Rick Aguilera: 1986 World Champion Mets Pitcher (1985 - 1989)

Richard Warren Aguilera was born December 31, 1961, in San Gabriel, California. In high school he was originally a third baseman. In 1980 he got drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals but did not sign.

Instead, the tall six-foot four right hander, attended Brigham Young University, where he played on the same team with future big leaguers Cory Snyder & Wally Joyner. There he made the full-time transition to a pitcher. Aguilera was drafted by the New York Mets in the third round of the 1983 draft.

In 1983 he began at A ball Little Falls going 5-6. In 1984 he began at A ball Lynchburg then was pushed up to AA Jackson where he was 4-4.

In 1985 he was 6-4 with a 2.41 ERA at AAA Tidewater then got called up to the Mets staff when Bruce Berenyi went down with an injury. 

Mets Career: Aguilera debuted on June 12th, 1985, at Philadelphia's Veteran Stadium, earning the win after pitching two innings in the Mets 7-3 extra inning victory. On June 16th he got his first start, coming at Montreal where he gave up six runs, including a 1st inning two run HR to Andre Dawson taking the loss.
 

After losing his first two decisions, Aguilera pitched complete game victories where he gave up just one earned run in 18 innings. The first came in Atlanta & the next was in Cincinnati where he beat Tom Browning 2-1. Keith Hernandez RBI double was the game winning run in that game.

On July 19th, he allowed just one run to the Braves on Terry Harpers RBI single but took a heart breaking 1-0 loss to Zane Smith. In the month of July, he went 3-1 with a 0.89 ERA. 

On August 8th, Aguilera gave up seven runs in Montreal, but his team scored 14 runs in a big win 14-7 win over the Expos. He followed up with a win against the Phillies before losing three straight decisions. 

In September Rick kept his team in contention for the NL East title as he won three straight games from September 18th to September 28th. In the month he was 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA. The Mets were in the pennant race until the final days of the season.

Aguilera finished 1985 with a 10-7 record as a fifth starter behind Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Ed Lynch, Sid Fernandez & Rick Aguilera. He struck out 74 walked 37 & posted a 3.24 ERA in 21 appearances. Rick was also a good hitter, batting .278 at the plate.

1986 Championship Season: Aguilera entered the 1986 season as the Mets number five starter, after the team acquired Bob Ojeda. 

Aguilera struggled at the start, in his first three starts he was 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA. He was placed in the bullpen pitching mostly in relief for the next two months until mid-July.

He did not record his first win until June 15th in a spot start, when he beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in 5.1 innings pitched at Shea Stadium. 

From July 12th through August 7th he won five straight starts, with two complete games, lowering his ERA to 3.94. 

On July 12th the first win came in Atlanta on a one run, eight hit outing where he struck out six in a 10-1 win over the Braves. On July 21st he beat the Reds in Cincinnati giving up two runs in eight innings & notching a season best nine strike outs. 

On July 27th, he gave up just one run in a 5-1 win at Atlanta. On August 1st, he beat the Expos at Shea, giving up just one run in eight innings. 

On August 7th at Wrigley Field, he won his fifth straight, with his second complete game win, allowing three runs on seven hits in a 12-3 Mets romp over the Cubs. 

Rick then lost three straight games, including his worst outing of the season, where he allowed six earned runs to the Giants in San Francisco in a 10-1 Mets loss. The Mets clinched the divisional title in September with Rick going 3-1 that month. 

On September 28th he came into the game in the 10th inning & earned the win when Darryl Strawberry hit a three run HR off the Pirates Bob Walk in the top of the 11th.

Aguilera closed out the 1986 regular season with another 10-7 record, he posted a 3.88 ERA, striking out 104 batters & walking 36 in 141 innings pitched in 28 appearances (20 starts).

Post Season:1986 NLCS:  In the NLCS Rick found himself in the bullpen making his first appearance in the 6th inning of Game #3 at Shea Stadium. He came into the game after the Mets tied it up led by Darryl Strawberry's three run HR. But Rick walked Bill Doran then Billy Hatcher reached on a throwing error by Ray Knight. A sacrifice & ground ball out led to Houston taking the lead & Aguilera on the losing end. But he was saved when Len Dykstra hit a walk off HR off Dave Sith in the bottom of the 9th.

