Vicente Padilla
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| Texas Rangers — No. 44 | |
| Starting Pitcher | |
| Born: September 27, 1977 | |
| Bats: Switch | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| June 29, 1999 for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through April 28, 2008) |
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| Win-Loss | 75-73 |
| Earned Run Average | 4.23 |
| Strikeouts | 772 |
| Teams | |
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Vicente Padilla (born September 27, 1977 in Chinandega, Nicaragua) is a Nicaraguan who is a professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers. He has also played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and, most notably, the Philadelphia Phillies. He is known for his 96 mph (154 km/h) fastball and devastating curveball.
Padilla was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Phillies on July 26, 2000 along with three other players for pitcher Curt Schilling. Padilla battled injuries during the 2004 and 2005 seasons, posting a combined win-loss record of 16–19. While with the Phillies, Padilla was a member of the 2002 National League All-Star Team, posting a 14–11 win-loss record with a 3.28 ERA. He had a Phan Phavorites group which called themselves "Padilla's Flotilla", a takeoff on his name and Hispanic ethnicity.
Overall, Padilla is 66–61 with a career 4.06 ERA in 227 career games over seven seasons from 1999 to 2006. In the 2005–06 offseason, Padilla was traded to the Texas Rangers for Ricardo Rodriguez after a disappointing 2005 season in which he posted a 4.71 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. During the 2006 season he has also come under fire for his now infamous "lack of control" on the mound. Padilla caused a controversy in Chicago when he twice hit White Sox catcher A. J. Pierzynski, and later in the season again caused a benches clearing brawl against the Angels when he repeatedly threw at Angels batters, showing particular interest in slugger Vladimir Guerrero. On September 16, 2007, Padilla hit Oakland Athletics outfielder Nick Swisher after two pitches earlier in the plate appearances were inside that almost hit Swisher. Swisher then charged the mound starting a brawl and resulting in both players getting ejected.
Padilla has been criticized for taking an extremely long time to deliver the pitch to home. Padilla has been clocked regularly taking as much as 40 seconds in between pitches.
During the 2006-07 offseason, Padilla signed a 3-year, $33.75 million contract (with an option for a fourth year) with the Texas Rangers.
[edit] The 2002 All-Star Game "tie controversy"
Padilla was the pitcher on the mound when the 2002 All-Star game was ruled a tie in the 11th inning. Due to the fact that Padilla was the only remaining pitcher on the NL team and he could not pitch any more innings, the game was called. His opponent at the time was Seattle's Freddy Garcia
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
