Jose Miguel "Mike" Fornieles was a Cuban born pitcher who played in the Majors from 1952-63. He spent parts of the 1956-57 seasons with the Orioles but is best remembered for the seven seasons he spent in Boston, mainly as the Red Sox' closer. He was even an All-Star with the Sawx in 1961.
During his time in Birdland, Mike had a 6-13 record with a 4.07 ERA in 45 games (15 starts). Orioles manager Paul Richards orchestrated the trade that brought Mike to the Baltimore from the White Sox, but Fornieles never produced as the Orioles hoped he might.
Before doing my research for this post, I honestly had no idea that Mike was Cuban, but I had always thought that Fornieles sounded like it might be of Hispanic origin.
I'm a big fan of how Mike signed the F at the start of his last name. It's very unique how he rolls the upper bar into the o and something that I don't feel like I've seen elsewhere.
After Mike's baseball career ended, he turned to a new career selling cars in Florida. He passed away in 1998 at 66 years old. RIP Mike.
This guy was my uncle, got a ton of his autographs and his teammates throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteThat's very cool, bet that was a neat experience. Any chance you have any of the items on my trade list available?
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