José Riveira

José Riveira Rodríguez

• Throws Left

• Born March 18, 1958
• Died September 17, 2012 in Santa Clara, Villa Clara Cuba

Biographical Information

José Riveira was both a Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in Cuba yet never was picked for the Cuban national team.

Riveira debuted with a bang in 1977-1978, posting a .82 ERA with 5 earned runs in 55 innings for Villa Clara. He was named the Serie Nacional Rookie of the Year, the first Villa Clara player so honored; Alejo O'Reilly would follow suit a year later. In 1982-1983, José led in ERA (.63, 4 ER in 57 IP) and winning percentage (6-0) to take Serie Nacional Most Valuable Pitcher honors. Only Nivaldo Pérez had been chosen before for Villa Clara for that award. He had the third-lowest ERA in the Serie Nacional in the 20th Century behind Ihosvany Gallego and Rolando Castillo.

Riveira led the 1985 Series Selectivas with 63 strikeouts for Las Villas. With Villa Clara in 1985-1986, he won 11 games, tying Lázaro de la Torre and Luis Tissert for the Serie Nacional lead.

Overall, he was 81-47 with 13 shutouts and 3 saves in 224 games in Cuba (161 starts). His ERA was 3.26.

When fellow Cuban Victor Mesa was hired to manage the Petroleros de Minatitlán for 2011, Riveira joined him as bullpen coach. He died the next year of respiratory failure.

Source: 2005 Guia Official de Beisbol