Alex Trevino: Former Mets Back Up Catcher & Houston Spanish Broadcaster (1978-1981)
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His brother Bobby Trevino played in the major leagues with the California Angels in 1968 for 17 games. He had been a long-time veteran in the Mexican League.
That year he hit .294 at AAA Tidewater leading the club in hitting. He earned a September call up to the last place Mets.
1979: The 21-year-old Trevino became a versatile utility player, mostly backing up John Stearns behind the plate in 36 games. With his strong arm, he had the league’s best percentage of throwing out would be base stealers for two seasons. In 1979 he threw out 48% of base runners trying to steal. Trevino also played 27 games at third base.
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In 1979 Trevino hit .271 with no HRs 11 doubles 20 RBIs & a .338 on base % playing in 79 games on the season.
At the end of the month, he also had a pair of double RBI games coming against the Giants in San Francisco. He had a good September driving in tens runs. On September 30th he drove in two runs, with an RBI double then a game tying sac fly in the 7th inning of a Mets 3-2 win.
In 45 games at catcher, he threw out 41 % of would-be base stealers while posting a .963 fielding %. In this season Trevino played four games at second base, two in the outfield & one at third base.
In the off season he was the main chip, in the deal that brought George Foster to Shea Stadium. He went to the Cincinnati Reds along with Greg Harris & a pitcher Jim Kern.
The next year he lost his job to Dann Bilardello hitting just .216 in the backup role.
In April 1985 he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for John Rabb, where he backed up Bob Brenly for the sixth-place team. For 1986 he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Candy Maldanado.
Career Stats: In a 13-year career Trevino was a lifetime .249 hitter with 604 hits, 23 HRs 117 doubles 244 RBIs a .310 on base % & .643 OPS.
Originally playing in Mexico the New York Mets purchased Alex's contract in 1974 when he was just 16 years old. He played two years in the Rookie league then at A-ball in 1976 & 1977. The five foot ten, catcher never batted over .240 in the minors until 1978.
That year he hit .294 at AAA Tidewater leading the club in hitting. He earned a September call up to the last place Mets.
MLB Debut: On September 11th, Trevino was inserted as a defensive replacement in a 9-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs. At the end of the month, on September 29th he started his first game catching pitcher Mike Bruhert in a 5-4 loss at Wrigley Field. He got his first career hit, that day and went 2-4 the next day finishing the year batting .280 in six games.
On June 11th, he hit a two-run single in the 4th inning off the Reds Fred Norman tying up the game the Mets went on to win 3-2.
Walk Off Hit: On June 17th, Trevino came to bat in a 1-1 tie in a game against the Atlanta Braves. Trevino singled off the Atlanta Braves top reliever Gene Garber driving in Lee Mazzilli with the Mets game winning run.
On July 24th he had another big hit, a single scoring Joel Youngblood in the top of the 12 inning in San Francisco. John Stearns would drive Trevino home in what turned out to be the games winning run. In mid-August he drove in runs in three straight games, including a three RBI Day in Atlanta in the Mets 18-5 win.
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Trivia: Trevino never hit a HR in his Mets career (256 at bats) which lasted parts of five seasons.
1980: In 1980 he had Mets career highs in games (106) as main backstop John Stearns battled through many injuries & secondary catcher Ron Hodges also went down.
1980: In 1980 he had Mets career highs in games (106) as main backstop John Stearns battled through many injuries & secondary catcher Ron Hodges also went down.
On June 28th in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Trevino singled home Joel Youngblood & Steve Henderson tying up the game 4-4. The Mets would win it in the top of the 9th on a Henderson RBI single.
Trevino drove in runs in three straight games in July, and still had his average up over the .300 mark for the season. In August he drove in two runs in a tight game against the Pittsburgh Pirates leading the Mets & Ray Burris to a 3-1 win.
He finished the year batting .256 with 11 doubles 2 triples & 37 RBIs. Behind the plate he threw out a league leading 43% of would-be base stealers. Trevino also played 14 games at third base & a game at second.
The Mets finished fifth under Joe Torre going 67-95.
1981: In this strike shortened season Trevino was backing up John Stearns once again. In the first half he batted .279 with 8 RBIs in 36 games played. In the second half he played in 20 games batting just .222 with 2 RBIs.
1981: In this strike shortened season Trevino was backing up John Stearns once again. In the first half he batted .279 with 8 RBIs in 36 games played. In the second half he played in 20 games batting just .222 with 2 RBIs.
In the off season he was the main chip, in the deal that brought George Foster to Shea Stadium. He went to the Cincinnati Reds along with Greg Harris & a pitcher Jim Kern.
Post Mets Career: Trevino would remain in the majors for nine more seasons bouncing around with five other teams.
He played with the Cincinnati Reds from 1982-1984. He was the Reds main catcher in 1982, taking over for Joe Nolan who was traded away, he had taken over for the aging Johnny Bench.
On September 14th, Trevino hit his first career HR coming off the Giants Atlee Hammaker. On the season he batted .251 for the sixth-place team that lost 100 games for the first time in the franchise's history. Behind the plate he threw out significantly lower number of base stealers, just 29%.
In 1984 after six games, he was sent to the Atlanta Braves (1984). In Atlanta he backed up Bruce Benedict. On May 3rd he caught his old Mets teammate Pete Falcone in a -5 win. Trevino drove in runs in hs next two games as Atlanta went on a nine-game win streak.
Walk off Win: On May 13th he had his first three RBI game in a win over the Pirates. In the bottom of the 10th inning, he came to bat after Claudell Washington had just tied the game with a double. Trevino followed with a walk off double off John Candelaria for the 9-8 win.
Trevino would have four more muti RBI games on the season, finishing up the year with a career high 28 RBIs batting .243 with three HRs playing in 79 games.
He spent two years in L.A. behind Mike Scioscia & was battery mate of fellow Mexican, pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. They were officially MLB's first Mexican battery on June 13th.
When the Dodgers signed veteran Rick Dempsey Trevino got released, then signed with the Houston Astros playing there for parts of three seasons as Craig Biggio's back up in 1989. In 1989 Alex he hit a career high .290 in 131 at bats playing in 59 games
He made a brief return signing with the New York Mets in 1990 as a free agent. He appeared in just nine games that season, going 2-5 as a pinch hitter. Trevino also appeared in eight innings over seven games behind the plate. He was released that August & finished his career playing seven games for the Reds later in 1990.
After years of being among the best in the league at throwing out base runners, he finished his career with 35% average nailing runners. trying to steal on him.
Alex caught 742 games behind the plate with a .979 fielding % turning 42 double plays. He also played 53 games at third base 14 at second base & 5 in the outfield.
Retirement: Trevino remained in the Astros organization moving into broadcasting. He has been an analyst for the Houston Astros Spanish radio broadcasts since 1996 calling. He has called over 3000 Houston games including 12 post seasons & five World Series.
His 27 seasons in the broadcast booth are the most by any Spanish speaking broadcaster. He was inducted into the Houston Baseball Media Wall Of Honor in 2014.
Family: Alex met his wife Maritza during his Mets days. They were married in Clearwater, Florida. They have two daughters & reside in the Houston suburb of Sugarland.
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