Jose Mendez Essentials Positions: Bats: R Throws: R Weight: 152 Born: Year: 1885 in Cardenas, Matanzas Cuba Died: 11 6 1928 in La Habana, La Habana Cuba Debut: Last Game: Hall of Fame: Inducted as a Player in 2006 by Negro League Full Name: Jose de la Caridad Mendez
On July 30, 2006, the largest Induction Class in Hall of Fame history is honored in Cooperstown. Reliever Bruce Sutter is the 4th relief pitcher inducted along with 17 elected by a special commission on pre-Negro leagues and Negro leagues baseball. The 17 are Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Biz…
Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter is elected to the Hall of Fame. With 75% of the votes cast by BBWAA members needed for election. Sutter receives 76.9%, slugger Jim Rice is second with 64.8%, followed by reliever Goose Gossage at 64.6%. Sutter, who is credited with perfecting the split-fingered fastball, which is a pitch many major leaguers use in some form today, joins Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley as the only relief pitchers in Cooperstown. In a special election, seventeen Negro Leagues figures are also elected: Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Biz Mackey, Effa Manley, Jose Mendez, Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, Louis Santop, Mule Suttles, Ben Taylor, Cristóbal Torriente, Sol White, J.L. Wilkinson, and Jud Wilson. Manley is the first woman ever elected to the Hall, and the 18 inductees are the largest class in the Hall’s history.
Cuban pitcher Jose Mendez one-hits the visiting Reds, 1-0. During the remainder of the 14-game barnstorming trip, the 21 year-old Almendares right-hander will throw another seven shutout innings in relief in two weeks, and then four days after that tosses a second complete-game shutout, recording an amazing 25 consecutive scoreless innings against the first major league club to ever play on the island.