José Luis García (minors02)

José Luis García
(El Chicken)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• Born July 12, 1973 in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora MEX

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

José Luis García was a long-time pitcher in the Mexican League, active from 1993 to 2015 - 23 seasons. When he retired, he held the league's all-time record for games pitched with 932, but only held the record for one year, as he was passed by Gaudencio Aguirre in 2016.

He was primarily a relief pitcher, although his first few seasons came as a starter. Full statistics are only available since 1999 (with 2004 missing), but before that he spent a number of season with the Petroleros de Minatitlan and Tigres de México. His conversion to full-time bullpen work came with the Saraperos de Saltillo in 2003, when all of his 53 appearances came in relief, but two years earlier, with the Pericos de Puebla in 2001, he notched 13 saves, which was a career high. He was typically used as a left-handed specialist after his full-time conversion, and did not gather a lot of decisions even if his number of games pitched was very high. He moved around a lot, spending full seasons with Potros de Tijuana, Broncos de Reynosa, Olmecas de Tabasco, Rieleros de Aguascalientes and Toros de Tijuana, in addition to the teams already mentioned.

He also pitched winter ball regularly, mostly for the Venados de Mazatlan.

He was originally nicknamed "Gallina" (hen) because he would imitate the bird, but his nicknmaed morphed into the English-language "Chicken" or "Chicken Boy", and it was commonly used when announcing his name whenever he came into a ball game from the bullpen.

Related Sites

• About the origin of his nickname