Hank Aguirre

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Hank Aguirre
Hank Aguirre
Pitcher
Born: January 31, 1931
Azusa, California
Died: September 1, 1994 (aged 63)
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Batted: Right Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 10, 1955
for the Cleveland Indians
Final game
June 24, 1970
for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics
Wins-losses     75-72
ERA     3.24
Strikeouts     856
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • All-Star in 1962
  • Led AL in ERA in 1962 with 2.21

Henry John "Hank" Aguirre (January 31, 1931 – September 5, 1994) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played with the Cleveland Indians (1955-57), Detroit Tigers (1958-67), Los Angeles Dodgers (1968), and Chicago Cubs (1969-1970). His last name was typically pronounced "ah-GEAR-ee".

Contents

[edit] Youth in Azusa, California

Nicknamed "Mex" because he was of Mexican descent, Aguirre was born on January 31, 1931, in Azusa, California. Aguirre worked in his youth, making, packaging and delivering tortillas for his father's business, the "Aguirre Tortillas Factory." At 4 a.m., the young Aguirre would make deliveries -- mostly running -— before school.

[edit] Pitching career

As a rookie for the Cleveland Indians in 1956, Aguirre struck out Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams the first time he faced him. After the game, Aguirre asked Williams to autograph the ball. Reluctantly, Williams complied. A couple of weeks later Aguirre faced Williams again. This time the "Splendid Splinter" smashed Aguirre's first offering for a home run. While circling the bases, Williams yelled to Aguirre, "Get that ball, and I'll sign it, too."

He pitched in the big leagues for 16 years for four different teams. Before the 1958 season began, Aguirre was traded to the Detroit Tigers, where he remained for 10 years from 1958-1967. Aguirre was principally a relief pitcher until 1962. During a 1962 game at Yankee Stadium, Tigers manager Bob Scheffing used him as a starter when Don Mossi had arm trouble. Scheffing wanted a left-hander to pitch against the Yankees, and he chose Aguirre. Aguirre joined the Tigers starting rotation and finished the 1962 season with a 2.21 earned run average in 42 games (22 as a starter), the best in Detroit since Hal Newhouser in 1946. Having pitched over 100 innings (216 in total) for the first time in his career, Aguirre led the major leagues in ERA (0.33 points lower than Sandy Koufax who was second best), won 16 games, and was selected to the American League All-Star team. He also led the American League in WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) with a 1.051 average. Aguirre also finished 17th in the 1962 American League Most Valuable Player voting.

Aguirre lost his spot in the Tigers starting rotation in 1966, and returned to the bullpen. Before the start of the 1968 season, Aguirre was traded by the Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later. In one season with the Dodgers, Aguirre allowed only three runs in 39-1/3 innings for a 0.69 ERA. Despite the good season, Aguirre was released by the Dodgers and spent the final two seasons of his big league career pitching for Leo Durocher’s Chicago Cubs where he was 4-0 in two seasons from 1969-1970.

In 16 Major League seasons, Aguirre finished with a record of 75-72 in 1,375-2/3 innings pitched, with 856 strikeouts and an earned run average of 3.24.

[edit] Aguirre At Bat: A "Switch-Misser"

Aguirre was considered one of baseball's worst hitters. He went hitless for five seasons: 1955, 1957, 1961, 1968, and 1970. In fairness he had very few opportunities. His total at-bats in those five seasons were 4, 4, 9, 3 and 2 respectively, falling well short of Bob Buhl's 70 at bats without a hit in 1962, for Aguirre's future team, the Chicago Cubs. [1] He had 1 hit in 1960 (for an .036 average) and 2 hits in 75 at bats in 1962 for a .027 average). He had a career batting average of .085, from a total of 33 career hits. He also had 14 career bases-on-balls, including 1966 when, inexplicably, he actually had more walks (4) than hits (3). Batting from both sides of the plate, Aguirre became known as a "switch-misser." Tigers catcher Bill Freehan joked about Aguirre's hitting: "He has a nice smooth miss." And Watson Spoelstra of the Detroit News once said: "When Aguirre says he went 1 for 3, he means 1 hit in 3 years." Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray called Aguirre, "the no hit leader of the big leagues." Murray explained, "Some guys have no-hit games, Hank has no-hit seasons." Joe Garagiola might have had Aguirre in mind when he quipped about a batter who "could bat three ways: left, right, and seldom."

Hank's biggest hit was a bases loaded triple in 1967 in Yankee Stadium. Tigers radio announcer Ernie Harwell said that they had to call time to give Aguirre a minute to recover from the shock. Ironically, the Yankees had walked Ray Oyler, perhaps the weakest hitting position player the Tigers ever had in order to pitch to Aguirre.

[edit] Aguirre's role in Mexican Industries

After his playing days were over, Aguirre spent a couple of seasons as a member of the Cubs coaching staff. In 1979, he founded Mexican Industries by mortgaging his house and taking out a $350,000 loan guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. Aguirre was one of the six original employees of the company, a supplier of leather and soft-trim automotive products. The firm grew to a 1,500 employee, eight-plant operation with sales over $150 million. Customers included General Motors, Chrysler, Morten, Delphi, TRW and Lear Corporation.

Aguirre's company became one of the nation's most successful minority-owned companies, and Aguirre won a reputation for his efforts in employing Hispanic workers.

Aguirre died in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on September 5, 1994 at the age of 62 from prostate cancer.

Once viewed as a savior to Detroit’s ailing Hispanic community, Mexican Industries fell on hard times after Aguirre's death and closed its doors in 2001.[2] Ownership passed to Aguirre’s children, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after its financial position slowly crumbled.

The shutdown closed five plants in Detroit and Tempe, Arizona, and displaced some 1,200 workers. Many of the workers had been employed with the company for 20 years. The UAW filed a suit in 2001 charging that the owners of Mexican Industries had used the company as a “device to defraud creditors and employees.” The UAW charged that the owners diverted in excess of $7 million in company funds, including amounts withheld from employees’ paychecks for payment of medical and dental insurance. [3]

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

The Tall Mexican: The Life of Hank Aguirre All-Star Pitcher, Businessman, Humanitarian, by Robert E. Copley

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Dick Donovan		 American League ERA Champion
1962		 Succeeded by
Gary Peters