José Mesa

Mesa with the Philadelphia Phillies

Pitcher

Born: May 22, 1966 (age 50)
Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

September 10, 1987, for the Baltimore Orioles

Last MLB appearance

September 29, 2007, for the Philadelphia Phillies

MLB statistics

1,022

80–109

4.36

1,038

321

Teams

Career highlights and awards

José Ramón Nova Mesa (Spanish: [xoˈse ˈmesa]; born May 22, 1966) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. His nickname was "Joe Table", the literal translation of his name in the English language.

Mesa was initially signed as an amateur free agent by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1981, originally as an outfielder. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, during the 1987 season for starting pitcher Mike Flanagan. Mesa began his major-league career as a starting pitcher with the Orioles, who hoped that Mesa's superior fastball would earn him success in the starting role. After 48 starts of below-average results during four seasons, the Orioles traded Mesa to the Cleveland Indians in 1992. Cleveland continued to use Mesa as a starter through the end of 1993; that year, Mesa pitched a career-high 208-2/3 innings, although his earned-run average was worse than the league average ERA for the fifth consecutive season.

Mesa became a relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in 1994, and for the first season of his career, he posted an ERA better than the league average. In the role of closer during the 1995 season, Mesa pitched superbly; in 64 innings pitched over 62 appearances, Mesa had a 1.12 ERA, saved 46 games, and won three. Thirty-eight of Mesa's 46 saves were recorded in consecutive appearances in save situations; this was a major-league record at the time. Mesa's performance in 1995 was instrumental in the Indians' 100–44 regular-season record and their first World Series appearance since 1954. In 1997, Mesa's 2.40 ERA, 16 saves, and four wins helped the Indians to their second World Series appearance in three seasons; however, he failed to hold a one-run lead in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, and Cleveland traded him midway through the following season. Following his departure from Cleveland, he pitched for the San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners, but without much success. In 2001, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and enjoyed a two-year run of success. However, in 2003 his ERA more than doubled, and he was granted free agency at the end of the season. He spent 2004 and 2005 pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and pitched for the Colorado Rockies in 2006.

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