In 1973 he was 10-10 leading the A ball Visalia pitching staff (tied with Nardi Contreras) for the lead in wins. In 1974 he was 9-8 with a 3.42 at AA Victoria & a few weeks after his 21st birthday he got the September call to the big leagues.
Mets Debut: Espinosa made his MLB debut on September 13th 1974 in a start at Shea Stadium. He pitched seven shutout innings against the Chicago Cubs, before allowing three runs in the 8th inning. He left the game tied 3-3 but the Mets lost it when Bob Apodaca served up an 11th inning HR to Ron Dunn. He made one more relief appearance on the year.
He went back down to AAA Tidewater going 8-5 on the year, posting a good 2.62 ERA.
Bicentennial Year: In 1976 he was 7-3 at AAA Tidewater getting called back up to the Mets staff in July. When he returned he dropped his old uniform #43, & took over Gary Gentry’s old #39. In his first game back he allowed two runs in the 7th inning and lost to the Atlanta Braves 5-3.
On August 1st he pitched seven innings against the Phillies but gave up a two run HR to Mike Schmidt. The Mets were shut out by Wayne Twitchell that day.
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By 1977 the Mets were in major transition and the staff was hurting. Espinosa started out the year winning his first decision in relief, benefiting from a Joe Torre game winning double.
On August 9th Espinosa pitched a complete game one run victory over the Cardinals at Shea. In September he threw four more complete games including his best performance on September 14th.
For 1977 with the one of the leagues best afro's, he led the club with ten wins (10-13) & had the best ERA among the starters (3.42). Espinosa was a work horse throwing 200 innings with 29 starts, both second on the club to veteran Jerry Koosman.
He made 32 appearances overall with 105 strike outs, 55 walks, seven complete games & one shut out.

On September 7th he pitched another complete game win & had some run support in the 9-4 Met win. On the year he led the Mets staff again with 11 wins but also led them with 15 losses (third most in the NL).
Espinosa allowed a league leading 107 earned runs, giving up 24 HRs & 230 hits while posting a 4.73 ERA. He started 32 games & pitched over 200 innings once again for the third straight year.
The Mets were still trying to find a steady third baseman who could hit, & at the end of Spring Training 1979 they acquired Richie Hebner from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Nino Espinosa. (Hebner hated New York and was done here after one season, hitting only .268.)
Post Mets Career: In Philadelphia in Espinosa had a career year in 1979, winning 14 games (going 14-12) with a 3.65 ERA, pitching 212 innings with 32 starts, & throwing three shutouts. The next season he had arm troubles and didn’t pitch until early July. He went on to go 3-5 on a Phillies team that went on to win their first ever championship. He did not pitch in the post season.
He then signed with the Toronto Blue Jays where he only pitched one game as Injuries cut his career short by the age of 28.
Retirement & Passing: After baseball he lived in the Dominican town he grew up in. Tragically on Christmas Eve 1987, he suffered a fatal heart attack at the young age of 34.
1 comment:
While the Mets were understandably impatient with Nino,he was too young and talented to spare for the older and overrated Hebner.Nino,like Nolan Ryan,was a victim of both the Mets coaching staff's inability to harness a raw pitching talent,and the organization's desperation to try anybody new at 3rd base -with Hebner and Jim Fregosi being 3rd basemen.Clueless Joe McDonald can claim vindication as Espinosa's career went into rapid descent in 1980,but it would've been a pleasant memory amid the bleakest in Mets history to see a farmhand have his best year in the uniform he was born in.Instead,the back of Hebner's hand is what I'm left with.
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