SóSANTO DOMINGO.- The former pitcher Dominican José DeLeón, who had a 13-year career in MLB and was the National League strikeout leader in 1989 with the St. Louis Cardinals, has died in his native Dominican Republic, reported his former team in the country’s winter league. He was 63 years old.
The Lions of the Chosen indicated that DeLeón died Sunday night in a hospital in the capital of Santo Domingo. No details were provided about the cause of his death, which was attributed to health problems.
The right-hander was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of the 1979 draft and debuted with that team on July 23, 1983, striking out nine in eight innings in a 5-2 victory against visiting San Francisco.
DeLeón finished the season 7-3 with a 2.83 ERA in 15 starts. He placed seventh in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, an award won by Darryl Strawberry of the Mets.
The Pirates traded him to the Chicago White Sox during the 1986 season in exchange for Bobby Bonilla, who became an All-Star five times in his career.
Solid career of the Dominican:
DeLeón went 86-119 with a 3.76 ERA in 264 starts and 151 relief appearances over 13 seasons with Pittsburgh (1983-86), White Sox (1986-87, 1993-95), St. Louis (1988-92), Philadelphia (1992-93) and Montreal (1995). The right-hander struck out 1,594 in 1,897 1/3 innings.
He twice led the National League in losses, first going 2–19 in 1985 with the Pirates, then going 7–19 in 1990 with the Cardinals.
Funeral services for DeLeón were scheduled for Monday in Santo Domingo, with a body mass to be held on Tuesday.
DeLeón pitched only once in the playoffs in 1993 with the White Sox. He allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings in a pair of relief appearances in the American League Championship Series against Toronto.
Source: AP
