Camilo Pascual

The great Camilo Pascual was born in Havana, Cuba on this day in 1934.

As a young kid, my favorite Cuban baseball player was Camilo Pascual. He pitched most of his career for the original Washington Senators who later became the Minnesota Twins in 1961.

As a Senator, Pascual pitched for very bad teams. It got better when the team moved to Minnesota and the Twins became a perennial contender with a young Harmon Killebrew, power hitter Bob Allison,  the very good lefty Jim Kaat, and fellow Cubans Tony Oliva & Zoilo Versalles.

His numbers were great with the Twins:  20-11 in 1962 and 20-9 in 1963. He led the league in strikeouts 3 years in a row. In other words, he was one of the best right handed pitchers in baseball.

Overall, he won 176 games with a very good 3.63 career ERA. He would have easily won 230 games with a better team!

We say happy birthday to one of my heroes. I don’t know what Camilo is doing these days, but I read a few years ago he was scouting for the Twins in Latin America.

Happy birthday to the great Camilo. I hope you really enjoy your 85th birthday!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

In the 1950’s, the Washington Senators had many Cubans in their farm system.   They had a scout who looked for players in the island.

Camilo Pascual, a pitcher from Havana, Cuba, broke with the team in 1954.   He was one of those players that scout Joe Cambriafound in Cuba.

It took him a few years to get going but Camilo was 17-10 in 1959 with a very good 2.64 ERA.   He also led the AL in complete games with 17 and shutouts with 6.

From 1959 to 1965, Camilo Pascual was one of the most consistent pitchers in major league baseball.

He won 109 games, completed 95 and 3 strikeout titles during those 7 seasons.   He did this despite pitching for mediocre teams in Washington and later in Minnesota.
Unfortunately, Camilo was injured in 1965 and did not get to enjoy a full season with the Twins who lost to the Dodgers in the World Series.  He did start game 3 but lost.

In 1967, the veteran was traded to the new Washington Senators where he won 25 games over a couple of seasons.

Camilo finished his career with 174 wins and a 3.63 ERA.   He was one of the most successful Latino right handed pitchers.

Wonder how many games he would have won with a better team?

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.