as Pedro Borbón, Jr., is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for nine seasons for four teams, including four seasons for the Atlanta Braves, and three seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays. Borbón was mainly a relief pitcher.

Borbón's father, Pedro Borbón was also a pitcher, playing for the Cincinnati Reds and three other teams from 1969 to 1980, winning the World Series twice with the Cincinnati Reds.

After his parents divorced when he was 13, young Pedro Borbón left home at 14 and settled in New York City with two of his mother's brothers. In the spring of his freshman year at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, Borbón cut class, heading for the lunch room. He was stopped by a security guard, who asked to see his student ID. The guard did a double-take when he saw the name. "Are you related to Pedro Borbón, the pitcher?" he asked. The guard also happened to be a baseball coach at the school. He asked Borbón if he played baseball and refused to take "no" for an answer. He took Borbón outside and had him throw 20 pitches. By Borbón's recollection, 18 were strikes. Borbón pitched well enough to earn an athletic scholarship to Ranger Junior College outside Houston but not before parting with his uncles and living for a while in a cheap apartment in the Bronx with two high school buddies that cost them $540 a month. He worked as a messenger after school to pay his third of the rent. He had no contact with his father between the ages of 13 and 20.