Joaquín Andújar
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| Joaquín Andújar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Starting Pitcher | |
| Batted: Switch | Threw: Right |
| MLB Debut | |
| April 8, 1976 for the Houston Astros | |
| Final game | |
| September 30, 1988 for the Houston Astros | |
| Career Statistics | |
| Record | 127-118 |
| ERA | 3.58 |
| K | 1032 |
| Teams | |
| Career Highlights and Awards | |
|
|
Joaquín Andújar [an-DOO-har] (born December 21, 1952 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played for the Houston Astros (1976-81, 1988), St. Louis Cardinals (1981-85) and Oakland Athletics (1986-87).
Andújar was a temperamental and inconsistent pitcher who nevertheless exhibited moments of brilliance. He was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1969 and was traded to the Astros in October 1975. Finally, he made his major league debut in 1976. With the Astros, he made the National League All-Star team twice in five years (1977, 1979) but never finished a season with a winning record or an ERA under 3.41.
Andujar is known for his colorful quotes, the most famous one being, "There is one word in baseball that says it all, and that one word is 'you never know'".
Traded to the Cardinals in June 1981, Andújar responded by going 6-1 for the rest of the season. The next year, he went 15-10 with a 2.47 ERA for the division-winning Cardinals. He started and won Game 3 of the National League Championship Series and then went 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in the Cardinals' World Series triumph over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Andújar enjoyed his best season in 1984, leading the league in wins (20), innings pitched (261.1), and shutouts (4), while being named to the NL All-Star team and winning a Gold Glove Award, but the Cardinals missed the postseason. One highlight of Andujar's 1984 season occurred when he hit a grand slam. Before the pitch, he called the home run by pointing to the wagongate in the Busch Stadium outfield.[1] In 1985, Andújar went 21-12 and made his fourth All-Star team as the Cardinals returned to the World Series. The World Series against the Kansas City Royals was a disaster for Andújar. He started and lost Game 3; manager Whitey Herzog said the umpires gave Saberhagen a wide strike zone and squeezed Andjuar. In game 7, with the Cardinals losing 11-0, Herzog brought in Andujar to mop up. Umpire Don Denkinger called the first pitch a ball even though it was a perfect strike. Whitey Herzog exploded and was ejected. Andujar was ejected after the next pitch by umpire Don Denkinger, who misread a gesture by Joaquin Andujar to his catcher. Some believe that Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog purposely sent the volatile Andújar to the mound as payback for Don Denkinger's infamous call in Game 6. Before getting ejected by Denkinger in Game 7, Herzog said to Denkinger, "We wouldn't even be here if you hadn't missed the f---ing call last night!" However, Herzog has often stated Andújar was his only pitcher that still had any life left in his arm. Andújar was so furious that after Game 7, he took a baseball bat and smashed a toilet in the Cardinals' clubhouse in Kansas City's Royals Stadium.
Cardinal ownership demanded Andujar be traded after the Series, and the Cardinals traded him to Oakland. Before he could play for Oakland, he was suspended 10 games (reduced to 5) for the World Series altercation with Denkinger. He and six other players were suspended for the 1986 season for admitting during the Pittsburgh drug trials that they had abused cocaine. The suspensions were reduced to anti-drug donations and community service. Andújar had a decent year in 1986, helping mold the A's into a powerhouse, but suffered numerous injuries (including an injury sustained during batting practice even though pitchers don't bat in the American League) and never recovered his All-Star form and was out of baseball after 1988. He tried to make a comeback and negotiated a non-guaranteed $1 million contract with the Montreal Expos in 1989, but he failed to make the team. Andujar started a trucking business in his home country of the Dominican Republic. He has been active in youth baseball programs in his home country and has been generous in hurricane relief. Sammy Sosa has said Andujar was the most generous tipper when Sosa was a child.
