Calvin Maduro

Calvin Gregory Maduro

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

• High School Colegio San Antonius
• Debut September 8, 1996
• Final Game June 4, 2002
• Born September 5, 1974 in Santa Cruz, Aruba

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Biographical Information

Pitcher Calvin Maduro was one of the first Arubans in the majors and later pitched in the Olympics.

Early years in the Baltimore chain

Maduro was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1991. He debuted in 1992 with the GCL Orioles, going 1-4 but wih a 2.27 ERA and almost a strikeout per inning. Promoted to the Bluefield Orioles for 1993, he went 9-4 with a 3.96 ERA and only 17 walks to 83 strikeouts in 91 innings. He led the staff in wins and K's. Maduro led the Appalachian League in innings pitched, strikeouts and complete games (3) and tied Javier DeJesus for the most victories. He was named as the Appy All-Star right-handed pitcher that season. The 2008 Orioles Media Guide lists him as finishing his studies at the Tourist Economy School in Aruba but the Aruban school listings do not show such a school.

A and AA

The right-hander spent 1994 in the Frederick Keys rotation, posting a 9-8, 4.25 record with 137 K's and 132 hits allowed in 152 1/3 IP. Baseball America rated him as the #9 prospect in the Baltimore system entering 1995. He spent '95 with Frederick (8-5, 2.94, 120 K, 109 H, 34 BB in 122 1/3 IP) and made his AA debut with the Bowie Baysox, where he fared miserably (0-6, 5.09 in 7 starts; 27 walks in 35 1/3 IP). He placed sixth in the Carolina League in ERA.

Maduro began 1996 with Bowie, where he had a 9-7, 3.26 record and rediscovered his control (36 walks in 124 1/3 IP). He also got 8 starts in AAA with the Rochester Red Wings and went 3-5 with a 4.74 ERA. His 12 wins and 4 complete games led all Orioles farmhands in '96. He led the Eastern League with 3 shutouts and was 6th in ERA, between Matt Beech and Cory Lidle.

Philadelphia system

In early September 1996, Maduro was sent (along with Garrett Stephenson) as a player to be named later in a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies; Baltimore got Todd Zeile and Pete Incaviglia in the trade. Calvin made his Phillies organizational debut as a major leaguer, as the 3rd pitcher in a 5-3 loss to the Cubs. Replacing Russ Springer, he hit Scott Servais, his first MLB opponent. Luis Gonzalez lined out but Rey Sanchez singled Servais to third. Opposing hurler Jaime Navarro then lined into a double play. Ken Ryan relieved Maduro. He missed being the first Aruban major leaguer by 5 days, as Eugene Kingsale had beaten him to the punch. Overall, Calvin went 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 4 games for the 1996 Phillies.

Maduro split 1997 between the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (6-4, 4.99, 57 BB in 79 1/3 IP) and the majors (3-7, 7.23). On April 29, he got his only MLB hit, a single off Dave Wainhouse (he came around to score). 1998 was little better, as he allowed 211 hits and 68 walks in 177 2/3 innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and had a 5.98 ERA. He somehow went 12-9 to lead his team in wins. He gave up the most hits in the International League in '98.

Back to Baltimore

A free agent, Maduro returned to Baltimore. He was with Rochester for all of 1999, posting a 11-11, 3.99 record and leading the team in wins and strikeouts (149). He was 8th in the International League in ERA and just two strikeouts behind IL leader Jeff Juden.

The right-hander began the 2000 season in the majors, just as he had in '97, and he again washed out, with a 9.64 ERA in 15 games and 8 homers in 23 1/3 IP. He only saw limited time in the minors that year.

In 2001, Maduro had his best major league season, with a 5-6, 4.23 ERA (102 ERA+); he had a 2-7, 4.03 record for Rochester that year as well.

Maduro struggled for the 2002 Orioles, going 2-5 with a 5.56 ERA and 12 home runs allowed in 56 2/3 IP.

He finished his major league career 10-19 with a 5.78 ERA.

