La primera vez que supe de Mike Cuellar fue en febrero de 1970. Magallanes de Venezuela enfrentaba a Ponce de Puerto Rico en el juego inaugural de la Serie del Caribe que marcaba la reaparici\u00c3\u00b3n de este evento luego de un par\u00c3\u00a9ntesis de casi una d\u00c3\u00a9cada. Por los Navegantes abri\u00c3\u00b3 el cubano Orlando Pe\u00c3\u00b1a y por los bor\u00c3\u00adcuas lanzar\u00c3\u00ada otro cubano que hac\u00c3\u00ada dudar a mis hermanos de las posibilidades de triunfo magallanero.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mike Cuellar ven\u00c3\u00ada de ganar el Cy Young de la Liga Americana, compartido con Denny McLain. Empezamos a escuchar el juego en el porche, a eso de las 10 de la noche nos fuimos a la habitaci\u00c3\u00b3n y seguimos oyendo el juego. S\u00c3\u00b3lo recuerdo el juego hasta el tercer episodio cuando C\u00c3\u00a9sar Tovar empuj\u00c3\u00b3 la primera rayita del Magallanes con sencillo al centro.<\/p>\n
Luego me enter\u00c3\u00a9 que Cuellar jug\u00c3\u00b3 en la LVBP en la temporada 1961-62 con el Valencia Industriales. Particip\u00c3\u00b3 en 11 juegos, 4 completos, 4 relevos, 5 ganados, 5 perdidos, 63.1 innings, 68 hits, 26 carreras limpias, 30 ponches, 22 boletos, 3.69 Efe.<\/p>\n
Cuellar hab\u00c3\u00ada llegado a Baltimore el 04-12-1968, junto a Enzo Hern\u00c3\u00a1ndez y Elijah Johnson desde Houston a cambio de Curt Blefary y John Mason.<\/p>\n
El 10 de agosto de 1969, C\u00c3\u00a9sar Tovar le rompi\u00c3\u00b3 un juego sin hits ni carreras al conectar imparable abriendo el noveno inning de un juego que gan\u00c3\u00b3 Baltimore 2-0 ante Minnesota.<\/p>\n
A medida que pasaron los a\u00c3\u00b1os entend\u00c3\u00ad mejor a que clase de lanzador se hab\u00c3\u00ada enfrentado el Magallanes. En la temporada de 1970 dej\u00c3\u00b3 marca de 24-8 y 3.48 de efectividad con los Orioles, adem\u00c3\u00a1s gan\u00c3\u00b3 el quinto juego de la Serie Mundial de 1970 para darle el t\u00c3\u00adtulo a Baltimore ante Cincinnati.<\/p>\n
El lunes 02 de septiembre de 1974, Cuellar se apareci\u00c3\u00b3 con su mejor arsenal de screwballs y forkballs en la lomita del Memorial Stadium. En los primeros cinco episodios s\u00c3\u00b3lo Carl Yastrzemski en el segundo inning por boleto y Mario Guerrero y Dwight Evans en el cuarto por sencillos, lograron descifrar sus lanzamientos quebrados. Los Orioles hab\u00c3\u00adan picado adelante en el marcador con una rayita ante Bill Lee en el tercer episodio, Paul Blair se trajo a la goma a Enos Cabell con elevado de sacrificio al bosque derecho.<\/p>\n
En 1971 Cuellar junto a Jim Palmer, Pat Dobson y Dave McNally, se convirtieron en el segundo cuarteto de abridores en ganar 20 juegos cada uno para un equipo de Grandes Ligas, el otro perteneci\u00c3\u00b3 a las Medias Blancas de Chicago de 1920. Ese a\u00c3\u00b1o venci\u00c3\u00b3 en el segundo juego de la Serie de Campeonato de la Liga Americana a los Atl\u00c3\u00a9ticos de Oakland y a Catfish Hunter \u00c2\u00a05-1. Perdi\u00c3\u00b3 el s\u00c3\u00a9ptimo juego de la Serie Mundial ante Steve Blass y los Piratas de Pittsburgh 2-1.<\/p>\n
Del sexto al noveno inning, arreci\u00c3\u00b3 el temporal de tenedores y tornillos que Cuellar lanz\u00c3\u00b3 hacia la mascota de Andy Etchebarren, qui\u00c3\u00a9n dice que Cuellar tambi\u00c3\u00a9n lanzaba una recta alrededor de las 94 millas, y un cambio que desarmaba a los bateadores. En ese lapso el \u00c3\u00banico bateador que se le embas\u00c3\u00b3 fue Yastrzemski en el s\u00c3\u00a9ptimo, por boleto. Termin\u00c3\u00b3 apunt\u00c3\u00a1ndose la victoria 1-0 ante Bill Lee y los Medias Rojas.<\/p>\n
En 1972 Cuellar dej\u00c3\u00b3 marca de 18-12 con 2.57 de efectividad.<\/p>\n
Al d\u00c3\u00ada siguiente escuch\u00c3\u00a9 a mis hermanos silbar y cantar mientras se cepillaban los dientes. Desde debajo de la almohada o\u00c3\u00ada los nombres de Ortiz y Cuellar que se entremezclaban entre sus emociones.<\/p>\n
En 1973 su balance fue 18-13 y 3.27 de efectividad. En el tercer juego de la Serie de Campeonato de la Liga Americana perdi\u00c3\u00b3 2-1 en 11 innings ante Ken Holtzman y los Atl\u00c3\u00a9ticos de Oakland.\u00c2\u00a0 Cuando les pregunt\u00c3\u00a9 que hab\u00c3\u00ada pasado en el juego se interrumpieron con la misma frase: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Armando Ortiz se la sac\u00c3\u00b3 a Miguel Cuellar con uno en base y Magallanes gan\u00c3\u00b3 3-1\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
En 1974 gan\u00c3\u00b3 22 y perdi\u00c3\u00b3 10 con 3.11 de efectividad. Gan\u00c3\u00b3 el primer juego de la Serie de Campeonato, 6-3 ante Oakland y Catfish Hunter. Perdi\u00c3\u00b3 el cuarto juego 2-1 ante el propio Hunter.<\/p>\n
Toda esa pel\u00c3\u00adcula pas\u00c3\u00b3 por mi mente este viernes 02 de abril cuando le\u00c3\u00ad a trav\u00c3\u00a9s de Internet que Miguel Cuellar hab\u00c3\u00ada fallecido en un hospital de Orlando, Florida a causa de un c\u00c3\u00a1ncer estomacal.<\/p>\n