YEAR TEAM AGE W L PCT G GS CG SV GF IP H R ER BB SO ERA RSAA
1976 Astros 23 9 10 .474 28 25 9 0 1 172⅓ 163 74 69 75 59 3.60 -12
1977 Astros 24 11 8 .579 26 25 4 0 1 158⅔ 149 80 65 64 69 3.69 -2
1978 Astros 25 5 7 .417 35 13 2 1 11 110⅔ 88 45 42 58 55 3.42 -1
1979 Astros 26 12 12 .500 46 23 8 4 9 194 168 86 74 88 77 3.43 -3
1980 Astros 27 3 8 .273 35 14 0 2 5 122 132 59 53 43 75 3.91 -6
1981 Astros 28 2 3 .400 9 3 0 0 0 23⅔ 29 17 13 12 18 4.94 -5
Cardinals 28 6 1 .857 11 8 1 0 0 55⅓ 56 24 23 11 19 3.74 -1
TOTALS 8 4 .667 20 11 1 0 0 79 85 41 36 23 37 4.10 -6
1982 Cardinals 29 15 10 .600 38 37 9 0 1 265⅔ 237 85 73 50 137 2.47 36
1983 Cardinals 30 6 16 .273 39 34 5 1 3 225 215 112 104 75 125 4.16 -14
1984 Cardinals 31 20 14 .588 36 36 12 0 0 261⅓ 218 104 97 70 147 3.34 6
1985 Cardinals 32 21 12 .636 38 38 10 0 0 269⅔ 265 113 102 82 112 3.40 -1
1986 A's 33 12 7 .632 28 26 7 1 2 155⅓ 139 70 66 56 72 3.82 2
1987 A's 34 3 5 .375 13 13 1 0 0 60⅔ 63 43 41 26 32 6.08 -14
1988 Astros 35 2 5 .286 23 10 0 0 4 78⅔ 94 43 35 21 35 4.00 -7
TOTALS 127 118 .518 405 305 68 9 37 2153 2016 955 857 731 1032 3.58 -22
LG AVERAGE 120 120 .500 48 10 2153 2091 994 883 771 1289 3.69 0
YEAR TEAM HR H/9 BR/9 SO/9 BB/9 SO/BB SHO WP IBB HBP BFP BK NW NL
1976 Astros 8 8.51 12.48 3.08 3.92 0.79 4 1 2 1 729 5 8 11
1977 Astros 11 8.45 12.31 3.91 3.63 1.08 1 2 3 4 678 2 9 10
1978 Astros 3 7.16 12.20 4.47 4.72 0.95 0 3 6 4 470 5 6 6
1979 Astros 7 7.79 11.97 3.57 4.08 0.88 0 5 6 2 825 0 12 12
1980 Astros 8 9.74 12.91 5.53 3.17 1.74 0 2 2 0 529 0 5 6
1981 Astros 2 11.03 15.59 6.85 4.56 1.50 0 0 0 0 113 0 1 4
Cardinals 4 9.11 10.90 3.09 1.79 1.73 0 2 1 0 223 1 3 4
TOTALS 6 9.68 12.30 4.22 2.62 1.61 0 2 1 0 336 1 4 8
1982 Cardinals 11 8.03 9.96 4.64 1.69 2.74 5 3 7 7 1056 2 17 8
1983 Cardinals 23 8.60 11.72 5.00 3.00 1.67 2 5 7 3 943 6 10 12
1984 Cardinals 20 7.51 10.16 5.06 2.41 2.10 4 6 13 7 1052 4 18 16
1985 Cardinals 15 8.84 11.95 3.74 2.74 1.37 2 2 12 11 1127 0 16 17
1986 A's 23 8.05 11.53 4.17 3.24 1.29 1 2 1 4 647 4 10 9
1987 A's 11 9.35 13.65 4.75 3.86 1.23 0 0 0 3 265 1 3 5
1988 Astros 9 10.75 13.73 4.00 2.40 1.67 0 0 5 5 351 3 3 4
TOTALS 155 8.43 11.70 4.31 3.06 1.41 19 33 65 51 9008 33 121 124
LG AVERAGE 173 8.74 12.12 5.39 3.22 1.67 11 65 91 38 9130 19
| Preceded by John Denny |
NL Comeback Player of the Year 1984 |
Succeeded by Rick Reuschel |
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[edit] See also
Categories: Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | National League All-Stars | 1982 St. Louis Cardinals World Series Championship Team | Houston Astros players | St. Louis Cardinals players | Oakland Athletics players | Major league pitchers | Dominican Republic baseball players | Baseball players suspended for drug offenses | Gold Glove Award winners | 1952 births | Living people
