José Núñez (right-handed pitcher)

José Núñez Jiménez (born January 13, 1964 in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was signed by the Kansas City Royals as a free agent in 1983 and pitched in Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays (1987-1989) and Chicago Cubs (1990). Núñez is currently a pitching coach in the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system.

After leaving the major leagues, Núñez enjoyed a long and prosperous career in Asia, playing for the Uni-President Lions (1993–1995), Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1996–1997), Taichung Agan (1998) and Hanwha Eagles (2001). He shares the Taiwanese professional baseball record of winning the most games in a single season (22 wins in 1993), along with Chen Yi-Hsin.

1988 Spring training At-Bat

Núñez recorded one of his first at-bats during a 1988 spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Sports Illustrated recounted the at bat as follows:

Jose Nunez, a righthanded pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays who had never batted in the pros before, stepped in against the Phillies' Kevin Gross in an exhibition game in Clearwater, Florida. Before Gross could throw a pitch, the third base ump motioned for Nunez to take off his warmup jacket. Then Nunez returned to the lefthanded-batter's box and was told by plate ump Dave Pallone that he was wearing a righty's helmet—the earflap covered his left ear rather than his right, which faced the pitcher. So Nunez turned the helmet around on his head and wore it catcher-style. No, no, said Pallone, get a lefty's helmet. No, no, said Nunez, who moved across the plate to bat righthanded.

When Gross began his delivery he saw Nunez bent over the plate, looking back into catcher Lance Parrish's glove. "What are you doing?" asked Parrish. "I want to see the signs", said Nunez. "O.K., what pitch do you want?" "Fastball." A fastball it was, and Nunez lined it foul. He turned to Parrish and said, "Could you make that a changeup instead?" At that, Pallone doubled over in laughter, and Gross needed a few minutes to compose himself. Finally, on a 2-2 count, Nunez grounded out to short.^[1]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube