Pancho Herrera
| Pancho Herrera | |
|---|---|
| First baseman | |
| Born: June 16, 1934 Santiago de Cuba, Cuba |
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| Died: April 28, 2005 (aged 70) Miami, Florida |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 15, 1958 for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 1, 1961 for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .271 |
| Home runs | 31 |
| Runs batted in | 128 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Juan Francisco "Pancho" Herrera Willavicencio was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of three seasons in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1958 and 1961, primarily as a first baseman. He also played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League, from whom he was purchased by the Phillies in 1954, and in Mexico. Herrera was the first Afro-Latino to play for the Phillies.[1]
1960 was Herrera's most productive year. He homered 17 times and batted .281 for the season. He also led National League batters with 136 strikeouts, a league record at the time (it would be broken by Dick Allen four years later). Herrera also committed more errors (13) than any other first baseman in the league. Still, Herrera finished a distant second to Frank Howard in that year's Rookie of the Year balloting.[2]
Herrera's statistics slipped after 1960 and he never played again in the majors after the 1961 season. He played another eight years of minor league baseball before retiring in 1969, although he continued to play sporadically until 1974. After that he managed in both the Mexican and Florida State leagues.
The "missing 'a'" version of Herrera's 1958 Topps baseball card, where his name is spelled "Herrer" on the front, is one of the baseball card world's great rarities. An example of this card in "Near Mint 7" condition sold for $8,365.00 in an October 2009 Heritage auction.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Burgos Jr., Adrian (2007). Playing America's Game. Berekely: University of California Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-520-25143-4.
- ^ Baseball Awards Voting for 1960: NL Rookie of the Year Voting
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
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- Major League Baseball first basemen
- Philadelphia Phillies players
- Kansas City Monarchs players
- Schenectady Blue Jays players
- Syracuse Chiefs players
- Miami Marlins (IL) players
- Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
- Columbus Jets players
- Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs players
- Broncos de Reynosa players
- Ciudad del Carmen Cameroneros players
- Miami Marlins (FSL) players
- Saraperos de Saltillo players
- Key West Conchs players
- Alijadores de Tampico players
- International League Hall of Fame inductees
- Negro league baseball players
- Major League Baseball players from Cuba
- 1934 births
- 2005 deaths
