When you examine the career of Hector Espino, one question immediately comes to mind:
Did anybody ever get this guy out?
Hector Espino González spent 1960–1984 in the Liga Mexicana and the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico. He led the LM twice in batting average, twice in homers and twice in RBIs. Until very recently, he held the all–time minor–league homerun record with 484, with a lifetime batting average of .337.
He still holds or shares more than 40 batting records in the LMP alone. In all, he set at least 53 different batting marks in his minor–league career.
He also is one of the few players at any level to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded — in a playoff game.
If any minor–leaguer ever seemed pre–destined to show off his skills in New York, Chicago or San Francisco, it was Hector Espino. But it never happened.
So how did this guy never make it to The Show?
The Cardinals sent him to Jacksonville of the International League in 1964, but he left after only 32 games, vowing never to play in the United States again. The reasons why depend on who you ask.
Some said it was homesickness, or a preference to dominate a minor league over taking his chances in the majors.
But according to some who followed Espino’s career, there was another reason — the racism he encountered in the American South. With a Southern backlash to the civil rights movement in full effect in the mid–1960s, the timing for Espino’s introduction to American baseball fans hardly could have been worse.
Whatever his reasons for leaving, they obviously had nothing to do with his batting skills. He was hitting an even .300 when he left.
The Cards, Mets, Padres and Angels all tried to sign him thereafter. He rejected them all. Perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise; one of his nicknames was “the rebel of Chihuahua.”
On Sept. 7, 1997, Hector Espino died of a heart attack at 58. His number was retired in both Mexican leagues. In Hermosillo, the Naranjeros baseball stadium bears his name and his statue.
The base of the statue is formed by a partial list of his batting records, most of which still stand.
To learn more about Hector Espino, check out these sites:
Baseball Reference
Baseball Guru
Salon de la Fama/Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame (en español)
Gregory Alan Gross
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