Independent leagues

Maduro moved to the Newark Bears in 2003 and fared miserably, with a 1-10 record and 6.78 ERA, giving up 102 hits in 70 innings. He led the team in losses, tied for second in the Atlantic League.

He was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during a ceremony in April 2003 along with Eugene Kingsale and Sidney Ponson.

Dutch national team and Netherlands

In the 2003 Baseball World Cup, Maduro pitched four hitless, scoreless innings against France in his debut for the Dutch national team.

Maduro came to the Netherlands for the 2004 season, going 5-1 with 36 strikeouts in 45 innings for Mr. Cocker HCAW. Maduro was the second former Major League pitcher in Hoofdklasse Honkbal; Stan Bahnsen preceded him by 12 years.

Maduro went 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week and won Best Pitcher honors. In the 2004 Olympics, he pitched two games. Against the Greek national team, he allowed 2 hits (both to Nick Markakis) in 7 innings, fanning four, hitting one batter and walking two in a win. He was much worse against the Australian national team in his second start; they torched him for 8 runs (2 earned) in 2/3 of an inning, with 4 hits and 3 walks. He retired only two of 10 batters faced before being yanked in favor of Patrick Beljaards.

Yankees system

Maduro signed with the New York Yankees for 2005, splitting time between the Tampa Yankees (0-1, 4.50), Trenton Thunder (4-2, 3.18) and Columbus Clippers (4.97; .364 opponent average in 6 games).

World Baseball Classic

In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Maduro made one appearance. He relieved Diegomar Markwell with a 4-0 deficit in the 4th against the Cuban national team and one out. He allowed a single to Carlos Tabares and retired Eduardo Paret on a grounder. Michel Enriquez then singled and Tabares scored on an error by Chairon Isenia. Yulieski Gourriel walked and Ariel Borrero singled in Enriquez, but Gourriel was thrown out at third to end the inning. In the 5th, he walked Frederich Cepeda then got Ariel Pestano to line out and Osmani Urrutia to ground into a double play. The Dutch moved within 6-2 in their half of the inning.

In the sixth, he gave up a Yoandy Garlobo single and walked Tabares. Paret popped up and Enriquez ground into a double play as Maduro escaped another jam. He began the 7th by walking Gourriel. Borrero flew out, then Cepeda singled; both Gourriel and Cepeda advanced on an error by Andruw Jones. Pestano singled in Gourriel and Urrutia crushed a 3-run homer. That signalled the end of Maduro as Michiel van Kampen was summoned from the bullpen. The former major leaguer had been charged with 6 runs, 7 hits and 4 walks in 3 innings of work.

Transition to coaching

He began the 2006 season with the Bowie Baysox and went 1-5 with a 4.50 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 38 innings and 24 appearances. He retired on June 10th to become pitching coach of the Aberdeen IronBirds and held that job for two years. He came out of retirement briefly at the end of 2006, joining DOOR Neptunus for the Dutch playoffs and beating fellow Aruban Conrad Orman in a good outing but Neptunus failed to advance to the Holland Series.

In 2008, Maduro became pitching coach for the GCL Orioles, marking his 13th year in the Orioles organization. By 2010, he was an international scout for Baltimore, covering the Caribbean and Europe (their only scout covering Europe at that point). His signees have included Cristian Alvarado, Miguel Gonzalez, Gabriel Lino, Jhon Peluffo and Gillian Wernet. Maduro remained an international scout until he was released by the Orioles in September 2019 as part of their wholesale overhaul of the scouting and player development programs.

The Minnesota Twins hired Maduro in 2020 to be a pitching coach for the Cedar Rapids Kernels before the coronavirus pandemic caused the minor league season to be canceled. Maduro was a pitching coach for the FCL Twins in 2021-2023.

Maduro also has a bit of international coaching experience. He was a pitching coach for the Águilas del Zulia during the 2021/2022 Venezuelan League season.

Sources

• 2008 Orioles Media Guide
• 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week
• Honkbalsite.com
• Defunct IBAF site
• Sportsline