| Wilson Álvarez | |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1970-03-24)March 24, 1970 (age 55) Maracaibo,Zulia State,Venezuela | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 24, 1989, for the Texas Rangers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 28, 2005, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 102–92 |
| Earned run average | 3.96 |
| Strikeouts | 1,330 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the Venezuelan | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 2011 |
Wilson Eduardo Álvarez Fuenmayor (born March 24, 1970) is a Venezuelan former professionalbaseball player. He played inMajor League Baseball as a left-handedpitcher. During a thirteen-year baseball career, he pitched for theTexas Rangers,Chicago White Sox,San Francisco Giants,Tampa Bay Devil Rays, andLos Angeles Dodgers.
Born inMaracaibo,Venezuela, Alvarez represented his hometown in the1982 Little League World Series, where they finished with a 2–1 record.[1] Alvarez was signed by the Texas Rangers as an amateurfree agent on September 23, 1986. He made hismajor league debut at the age of nineteen on July 24,1989, the first player born in the 1970s to debut in MLB. Five days later, he was traded withScott Fletcher andSammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox forHarold Baines andFred Manrique. Alvarez provided one of the highlights of the1991 Chicago White Sox season on August 11, pitching ano-hitter against theBaltimore Orioles atMemorial Stadium in his second Major League start. In his previous appearance, with the Rangers, he faced five batters and gave up twowalks, asingle and twohome runs without retiring a batter, giving him an undefined careerERA prior to his no-hitter.
Between the majors, minors and winter league play, Alvarez pitched close to 300 innings in 1991; an extremely heavy workload. In 1993 he managed to break into the Sox starting pitching rotation permanently. That season, Alvarezwon 15 games and finished second in the league inearned run average, but he experienced control problems and led the league with 122 walks.
In 1994, Alvarez went 12–8 and made theAmerican LeagueAll-Star team. After a disappointing 8–11 in 1995, he had 15 wins and 181strikeouts in 1996.
During the1997 season, the White Sox traded Álvarez,Danny Darwin, andRoberto Hernández to theSan Francisco Giants for six prospects (Keith Foulke,Bob Howry,Lorenzo Barceló,Mike Caruso,Ken Vining, andBrian Manning) in what became known as theWhite Flag Trade.[2] Afree agent after 1997, he signed a five-year contract with Tampa Bay. He was first in the team's starting rotation, and started Opening Day on March 31, 1998, throwing the Devil Rays' first ever pitch (a ball to Detroit'sBrian L. Hunter).
In his first season with the Devil Rays Alvarez missed two months with tendonitis in his shoulder, eventually losing 14 games during the season. The following year he made two trips to thedisabled list. Finally, he had arthroscopic shoulder surgery and missed the next two seasons. After finishing his contract with Tampa Bay, Álvarez signed with the Dodgers. He began the 2003 season as a starter forTriple-ALas Vegas. After going 5–1 with a 1.15 ERA, he filled the longrelief role for the Dodgers at mid-season. Later he got a chance to start, collecting a 5–0 record and 1.06 ERA over a stretch of nine games. In 2004, he went 7–6 in 40 games (15 as a starter).
On August 1, 2005, Alvarez announced he would retire after the season. He compiled a career 102–92 record with 1330 strikeouts and a 3.96 ERA in 1747.2 innings.
In 2010, Álvarez was inducted into theCaribbean Baseball Hall of Fame.[3]
After a brief stint as the pitching coach of theState College Spikes, Álvarez joined theBaltimore Orioles organization when he was named pitching coach of theGulf Coast League Orioles in 2013.[4] In June 2019, he was replaced as Orioles pitching coach.[5]
Wilson Alvarez LLBWS: '82 (Coquivacoa LL, Maracaibo, Venezuela)
Former Major Leaguer WILSON ALVAREZ returns for his seventh season as Pitching Coach for the GCL Orioles.
· Baseball Almanac| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | No-hitter pitcher August 11, 1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Tampa Bay Devil RaysOpening Day Starting pitcher 1998–1999 | Succeeded by |