THIS DAY IN BÉISBOL August 9: Dennis Martinez passes Juan Marichal’s career wins record

Any conversation about who is the best Latino pitcher of all time will invariably come down to Hall of Famers Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez.

But there’s another Martinez — Dennis — who deserves some mention, if only because he ended his solid 23-career in 1998 as the winningest Latin American-born pitcher in MLB history with 245 wins, a record he held for 20 years until Bartolo Colon passed him in 2008. 

On this day in béisbol, Aug. 9, 1998, the Nicaragua-born Martinez got his 244th major league win in relief to pass Marichal for the top spot among Latino pitchers. The 7-5 victory came against over the San Francisco Giants, Marichal’s original team.

Also on this day: Free swinger Vladimir Guerrero connected for his 200th career home run for the Montreal Expos in an 11-4 victory over the Brewers in Milwaukee. Bartolo Colon got the win, his 15th of the season.

 

 

Robert Dominguez is the author of “Bronx Bummers: The Unofficial History of the New York Yankees’ Bad Boys, Blunders and Brawls” and writer of the upcoming “El Salón: The Trials and Triumphs of Baseball’s Latino Hall of Famers.”

rdominguez@latinobaseball.com