Pedro Borbón

Pedro Borbón Rodriguez (December 2, 1946 – June 4, 2012) was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won four National League pennants and two World Series championships between 1970 and 1976. Borbón was known for his durability, appearing in more games than any other pitcher in the National League between 1970 and 1978. He also played for the California Angels, San Francisco Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 2010, Borbón was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Borbón was born in Santa Cruz de Mao, Dominican Republic, to Ramón Jimenez and Ana Teresa Borbón.

He was signed as an amateur free agent by the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1964 and two years later was drafted out of the Cardinals organization by the California Angels.

Borbón made his Major League debut on April 9, 1969, for the California Angels in a 7–3 home win over the Seattle Pilots. He entered the game in the fifth inning in relief of Andy Messersmith, hurling three scoreless innings with two strikeouts and allowing only two hits as he also earned his first career win. He pitched a total of 22 games for the Angels that season, with a record of 2–3 with a 6.15 earned run average.

In November 1969 he was part of a five-player trade that sent him to the Cincinnati Reds. He proved to be one of the most effective and durable relievers in baseball for the Big Red Machine; he was in the top five in the National League in games pitched in six consecutive seasons from 1972 to 1977. He pitched at least 121 innings in each of those six seasons, and was part of a tandem of reliable Reds relievers along with Clay Carroll (who was with the Reds through the 1976 season). No National League pitcher appeared in more games from 1970 to 1978 than Borbón. Borbón and Carroll, along with relievers Wayne Granger, Will McEnaney, and Rawly Eastwick, anchored a bullpen that enabled Reds manager Sparky Anderson to change pitchers frequently, earning him the nickname "Captain Hook."

Of Borbón, Reds teammate Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Pérez said, "He may have been the most critical part of that great bullpen because he was such a rubber arm. He'd give two, three innings – whatever you needed. He could pitch every night. And he wasn't intimidated by anything. I always enjoyed his company on and off the field. He was a great guy."

Borbón also excelled in the postseason. In four National League Championship Series (NLCS), he was 1–0 with a 1.26 ERA in 10 games, of which he finished seven. He was especially effective in the 1976 NLCS, pitching 41⁄3 scoreless innings of relief in a three-game Reds' sweep. He also pitched well in three World Series, pitching 10 games and going 0–1 with a 3.86 ERA as the Reds were world champions in 1975 and 1976.

After playing the entire decade of the 1970s with the Reds, he was traded midway through the 1979 season to the San Francisco Giants, where he pitched the remainder of the season. Shortly before the 1980 season, he was released and signed by the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he pitched ten games before being released, signalling the end of his career.