José DeLeón

Note: This page is for 1980s pitcher José DeLeón; for the pitcher with a similar name who made his debut in 2016, click here.

Jose DeLeon Chestaro

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 215 lb.
• High School Perth Amboy High School
• Debut July 23, 1983
• Final Game September 18, 1995
• Born December 20, 1960 in Rancho Viejo, La Vega, D.R.
• Died February 25, 2024 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

José DeLeón was definitely proof that you have to be good to lose a lot of games as a pitcher. He was 2-19 with a 3.59 ERA and 1.39 WHIP with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1985 and 7-19 with a 4.43 ERA and 1.39 WHIP with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1990. Using league runs scored to crudely calculate an expected winning percentage, DeLeon could have expected a 8-13 record in 1985, and 12-14 record in 1990. His career record is 86-119, despite a career ERA that was 3.76 with an ERA+ of 102 and his career WHIP was 1.26.

He lost the only one-hitter he threw on August 24, 1984 with the Pirates against the Cincinnati Reds. The lone hit was a single by Dave Parker but it scored Eddie Milner who had walked and advanced on an error; a second run scored on another error.

Jose pitched two two-hitters, one with the Pirates in 1983 and one with the Cardinals in 1989. He did win both of those games. In his 17 starts of 1991, the offense gave him only 21 runs to work with.

He threw a rising fastball and a forkball that dropped.

A career .091 hitter, Jose DeLeon played one game in the outfield for the Cardinals on May 14, 1988, when manager Whitey Herzog ran out of players in the 16th inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves. Herzog sent DeLeon, the previous day's starting pitcher, to left field and asked infielder Jose Oquendo to pitch. The Cardinals hung on with that makeshift line-up before losing the game in the 19th inning. DeLeón exchanged positions with right fielder Tom Brunansky 11 times during that stretch, in order to minimize the chances that a ball would be hit to the completely inexperienced pitcher-turned-outfielder. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter - another starting pitcher, John Tudor - as the Cardinals went down in the bottom of the 19th inning.

Notable Achievements

• NL Strikeouts Leader (1989)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 1 (1989)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 3 (1987-1989)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 2 (1988 & 1989)

Related Sites

• José DeLeón at the SABR Bio Project