In the legendary Game #6 at Houston, he pitched three scoreless, allowing just one hit in the 16-inning Mets clinching victory. 

1986 World Series: In the 1986 World Series win over the Boston Red Sox, he made his first appearance in Game #2 in relief of Dwight Gooden. The Mets were already down 6-3, Rick gave up two runs on five hits in the 9-3 loss.

Aguilera did not appear again until the classic Game #6, where he struggled again. He came into the game in the 9th inning with the score tied 3-3. He pitched a scoreless 9th getting to extra innings. 

In the top of the 10th, he gave up a lead off HR to Dave Henderson. He then struck out Spike Owen & Calvin Schiraldi. But then a double to Wade Boggs & RBI single to Marty Barrett made it 5-3 Boston looking like the Mets season was over. 

After the inning, he looked extremely upset in the dugout with his head hung low at the start of the bottom of the 10th.

But as fate would have it, he got off the hook & got credit for the victory when the Mets miraculously won the game with four straight base hits. In Mookie Wilson's epic at bat, a wild pitch scored Kevin Mitchell with the tying run &his "little roller up along first" base went through Bill Buckners legs scoring Ray Knight with the winning run. The Mets won the Championship in Game #7.

In the 1986 World Series, Aguilera had a horrid ERA of 12.00 allowing four runs & eight hits over three innings. In four post season games, he was 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA, he struck out six & walked three in 8.0 innings of work.

Celebration: After the game, Aguilera, Ron Darling, Howard Johnson, Kevin Elster & Bobby Ojeda came out of the locker room to celebrated on the Shea Stadium's pitcher's mound drinking champagne.

After the Championship: In 1987 Rick was back in the starting rotation for the entire year. He earned his first win in his second start of the season. He moved on thru May going 4-2 with a 4.03 ERA. But from there on, he missed three months of action with elbow troubles. It was a big blow to the team as the staff also struggled thru other injuries as well as Dwight Gooden's absence due to rehab. 

On August 24th, when Aguilera returned, the Mets were in second place 3 1/2 games behind St. Louis. Aguilera went on a roll winning six straight games, eight of nine through the end of the season. In September he made seven starts winning six of those games, although he allowed four or more runs in five of those games & pitched beyond the 7th inning just twice.

Overall, the Mets finished in second place, Aguilera had his best season as a starter. He was second on the staff behind Terry Leach in winning % (.786%). Overall, he went 11-3 with 77 strike outs 33 walks in 115 innings posting a 3.60 ERA. 

1988 NL Eastern Champion Season: In 1988, he had arm trouble that bothered him most of the season, it required an elbow operation that limited him to just 11 games. 

Overall Aguilera went 0-4 with one hold in just 11 relief appearances. 

1988 Post Season- NLCS: In the Game #2 loss at Dodger Stadium, he allowed two walks & a run in the 6-3 loss. In the Game #5 loss at Shea Stadium, he threw two scoreless innings & returned for two more scoreless innings finishing off the Game #7 clinching 6-0 Orel Hershiser shut out. 

Overall, in the 1988 NLCS three appearances he pitched seven innings allowing one run with four strike outs & three walks.

1989: By now David Cone took had taken his place in the rotation and Aguilera was a full-time reliever. He did well in relief taking over Roger McDowell’s job as the right-handed closer for manager Davey Johnson. Aguilera was 6-6 with seven saves through July. At the time the Mets lost Dwight Gooden to injury & they wanted another top starter.

On the 1989 trade deadline, Aguilera was dealt to the Minnesota Twins along with David West,
Tim Drummond and Kevin Tapani in exchange for 1987 Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola. Viola a Long Island native was happy to be back at home.

Mets Career: In his five-year Mets career, Aguilera was 37-27 with seven saves. He struck out 351 batters, walked 137 in 114 games with a 3.54 ERA.

Post Mets Career: In Minnesota, Aguilera began in a starting role going 3-5 with a 3.21 ERA. 
The next season when Jeff Reardon left the Twins to go to Boston, manager Tom Kelly asked Aguilera to take over the closers position.

 It was a career hanger, as Aguilera become of the top closers in the AL. With his slider & great control he was especially tough on left hand batters. Over the next five seasons, he averaged 35 saves a year and just fewer than 18 walks a year.  In 1990 he saved 32 games going 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA for the last-place Twins. 

