Armando Benítez
| Armando Benítez | |||
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Benítez with the Marlins in June 2007
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: November 3, 1972 Ramón Santana, San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic |
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| MLB debut | |||
| July 28, 1994, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| June 6, 2008, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 40–47 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.13 | ||
| Strikeouts | 946 | ||
| Saves | 289 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Armando Benítez (born November 3, 1972) is a retired relief pitcher. Benítez debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 1994 and within a few years became their closer. He was a reliever for several other organizations after Baltimore in 1999 and last played in Major League Baseball in 2008. His 289 saves rank 25th all time. After 2008, he played in minor league and independent league baseball.
Armando Germán Benítez was born in San Pedro de Macorís, in the Dominican Republic. His parents, father Francisco and mother Constancia, separated when he was young, so Armando was raised by his mother. She made a living by hand-washing clothes. Armando has two brothers, Francisco, Jr. and Osiri, as well as a sister, Senovia.
Benítez learned to play baseball when he was 14, when his stature was a lanky 6'2", 140 pounds. He began to play baseball at a local academy and was originally an outfielder and third baseman.
Benítez was signed in 1990 by the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent. Coming up through the Orioles' farm system, he made his debut in 1994. While with the Orioles, he initially struggled, collecting a 5.66 ERA in 1995 and faltering in the postseason frequently. In the 1996 ALCS he yielded the infamous Jeffrey Maier home run, sprinting all the way to right field to confront the umpire, Rich Garcia, who made the call. In 1997 Benítez had a breakout year, as he excelled in the set up role for Orioles' closer Randy Myers, forming a lethal 1–2 punch at the back end of the Orioles bullpen and propelling them to the AL East pennant. By 1998 he started to show some of his future potential earning a 3.82 ERA and 22 saves in 71 games.
However, during a game against the New York Yankees on May 19, 1998, Benítez was ejected for hitting Tino Martinez with a pitch that led to a huge brawl between the two teams. Although Benítez denied hitting Martinez intentionally, few Orioles defended his actions and he was assessed an eight-game suspension by American League President Gene Budig, and his own manager even apologized to the Yankees for Benitez's behavior. Interestingly enough, it was the second time he had drilled Martinez, which caused Martinez's incensed reaction. He had done exactly the same thing three years before when Martinez was playing for the Seattle Mariners after surrendering an Edgar Martínez grand slam, which had led to his demotion to the minors at that time.
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