Camilo Pascual, who pitched for 18 big league seasons, most of them with the Washington Senators and Twins, and who still holds a significant major league record, turned 91 last week on Jan. 20. Congratulations to him and happy birthday.
Pascual recorded 174 wins and racked up more than 2,100 strikeouts, including four straight seasons of 200 or more whiffs from 1961 through 1964. He was so dominant in that period that his strikeouts from ’61 to ’63 were tops in the American League.
And he still holds a strikeout-related record for most whiffs on the opening day of the season. On opening day 1960 when he was still pitching for the Sens, Pascual took the mound at Griffith Stadium in the nation’s capital and went the distance, striking out 15 Boston Red Sox to cruise to a 10-1 win. His only mistake was serving up a solo shot to Teddy Ballgame in the second inning.
“I never know how many I strike out,” said Pascual to a columnist for The Evening Star. “I never know until I hear,” he shrugged. “It make no difference.”
“Stephens was good to me,” said Pascual about Red Sox outfielder Gene Stephens. “He strike out three times.”
“(Earl) Battey, who had caught Pascual only a couple of times in Florida, was asked to compare the Cuban Cutie with Early Wynn, who was his teammate with the White Sox. Earl, who is soft-spoken, hardly could be heard above the uproar in the dressing room.
“He’s faster than Wynn and he’s got a better curve. Maybe he doesn’t have as many different pitches, but I sure don’t want to hit against Pascual. It’s enough to catch him.”
“Did he ever shake you off?” a reporter asked. “Or, did you ever make him change a pitch?”
“He shook me off a couple of times,” Battey said. “No, I didn’t mess with his plans. A man who can pitch like he can, you don’t fool with.”
I wish I could have seen Pascual pitch in his prime. If you check YouTube for the 1965 World Series, you can see Pascual pitch in the Game 3 Twins loss, although it’s clear he is not the pitcher he once was.
Camilo would do something similar in 1961, but this time for the Twins. It wasn’t on opening day, but it was another April start against the relatively new Baltimore Orioles. Pascual again went the distance, as all pitchers did in those days, and struck out 12.
The Baltimore Sun:
“That elusive initial victory, which rain and cold and the Los Angeles Angels had withheld from Baltimore, was denied the Orioles again here last night by the Minnesota Twins. The American League’s new entry from Minneapolis-St. Paul hung a 3-to-2 defeat on the Birds that was almost exclusively a Cuban production.
“Zorro (Zorro!) Versalles, a flashy 20-year-old rookie shortstop from Havana who is supposed to run and throw and field but seldom hit, doubled and scored in the fourth inning, then singled home the winning run in the seventh.
“And Camilio (Camilio!) Pascual, a colleague from the Cuban capital who is supposed to have a sore arm, pitched as if his troubles are all behind him. The 27-year-old Twin righthander checked the Flock on five hits while keeping Minnesota among big-league baseball’s un-beaten elite.”
After 16 years with the Sens/Twins, Pascual moved on to pitch for the second version of the Senators and later made stops with the Reds and Dodgers before finally ending his career with the Indians.
It did not end well, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported in June 1971.
Around that time, a grievance was filed on Pascual’s behalf by the MLB’s Players Association and Executive Director Marvin Miller after he was released by the Tribe.
“The grievance is being filed with baseball’s Player Relations Committee in an effort to obtain for Pascual approximately $19,000 in wages. The Indians reportedly have told Pascual they do not intend to pay him any termination salary, which is what the fuss is all about.
“Miller revealed to The Plain Dealer, “We are demanding termination pay to Pascual for the rest of the season on the basis of the agreement which specifically states a player released because of injury is entitled to his full salary.”
“In the case of Pascual, who was released June 2 after he was sold to the San Diego Padres but refused to report, the amount of the termination pay is based on his estimated $28,000 annual salary, or $4,666 per month.”
Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com