1991 Twins Championship Season:  Rick tied Jeff Reardon's single-season Twins record with 42 saves. In 63 appearances he was 4-5 with a 2.35 ERA & eight blown saves. From July into mid-September in a stretch of 18 games, he posted 14 straight saves with a 0.48 ERA. That year he made his first of three consecutive All Star appearances.

1991 Post Season- ALCS: In the 1991 ALCS win over the Toronto Blue Jays, he collected his first save in Game #1 at the Metrodome. In Game #3 he returned for a save in the 10th inning, after Mike Pagliarulo's HR in the Twins 3-2 win in Toronto. In Game #5 he collected his third ALCS save retiring Roberto Alomar for the final out clinching the series.

 Overall, in three ALCS appearances he pitched three scoreless innings striking out three.

1991 World Series: In the World Series victory the Atlanta Braves, Aguilera saw action in four games. The Twins won the first two games of the Series at the Metrodome as Aguilera, collected saves in both games.

In Game #3 he would take the loss at Atlanta, on Mark Lemke's walk off base hit. 

Trivia: In that Game#3 he became the first pitcher since the Dodgers' Don Drysdale (1965) to pinch-hit in a World Series game. He flied out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

In Game #6 Rick returned, entering a tied game in the 10th inning. He pitched two scoreless innings, earning the win when Kirby Puckett hit a walk off HR off Charlie Leibrandt to win the game. The Twins won the Series in Game #7 as Jack Morris pitched a ten inning 1-0 shut out.

After the Twins Championship: The following season, Aguilera became the Twins' all-time save leader, finishing the season with 41. In the next two seasons, the Championship Twins teams were gone, as the team finished fifth & then fourth respectively. 

In July of the 1995 season, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for rookie pitcher Frankie Rodriguez. 

Red Sox Career: Aguilera earned his first save with the Red Sox the following night after the trade. It came against his old Twins teammates at the Metro dome.

He finished the season with twenty saves in twenty-one opportunities going 2-2 in 30 appearances.

1995 Post Season- ALDS: In Game #1 of the ALDS loss to Cleveland, he gave up a game-tying HR to Albert Belle in the 11th inning. 

Return to Twins: In 1996 he returned to Minnesota as a free agent & was back in a starter's role going 8-6. 

On September 7th, which was Kirby Puckett Night at the Metro dome, Aguilera suffered a season-ending hamstring pull ending his season.

In 1997 he returned as the Twins closer saving 26 games going 5-4 with a 3.82 ERA in 61 appearances. In 1998 he followed up with 38 saves (5th most in the AL) going 4-9. 

Between 1990 - 1998 he was in the AL's top ten in saves, eight times. Three of those seasons he was in top three tier.

Cubs Career: In May of 1999 he was sent to the Chicago Cubs, along with Scott Downs, in exchange for Kyle Lohse & Jason Ryan. Rick spent his final two seasons with the Cubs. In 2000 at age 40 he saved 29 games for the last place Cubs, reaching the 300th career save milestone that season.

Career Stats: In his 16-year career Aguilera was 86-81 with 318 saves (24th most all time). He struck out 1030 batters & walked 351 in 1291 innings pitched. He posted a 3.57 ERA in 732 appearances making 89 starts & finishing off 557 games.

Trivia: During the decade of the nineties, from 1990-1998, he was in the top ten in saves every year, with the exception of 1996. He was one of the AL's best closers in that decade, in the top three with the most saves, four of those years. At the time of his retirement, he was 8th all time in saves.

Retirement: Rick has worked as a real estate investor after baseball. 

He was also a baseball coach at Santa Fe Christian Schools in Solana Beach, California from 2001-2007.

Family: Aguilera & his wife Sherry have been married since 1988. They are devout Christians & have resided in the San Diego suburbs. Together they have two children, Rachel & Austin.

Mets Honors: Rick has returned to the Mets Family many times, recently with the 30th Anniversary reunion of the 1986 World Champion team in 2016. 

He was with the team on their 25th Anniversary celebration as well. 

Twins Honors: Rick is a member of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. He has attended Anniversaries to honor the 1991 Championship team as well as All Time Twins teams.