The Drama of Former Pitcher Julio Machado (1989-1991)

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Julio Segundo Machado was born on December 1, 1965 in Zulia, Venezuela. In 1985 the twenty year old five foot nine, right hander was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies. His minor league career never took off & 

 Four years later in March 1989 he was released. A week later he was then signed by the New York Mets. He pitched through all levels of the minors in 1989, landing in AAA Tidewater by August. He finished up the year with an overall record of 6-7 with 12 saves.

On September 7th, 1989 he debuted with the Mets in a mop up performance of a 13-1 Mets win against the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium. He would make ten appearances that month for the second place Mets who finished six games behind the Chicago Cubs. 

 On September 24th he blew a save against the Montreal Expos, when Dave Martinez completed a five run 9th inning with an RBI base hit. Machado finished the year at 0-1 with a hold & 3.17 ERA.

In 1990 he made the Mets staff as a reliever out of Spring Training. On April 13th he earned his first career win, coming against the Expos, while pitching one inning of relief. On April 24th he earned another win in a 2-1 Mets triumph over the Atlanta Braves. He picked up wins in July & August as well. Overall In 37 games with the Mets, Machado had good control with a decent fastball. He went 4-1 while posting a 2.37 ERA, striking out 27 batters in 34 innings.

In the first week of September he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for catcher Charlie O’Brien. Machado went 3-3 in Milwaukee the next season and looked to have a good future.

Drama: In the winter of 1992 he was back at his home in Venezuela when tragedy struck. He was involved in a car accident and then got into an argument with the young woman driving the other car. Machado pulled out a gun, shooting the woman & killing her.

Needless to say he never played in the majors again, but did pitch in Venezuela for three years, while awaiting his sentence. He was convicted & served four years of a sixteen year sentence in prison. When he got out he attempted a baseball comeback but no MLB team would touch him.

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