Héctor Espino
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Hector Espino (sometimes called The Babe Ruth of Mexico) (June 6, 1939 in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Mexico – September 7, 1997 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico) is considered the greatest player in the history of the Mexican League. He played from 1960 till 1984 in both the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (summer league) and the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico (winter league). With 484 home runs, he is the all-time minor-league home run king (481 of those homers came in Mexico and 453 in the Mexican League).[1]
Mexican League career
In 1962 Espino broke in in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (Mexican Baseball League) with the Sultanes de Monterrey (Monterrey Sultans) as a right handed batter and outfielder. He hit 23 homers and 12 triples, drove in 105 runs (tying for the league lead) and scored 106 runs while batting .358. He was named Rookie of the Year.
In 1963, he missed some games due to injury and his average dipped slightly to .346. In 99 games, he managed to hit 24 home runs and 80 RBIs.
In 1964, moved from outfield to first base. Despite playing a new position, Espino won his first Mexican League batting title with a .371 average. He also hit 46 home runs, scored 115 run, and drove in 117 RBIs. His run total was the third highest in Mexican League history (behind only Bobby Avila and Cool Papa Bell). He set a new home run record, surpassing Ronnie Camacho's 39. He also set a record with 30 intentional walks, and his 332 total bases were second-best in league history. His impressive numbers drew the attention of the St. Louis Cardinals, who signed Espino late in the year and sent him to their AAA club, the Jacksonville Suns. Espino did well there, hitting .300 with 3 homers in 32 games, but he would never play outside the Mexican League again. Sources list several different reasons and Total Baseball reports that Espino himself gave different ones. Total Baseball says that Espino might have liked being a big fish in a small pond; some said homesickness; Mexican League writer Bruce Baskin says that racism discouraged Espino from playing in the US.
In 1965, the Cardinals invited Espino to spring training, but he did not report. Jamie Marshall writes that it was because Espino wanted a "fair share of the sale price." He hit .335 with 17 HR in just 67 games in the Mexican League that year.
In 1966, he returned to full time duty and hit a league-leading .369, beating out Minnie Miñoso by 21 points. He was second in the league with 31 homers and third with 91 walks. He did this despite missing two road series due to conflicts with his manager.
In 1967 and 1968 Espino repeated as batting champ with marks of .379 and .365. He hit 34 homers, slugged .706 and scored 106 in '67; in '68 he won his second home run title with 27. His fourth batting title tied Al Pinkston for the Mexican League record. In the late '60s, the California Angels tried to sign Espino several times without success.
In 1969, after winning 3 straight batting titles, his batting average fell to .304. He won another home run crown, leading the league with 37 homers. He also set a new single season record with 125 walks (this record would be broken the following year).
In 1970, Espino began a slight slump during his prime. He still hit .319, but only 18 HRs.
In 1971, he moved to the Alijadores de Tampico (Tampico Lightermen) and hit .311 with a subpar 20 home runs and 58 rbi.
In 1972, he bounced back to a .356 and his fourth and final home run title (37). He also scored 101 runs and had 101 RBI, with a league-high 94 walks.
In 1973, his average rose again, to .377; he won his fifth and final Mexican League batting championship and drove in 107 runs. He hit 22 homers; while it was 15 fewer than his previous season, the 34-year old slugger would never again hit as many.
From 1974 through 1980, he remained in double digit homers, reaching 20 once, though he remained a .300 hitter through 1980 except for one .297 season.
In 1975, he helped lead Tampico to a Mexican league championship.
In 1980, he set a Mexican League record with hits in 11 straight at-bats. His stats declined drastically in his 40s.
In 1984, Hector Espino retired at the age of 45.
Winter league
Espino was a superstar for the Hermosillo Naranjeros of the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (Mexican Pacific League). During 24 years in the winter league, he hit .329 with 299 home runs and 1029 RBI. In 1976, he led the Mexican entry to its first Caribbean Series win. During his career, he played in six Caribbean Series and was entered into the Caribbean Hall of Fame. Over his winter league career, Espino won 13 batting titles, 6 home run titles, and 6 MVP awards. He is the only player in the history of the winter league with a career average over .300. (The next player, Matias Carrillo, is 36 points behind Espino).
Legacy & Death
When Espino retired from baseball in 1984, he had surpassed Buzz Arlett to finish his career as the all time minor league home run king with a career total of 484 home runs.
Over his 24 year Mexican League career, Espino played 2388 games, had 8205 at bats, scored 1505 runs, got 2752 hits, 373 doubles, 45 triples, 453 Home Runs, 1573 Runs Batted In, 54 Stolen Bases, with a .335 average.
During the course of his career, he rejected contract offers from the Cardinals, Mets, Padres, and Angels which helped him earn the nickname, "the rebel of Chihuahua."
In 1976, the baseball stadium, "Estadio De Beisbol Héctor Espino", was renamed in his honor.
In 1988, Espino was selected for Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame).
In 1997, Héctor Espino died of a heart attack.
His number 21 has been retired by all professional teams in the Mexican summer and winter league.
Evaluation
After Espino's retirement, Nelson Barrera broke Espino's Mexican League home run record (455 to 453), but did not break his all-time minor league home run title.
Espino's other Mexican League records fell over the years: Jack Pierce broke his season HR record in 1986, Jesús Sommers and Frank Estrada broke his record for seasons played, Sommers took over the games played record, Daniel Fernández broke his career run record (1,479), Sommers and Barrera broke his hit record (2,752), Sommers was one of several to break his double record (373), Barrera broke his RBI record, Espino had never caught Camacho in walks (1,330 to 1,441) and Barrera broke his total bases record (4,574). Only his intentional walk records — 53 in a season (1969) and 408 career (over 200 more than #2 Barrera) — have not been approached.
It should also be noted that the offensive levels in Mexico rose significantly after Espino retired - Barrera, Fernández and Sommers (while all overlapping Espino's career somewhat) all played in a much more friendly era for hitters.
References
- This article is derived from "Hector Espino" at Bullpen at Baseball-reference.com
- The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts & Firsts by David Nemec
- Viva Beisbol! newsletter by Bruce Baskin
- Total Baseball