Mike Cuellar, Left-handed Expert in Screwballs and Forkballs<\/strong><\/p>\n The first time I knew about Mike Cuellar was in February 1970. The Magallanes Navigators from Venezuela faced the Ponce Lions from Puerto Rico in the opening game of the Caribbean Series after almost a decade whithout playing this contest. Orlando Pe\u00c3\u00b1a was the starting pitcher for the Navigators, while for the Lions would pitch another cuban \u00c2\u00a0who made my brothers hesitate about the winning chances of the Magallanes team.<\/p>\n Mike Cuellar had shared the American League Cy Young Award with Denny McLain in the MLB 1969 season. My brothers and I began to listen the game at the porch. At about 10 o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122clock we went to bed and kept following the game. I only remember the game until the third frame when Cesar Tovar batted in the Magallanes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 first run with a base hit to center field.<\/p>\n Later I knew that Cuellar played in the Venezuelan Winter League in the 1961-62 season. Valencia Industriales was his team. He played in 11 games, 4 complete, 4 reliefs, 5 wins, 5 losses, 63.1 innings, 68 hits, 26 earned runs, 30 struckouts, 22 walks, 3.69 ERA.<\/p>\n Cuellar had arrived to Baltimore on December 04th<\/sup>, 1968 along with Enzo Hern\u00c3\u00a1ndez and Elijah Johnson in a transaction where the Houston Astros received Curt Blefary and John Mason. \u00c2\u00a0On August 10th<\/sup>, 1969, Cesar Tovar broke the no-hitter that Cuellar was hurling before the Minnesota Twins with a base hit leading off the ninth inning. Baltimore won 2-0 and Cuellar got a one-hitter victory.<\/p>\n Through the years I understood in depth what kind of pitcher had faced the Magallanes Navigators in that Caribbean Series. In the 1970 season he left a 24-8 record and 3.48 ERA with the Orioles, besides that he won the fifth game of the World Series to give Baltimore the title against the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n On September 02nd<\/sup>, 1974, Cuellar climbed the Memorial Stadium mound. That afternoon he had the best of his screwballs and forkballs. In the first five frames, only Carl Yastrzemski with a walk in the second, and Mario Guerrero plus Dwight Evans with base hits in the fourth, could decipher his offspeed deliveries. The Orioles took the lead scoring one run before Bill Lee in the third inning, Paul Blair batted in Enos Cabell with a sacrifice fly to right field.<\/p>\n In 1971, Cuellar–together with Jim Palmer, Pat Dobson and Dave McNally–became the second quartet of starters winning at least 20 games each one for an MLB team.\u00c2\u00a0 The other belonged to the Chicago White Sox of 1920. In \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc71 Cuellar won by a score of 5-1 in the second game of the ALCS against the Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Catfish Hunter. He lost the seventh game of the World Series 2-1 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steve Blass.<\/p>\n From the sixth inning through the ninth, Cuellar increased his arsenal of screwballs and forkballs pitched to the Andy Etchebarren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mitt, who says that Cuellar also had a very good fastball around the 94 miles, and a changeup that paralyzed the batters. In that period, the only batter who got on base was Carl Yastrzemski in the seventh frame, because of a walk. Cuellar finished winning the game before Lee and the Red Sox, with a two hitter shutout.<\/p>\n In the 1972 season, Cuellar left record of 18-12 with 2.57.<\/p>\n The next day I heard my brothers whistling and singing while brushing their teeth. From below the pillow I heard the names of Ort\u00c3\u00adz and Cuellar mixed with their emotions.<\/p>\n In the 1973 season his record was 18-13 with 3.27 ERA. In the third game of the ALCS he lost 2-1 before Ken Holtzman and the Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in eleven frames.\u00c2\u00a0 When I asked my brothers what had happened in the game, they made the same statement: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Armando Ort\u00c3\u00adz hit a home run against Mike Cuellar and Magallanes won 3-1.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n In the 1974 season, Cuellar won 22 games and lost 10 with 3.10 ERA. He won the first game of the ALCS 6-3 before Oakland and Catfish Hunter. He lost the fourth game 2-1 before the same Hunter.<\/p>\n All this film passed through my mind on Friday April 02nd<\/sup>, 2010, when I read through the internet that Mike Cuellar had passed away at a Hospital in Orlando, Fla. from a stomach cancer.\u00c2\u00a0 The baseball world has lost a great hero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" La primera vez que supe de Mike Cuellar fue en febrero de 1970. Magallanes de Venezuela enfrentaba a Ponce de Puerto Rico en el juego inaugural de la Serie del Caribe que marcaba la reaparici\u00c3\u00b3n de este evento luego de un par\u00c3\u00a9ntesis de casi una d\u00c3\u00a9cada. Por los Navegantes abri\u00c3\u00b3 el cubano Orlando Pe\u00c3\u00b1a y […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}