THIS DAY IN BÉISBOL September 6: Teddy Higuera hurls third straight shutout

Fernando Valenzuela was arguably the best and certainly the most beloved pitcher to come out of Mexico, but the Brewers’ Teddy Higuera was an ace in his own right.

The American League counterpart to the “Fernando Mania” that spread among L.A. Dodgers fans in the early 1980s, Higuera was easily overshadowed by Valenzuela’s heroics despite being one of the best pitchers in either league.

On this day in baseball, September 6, 1987, Higuera threw his third consecutive shutout, beating the Minnesota Twins 6-0. The streak came during a year in which he won 18 games and followed his only 20-game winning season in 1986, when he was the Cy Young runner-up to Boston hurler Roger Clemens.

Ironically, Higuera in ’86 became only the second Mexican-born pitcher to win 20 games in a season — and he was overshadowed once again by Valenzuela, who accomplished the feat just three days before.

Also on this day: It was a dark day for two of the three Alou brothers in 1973, when both Felipe and younger sibling Matty were released by the Yankees. Felipe was sold to the Expos and Matty was dealt to the Cardinals. Youngest brother Jesus was with the Oakland A’s at the time.

Jerry Reuss, CC BY-SA 2.0 , LatinoBaseball illustration