Pepe Mangual

Jose Manuel Mangual Guilbe

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.

• Debut September 6, 1972
• Final Game October 2, 1977
• Born May 23, 1952 in Ponce, P.R.

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Biographical Information

Outfielder Pepe Mangual is the brother of Angel Mangual. He was signed by the Montreal Expos as an amateur free agent out of Puerto Rico in the fall of 1969. In his first pro season, with the West Palm Beach Expos of the Florida State League in 1970, he hit a solid .330 with 19 doubles and 18 triples in 124 games, then followed that with a .279 average and 20 homers in 140 games for the Quebec Carnavals of the AA Eastern League in 1971. In 1972, he moved up to the AAA Peninsula Whips and hit .261 with 16 homers and 90 runs scored in 144 games. He also stole 39 bases, flashing some excellent speed. He reached the big leagues that September of as one of the first players to be developed by the Expos to make it to The Show (only Balor Moore, Terry Humphrey and Joe Gilbert preceded him). He hit .273 in 8 games in his first taste of the majors.

Mangual did not hit much at the major league level in 1973 - .177 in 33 games - and also hit only .259 at Peninsula. He was back in the minor leagues in 1974 and had an excellent season with the Memphis Blues in AAA, where he hit .292 with 22 doubles and 17 homers in 120 games and stole 46 bases. He hit very well in a September call-up, with a .311 batting average in 23 games. In 1975 he spent the entire season with the Expos as the team's starting center fielder and had a decent season, despite hitting only .245: he drew 74 walks, scored 84 runs and stole 33 bases. He was outshined by a few other young players on the team, mainly C/OF Gary Carter, 3B Larry Parrish and P Dan Warthen, who were all rookies that season. In 1976, he quietly was one of the best hitters on a very weak team over the first half, batting .260 while drawing 50 walks and stealing 17 bases, for an OPS+ of 112. However, when young CF Ellis Valentine was called up mid-year and started hitting very well, Pepe was deemed expendable, as by then the Expos' system was teeming with young outfielders: Jerry White and Bombo Rivera were already in Montreal, while Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie, Gary Roenicke and Tony Scott were knocking at the door. On July 21st, he was traded to the New York Mets, alongside OF Jim Dwyer, in return for two veterans, 3B Wayne Garrett and OF Del Unser.

Mangual was a major disappointment with the Mets. He hit only .186 in 41 games the rest of 1976, then spent most of 1977 in AAA with the Tidewater Tides. In 140 games, he hit .252 with 20 homers and 72 RBI to earn a final look at the majors that September. He failed to impress in limited playing time, going 1-for-7. He was back with Tidewater at the start of 1978 and played 100 games there, hitting only .239, before being traded to the California Angels in late July as the player to be named later for OF Gil Flores. He finished the season with the Salt Lake City Gulls, where he hit .245 in 28 games. He found a long-term home in the Salt Lake City outfield, as he played over 100 games there each of the next three seasons, 1979 to 1981, hitting between .264 and .270 with lots of extra base hits every year. He continued to be a threat on the basepaths as well, stealing over 20 bases each year, with a high of 46 in 1979. He then fell to .235 in 50 games as the Angels moved their AAA affiliate to the Spokane Indians in 1982, and he played 32 games for the Edmonton Trappers in 1983, hitting .311. In 1984, he finished his major league career with the Waterbury Indians, the Angels' AA affiliate in the Eastern League, but he hit only .197 in 81 games and retired after the season.