Willie Hernández

Guillermo "Willie" Hernández Villanueva (born November 14, 1954) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1977–1983), Philadelphia Phillies (1983), and Detroit Tigers (1984–1989). He threw and batted left-handed. Hernández utilized the screwball.[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Hernández and the second or maternal family name is Villanueva.
Willie Hernández
Pitcher
Born: (1954-11-14) November 14, 1954
Aguada, Puerto Rico
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 9, 1977, for the Chicago Cubs
Last MLB appearance
August 18, 1989, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Win–loss record70–63
Earned run average3.38
Strikeouts788
Saves147
Teams
Career highlights and awards

In 1984, Hernández became only the third player ever to win the Cy Young Award, the MVP Award, and the World Series title, all in the same season (Sandy Koufax was the first to accomplish this feat, in 1963 and Denny McLain in 1968.)

Career

Hernández signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1973. He was selected by the Chicago Cubs from the Phillies in the 1976 Rule 5 Draft. In his first two years in the majors (1977 and 1978), Hernandez went 16–9 with a 3.03 ERA in '77 and a 3.77 ERA in '78. The Cubs gave him a try as a starter in 1980, but he went 1–9 that year in 7 starts and 53 games pitched.

From 1979 to 1982, Hernández was 9–19 and gave up 128 earned runs in that time. After being traded to the Phillies for Bill Johnson and Dick Ruthven, he went 8–4 with 3.29 ERA and 7 saves. The Phillies made the World Series that year, losing to the Baltimore Orioles in 5 games.

Prior to the 1984 season, Hernández was traded to the Detroit Tigers with Dave Bergman for Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss. He had a 9–3 record, 32 saves and a 1.92 ERA in 140 innings pitched, while recording 112 strikeouts. In the entire season, Hernandez gave up only 6 home runs, 30 runs, 36 base on balls, and 96 hits. His 32 saves came in 33 opportunities.

Hernández won the 1984 American League Cy Young Award, beating out Dan Quisenberry.[2] He also became one of the few relievers to ever win the Most Valuable Player Award (the others are Jim Konstanty, Rollie Fingers, and Dennis Eckersley), edging out Kent Hrbek. The Tigers finished 104–58 that season, and went on to sweep the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series and defeat the San Diego Padres in the 1984 World Series, four games to one. Hernandez pitched five innings in the series, had two saves, and gave up only one run.

His overall postseason stats include a 2–2 record and a 1.32 ERA in 10 games, ​13 2⁄3 innings pitched. He allowed 9 hits, walked 2, and struck out 7.

Hernández never had those numbers again, but was a solid reliever for the Tigers in his final years - when he became known by his given name Guillermo Hernández. In 1988, his second-to-last year, he went 6–5 with a 3.06 ERA and 10 saves in 67 innings pitched. Hernández's last MLB game was on August 18, 1989, before being released by Detroit. He attempted comebacks with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs of the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 1991 and Columbus Clippers of the New York Yankees organization in 1995.

As a hitter, Hernández posted a .206 batting average (13-for-63) with 3 RBI. Defensively, he was better than average, committing only four errors in 231 total chances in 1044.2 innings pitched for a good .983 fielding percentage.

See also

References
  1. James, Bill; Neyer, Rob (June 15, 2004). The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches. New York, New York: Fireside Books, Simon and Schuster. pp. 52–55. ISBN 9780743261586. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  2. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1985. New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc. 1984. p. 33. ISBN 0-911818-71-5.
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