Wilson Álvarez

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Álvarez and the second or maternal family name is Fuenmayor.

Wilson Álvarez
Pitcher
Born: March 24, 1970 (1970-03-24) Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
July 24, 1989 for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 2005 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics
Win–Loss record	102–92
Earned run average	3.96
Strikeouts	1,330
Teams
Texas Rangers (1989) Chicago White Sox (1991–1997) San Francisco Giants (1997) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–1999, 2002) Los Angeles Dodgers (2003–2005)
Career highlights and awards
Pitched no-hitter, (August 11, 1991) All-Star selection (1994)

Wilson Eduardo Álvarez Fuenmayor (born March 24, 1970 in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela) is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 13-year baseball career, he pitched for the Texas Rangers (1989), Chicago White Sox (1991–1997), San Francisco Giants (1997), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–2002) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2003–2005).

Acquired from the Rangers two years before, Alvarez provided one of the highlights of the 1991 Chicago White Sox season on August 11, by pitching a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in only his second Major League start. It was quite a contrast to his only previous appearance, when he faced five batters for the Rangers and gave up two walks, a single and two home runs without retiring a batter, giving him a career ERA, prior to his no-hit gem, of infinity.

Alvarez had control problems in the minors, and it carried over to the big leagues. After shouldering a very heavy workload in 1991, the prospect was kept under scrutiny for most of the 1992 season. Between the Majors, minors and winter league action, Alvarez worked close to 300 innings in '91; a significant number for anyone, but especially for a 21-year-old pitcher. But it wasn't until 1993 that he managed to break into the rotation permanently. That season, Alvarez won 15 games, but his control problems continued—he led the league with 122 walks.

In 1994, Alvarez went 12–8 and made the American League All-Star team. After a disappointing 8–11 in 1995, he had 15 wins and 181 strikeouts in 1996. He was sent to the Giants in 1997 as part of a 10-player mega-deal. A free agent after the season, he signed a five-year contract with Tampa Bay. He was the team's first pitcher, and started Opening Day on March 31, 1998, throwing the Devil Rays' first ever pitch (a ball to Detroit's Brian L. Hunter).

The inconsistency and poor conditioning continually kept the talented lefty from realizing his full potential. In his first season with the Devil Rays, Alvarez missed two months with tendinitis in his shoulder, eventually losing 14 games during the season. The following year he made two trips to the disabled list. Finally, he had arthroscopic shoulder surgery and missed the next two seasons. After finishing his contract with Tampa Bay, Alvarez signed with the Dodgers. He began the 2003 season as a starter for Triple-A Las Vegas. After going 5–1 with a 1.15 ERA, he filled the long relief role for the Dodgers at mid-season. Later he got a chance to start, collecting a 5–0 record and 1.06 ERA over a stretch of nine games. In 2004, he went 7–6 in 40 games (15 as a starter).

On August 1, 2005, Alvarez announced he would retire after the season. He compiled a career 102–92 record with 1330 strikeouts and a 3.96 ERA in 1747.2 innings.

Alvarez was replaced as pitching coach of the State College Spikes by Brian Tracy on April 8, 2008. He is the father of Viviana, Vannessa, and Valentina Alvarez, and currently lives in Florida.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

Sources

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Box Score of Wilson Alvarez´s No Hitter
• The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English. ISBN 1-4027-4771-3

Preceded by Dennis Martínez	No-hitter pitcher August 11, 1991	Succeeded by Bret Saberhagen
Preceded by none	Tampa Bay Devil Rays Opening Day Starting pitcher 1998–1999	Succeeded by Steve Trachsel