Nino Espinosa: Mid Seventies Mets Pitcher (1974 - 1978)

Arnulfo Acevedo “Nino” Espinosa was born August 15, 1953, in the Dominican Republic. The tall six-foot right hander was signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent at age 17 in 1970.

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.

1975: Nino got called up to the Mets staff in July & pitched in only two games. His first appearance was two scoreless relief innings against the Chicago Cubs. Then on July 5th, he allowed six earned runs over three innings pitched in the second game of a twin bill at Philadelphia. 

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.

 Espinosa got two more starts, winning them both beating the Pirates & Reds who were both good hitting teams. 

He finished out the year mostly pitching out of the bullpen. He appeared in 12 games for the third place '76 Mets, going 4-4 in with a 3.67 ERA, striking out 30 batters with 13 walks in 40 innings.

1977: By now 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 in the Mets second game of the year.

In his second win, on April 16th, Espinosa pitched a complete game 2-0 shut out at Shea Stadium to beat the Chicago Cubs. He closed out April with a 2.66 ERA.

In May, he lost four straight decisions giving up three runs or more each time. On June 4th, he shut out the Phillies into the 8th inning, earning a win at Shea Stadium. 

 On July 15th, in the second game of a double header he gave up just an unearned run, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 at Shea. He struck out a season high seven batters & walked just one. 

As the Mets fell deep into last place in the summer months of July & August Espinosa went 2-6. On August 9th he earned a victory with a complete game win over the Cardinals at Shea. He allowed just one run & struck out six. 

In September, he threw four more complete games including his best performance on September 14th. That night in Philadelphia he shut out the first place Phillies with a three hitter. His opponent was Hall of Famer, Steve Carlton, Espinosa also drove in the only run of the night with an RBI single off Carlton in the 5th inning. That season he drove in five runs.

He had another fine night on September 27th, as he allowed one run (unearned) beating the Pirates in Pittsburgh with a four hitter.

In 1977 he was known to have one of the league's 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.

1978: Espinosa began the year getting knocked out of the second game of the year allowing three runs to the Montreal Expos. The Mets did go on to win that game 6-5.  

He didn't earn his first win until May 10th when he pitched a 7-2 complete game win against the Expos in Montreal. Espinosa won four straight games that month, three of them complete game performances. On May 17th he beat Atlanta in the second game of a doubleheader 3-1. On May 23rd he beat the Pirates pitching seven strong innings allowing two earned runs in the 7-3 Mets win. On May 28th, he threw another complete game, where he gave up just one run at the Astrodome.

In June, he started out at 5-2 but then lost four straight decisions, falling to 5-6.  On June 20th, in Montreal he tossed a four-hit shutout striking out five Expos. A good July had him go 3-2 pitching seven innings or more in four of five starts. A horrible August had him lose all four starts that month, as he gave up four earned runs or more in three of those games, raising his ERA near five.

On September 7th, Espinosa broke his personal five game losing streak, as he pitched another complete game win & had some run support in the 9-4 Met win. He won his last game on September 29th at Wrigley Field. 

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 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 World Series. He did not pitch in the post season.

 In 1981 he went 2-5 in 14 games before getting released at the end of August. 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.

In an eight-year career Espinosa was 44-55 with a 4.17 ERA, pitching in 820 innings striking out 338 batters, allowing 380 runs with 252 walks.

Retirement & Passing: After baseball he lived in the Dominican town, he had grown up in. Tragically, on Christmas Eve 1987, he suffered a fatal heart attack at the young age of 34.