Wenceslao Gonzales O'Reilly (September 28, 1925 – March 11, 1981) was a Cuban-born professional baseball player during the 1950s and 1960s. A left-handed pitcher who stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 165 pounds (75 kg), Gonzales appeared in one Major League Baseball game in 1955 as a member of the Washington Senators.
| Vince Gonzales | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | ||||||||||||
| Born: September 28, 1925 Quivicán, Cuba | ||||||||||||
| Died: March 11, 1981 (aged 55) Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico | ||||||||||||
Batted: Left Threw: Left | ||||||||||||
| MLB debut | ||||||||||||
| April 13, 1955, for the Washington Senators | ||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | ||||||||||||
| April 13, 1955, for the Washington Senators | ||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | ||||||||||||
| Win–loss record | 0–0 | |||||||||||
| Earned run average | 27.00 | |||||||||||
| Innings pitched | 2 | |||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||
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Medals
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Gonzales began playing amateur baseball, and was selected to the Cuba national baseball team at the 1939 Amateur World Series in Havana at just 14 years old; he was also one of the first Afro-Cubans to make the national team.[1] He finished the tournament with a 2–0 record, and also went 3-for-6 at the plate, to bring Cuba its first international championship.
Gonzales entered professional baseball in 1951 as a member of the Ciudad Juárez Indios and in his first season, he led the Class C Southwest International League with 32 victories.[2] He followed that by winning 25 and 22 games for the Indios.[3]
In 1955, Gonzales was a member of the Senators' early season roster and appeared in the second game of the campaign, a road contest against the New York Yankees. Called into the game in the seventh inning with Washington already losing 13–1, he worked the final two frames, allowing six hits, six earned runs and three bases on balls in an eventual 19–1 rout.[4]
Gonzales spent the rest of the season in the Arizona–Mexico League and the Mexican League and the rest of his career pitching in Mexico, appearing in a game as late as in 1969.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Detalles de la Segunda Serie Mundial Amateur de Béisbol (La Habana, 1939)". Deportes Cine y Otros (in Spanish). Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, eds. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd ed. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007, p. 452
- ^ a b Minor league statistics from Baseball Reference
- ^ Retrosheet
External links
edit- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
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