Former MLB pitcher Jose DeLeon passes away at age 63

Former Major League Baseball starting pitcher Jose DeLeon of Rancho Viejo, Dominican Republic passed away at the age of 63 on Sunday according to the Associated Press. DeLeon pitched in the Major Leagues for 13 seasons from 1983 to 1995. He was with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1983 to 1986, the Chicago White Sox from 1986 to 1987, and again from 1993 to 1995, the St. Louis Cardinals from 1988 to 1992, the Philadelphia Phillies from 1992 to 1993, and the Montreal Expos in 1995.

MLB Career Statistics

In 415 games, DeLeon had a record of 86 wins and 119 losses with an earned run average of 3.76. During 1897 1/3 innings pitched, he had 21 complete games, seven shutouts, six saves, and gave up 1156 hits, 793 earned runs, 153 home runs, and 841 walks, to go along with 1594 strikeouts and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.26.

1989 National League Strikeout Leader

While with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1989, DeLeon led the National League with 201 strikeouts. He had one more strikeout than Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Tim Belcher of Mount Gilead, Ohio, who was second on the list with 200 strikeouts. Texas Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan of Refugio, Texas led the Major Leagues with 301 strikeouts.

DeLeon was fifth in the Majors in strikeouts. In addition to Ryan, he was behind Mark Langston of San Diego, California (235 strikeouts), Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens of Dayton, Ohio (230 strikeouts), and Frank Viola of Hempstead, New York (211 strikeouts). It should be noted that Langston shared his time with the Expos and Seattle Mariners (175 strikeouts with the Expos and 60 with the Mariners), and Viola shared his time with the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins (138 strikeouts with the Twins and 73 with the Mets).

Struggles at times in his career

DeLeon led the Major Leagues in losses twice. He had 19 losses with the Pirates in 1985 and 19 losses with the Cardinals in 1990. During his final MLB season, DeLeon had an earned run average of 5.45. His ERA with the White Sox was 5.19 and his ERA with the the Expos was 7.56.