Luis González (Negro Leagues)

Luis González (Chicho)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9"

• Born 1884 in Havana Cuba

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Biographical Information

Luis González was a Cuban pitcher of the Deadball Era.

González debuted with a bang, going 9-6 with a 0.65 ERA for Club Fé in 1906. Luis led the Cuban Winter League in wins (tied with José Muñoz), innings (153), games pitched (18), starts (17), complete games (15) and shutouts (2, tied). His ERA was the best of anyone with 5 or more starts. While the CWL was a low-scoring league at that time, his ERA+ was a magnificent 234. He also had a .90 WHIP. Finally, he led Fé to its first title. He was not as sharp in exhibitions that year, going 1-2 against the Cuban X-Giants and 0-2 against a white team which included several major leaguers.

The right-hander fell to 7-7, 2.25 for a 100 ERA+ in his second winter with Fé. He was third in the league in wins behind Muñoz and future Hall-of-Famer Rube Foster. He was 1-2 in exhibitions that year. In 1908, he fall all the way to 3-9, 4.85 for a 63 ERA+. He easily led the league in losses (four more than anyone else), dropping more decisions than the entire Almendares staff. He also allowed the most runs (64) and earned runs (42) in the league. He beat the Brooklyn Royal Giants in an exhibition game.

Chicho moved to the Habana club in 1908-1909 and rebounded to 5-3 with a 2.24 ERA (101 ERA+). He was a solid #3 starter for the league champs, behind Rip Hagerman and Luis Padrón. He was 2-2 against the Indianapolis Indians. He went 1-1 against a white team which included Fred Merkle, Sherry Magee, Jack Lelivelt and Germany Schaefer; in both games, he faced Hall-of-Famer Addie Joss. He also facing the Detroit Tigers, who went to the World Series that year. Detroit was without their top two hitters, Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford. He beat them three straight games. On November 21, he beat George Mullin 4-3. Four days later, he topped Ed Willett 7-5. He beat Willett and the Tigers again by a 9-1 margin on November 30.

In 1910, he continued his roller-coaster career by starring for Habana. He was 4-4 but with a 1.34 ERA (192 ERA+). He led the league in ERA, tied Eustaquio (Bombín) Pedroso for third in wins and tied for second in losses. He lost to the Leland Giants when they came to Cuba, but beat the Philadelphia A's. He also beat the Tigers twice more, this time with Cobb and Crawford. He allowed only one run in beating Mullin 2-1 on November 20 and then topped Willett 3-0 on the 28th. That gave him five straight wins against Detroit and six in a row against major league teams. In the summer of 1910, he pitched in the US for the only time, going just 1-2 for the Cuban Stars.

Luis had his last big season with Habana in 1910-1911. He went 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA (136 ERA+). He was second in the circuit in wins behind Hall of Famer José Méndez and also ranked second to him in games pitched (15), starts (11), complete games (9) and innings (109 1/3). His 33 strikeouts ranked third and he was third in ERA behind the two great Josés, Muñoz and Méndez. He was 0-1 against the 1911 Athletics and was 0-1 back with Fé in 1912 to end his career.

Sources

• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• Seamheads.com bio
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley