Hank Aguirre
| Hank Aguirre | |||
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Aguirre in 1956
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: January 31, 1931 Azusa, California |
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Died: September 1, 1994 (aged 63) Bloomfield Hills, Michigan |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 10, 1955, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| June 24, 1970, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 75–72 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.25 | ||
| Strikeouts | 856 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Henry John "Hank" Aguirre (January 31, 1931 – September 5, 1994) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played with the Cleveland Indians (1955–57), Detroit Tigers (1958–67), Los Angeles Dodgers (1968), and Chicago Cubs (1969–70). He went on to become a successful businessman in Detroit, Michigan. His last name was typically pronounced "ah-GEAR-ee."
Nicknamed "Mex" because he was of Mexican descent, Aguirre was born on January 31, 1931, in Azusa, California to Jenny Alva and Joseph Aguirre. Joseph was born in Jalisco, Mexico in 1902 and emigrated with his family during the time of the Mexican Revolution. Joseph and Jenny had seven children.
In his youth, Hank Aguirre worked for his father's business, the Aguirre Tortillas Factory in San Gabriel. He made, packaged and delivered tortillas. At 4 a.m., the young Aguirre would make deliveries — mostly running — before school. He graduated from Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, California, in 1949, but his "goofy feet" (his words) prevented him from being selected to be part of the baseball team. Hank graduated from East Los Angeles College in 1951.
As a rookie for the Cleveland Indians in 1956, Aguirre struck out Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams the first time he faced him. After the game, Aguirre asked Williams to autograph the ball. Reluctantly, Williams complied. A couple of weeks later Aguirre faced Williams again. This time the "Splendid Splinter" smashed Aguirre's first offering for a home run. While circling the bases, Williams yelled to Aguirre, "Get that ball, and I'll sign it, too."
He pitched in the big leagues for 16 years for four different teams. Before the 1958 season began, Aguirre was traded to the Detroit Tigers, where he remained for 10 years from 1958 to 1967. Aguirre was principally a relief pitcher until 1962. During a 1962 game at Yankee Stadium, Tigers manager Bob Scheffing used him as a starter when Don Mossi had arm trouble. Scheffing wanted a left-hander to pitch against the Yankees, and he chose Aguirre. Aguirre joined the Tigers starting rotation and finished the 1962 season with a 2.21 earned run average (ERA) in 42 games (22 as a starter), the best in Detroit since Hal Newhouser in 1946. Having pitched over 100 innings (216 in total) for the first time in his career, Aguirre led the Major Leagues in ERA (0.33 points lower than Sandy Koufax who was second best), won 16 games, and was selected to the American League All-Star team. He also led the American League in WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) with a 1.051 average. Aguirre also finished 17th in the 1962 American League Most Valuable Player voting.
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