Nino Espinosa: Mid Seventies Mets Pitcher (1974 - 1978)

Arnulfo Acevedo “Nino” Espinosa was born August 15, 1953, in the Dominican Republic. The tall six-foot right hander was signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent at age 17 in 1970.

In 1973 Nino was 10-10 leading the A ball Visalia pitching staff (tied with Nardi Contreras) for the lead in wins. In 1974 he was 9-8 with a 3.42 at AA Victoria & a few weeks after his 21st birthday he got the September call to the big leagues.

Mets Debut: On September 13th, 1974, Espinosa made his MLB debut in a start at Shea Stadium. He pitched seven shutout innings against the Chicago Cubs, before allowing three runs in the 8th inning. He left the game tied 3-3 but the Mets lost it when Bob Apodaca served up an 11th inning HR to Ron Dunn. 

He made one more relief appearance on the year.

1975:On July 1st, Nino got called up to the Mets staff making his first appearance pitching two scoreless relief innings in a loss to the Cubs at Shea. On July 5th in the nightcap of a double header in Philadelphia, he came in relief in the 4th inning, then allowed six earned runs, taking the loss in the 10-7 loss.

 He was sent back down to AAA Tidewater where he went 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA on the season.

Bicentennial Year: In 1976 he was 7-3 at AAA Tidewater getting called back up to the Mets staff in July. When he returned, he dropped his old uniform #43 & took over Gary Gentry’s old #39. 

On July 9th, Nino allowed two runs to the Braves in the 7th inning taking the 5-3 loss in Atlanta Braves.

On August 1st, Espinosa got his first start of the year & pitched seven innings against the Phillies giving up a two run HR to Mike Schmidt. The Mets were shut out by Wayne Twitchell 2-0.

In his next start, Espinosa shut out the Pirates into the 6th inning & earned his first victory. On August 14th, he allowed one run into the 7th inning beating out the Reds Pat Zachry in a 2-1 win.

On August 24th, he pitched in relief of Mickey Lolich coming in to a 1-1 tie. Espinosa gave up a season high six runs in the 6th inning to take the loss. He September he would earn two wins in relief.

Espinosa finished out the year going 4-4 with a 3.67 ERA, striking out 30 batters with 13 walks in 40 innings of work in 12 appearances (5 starts).

1977: By now the Mets were in major transition and the staff was hurting. Tom Seaver would get traded away in June & a dark era of Mets baseball began. 

On April 9th at Wrigley Field, Espinosa started out the year winning his first decision in a relief appearance. In the top of the 9th, with the score tied at six, Joe Torre hit a two run double, leading to the win. At this point Torre was still a Mets Player/Manager.

Shut Out: On April 16th at Shea Stadium, Espinosa pitched a complete game 4-1 win over the Cubs. He did not allow a walk & struck out just one.

He closed out April 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA in five appearances.

From May 3rd to May 30th, Nino lost four straight decisions, he gave up 18 earned runs in 27 innings as opponents hit .333 against him. 

On June 4th, he rebounded, to shut out the Phillies into the 8th inning, earning a win at Shea Stadium. In a July 7th loss at Philadelphia, he collected two RBIs with a two run single off Randy Lerch in the 3rd inning.

On June 16th, Nino earned a victory over the Astros at Shea to get back to .500 at 4-4. In that game he drove in a run for his second straight game with an RBI double off Ken Forsch. He then lost his next three decisions giving up four runs in two of those losses. 

On July 2nd, he took a loss to the Expos Santo Alcala in the first ever matchup of two Dominican pitchers. On July 15th, in the second game of a double header split with the Pirates at home, he pitched nine innings, giving up just an unearned run, defeating the Pirates 6-1. Nino struck out a season high seven batters & walked just one. 

On August 9th he earned a victory with another complete game win over the Cardinals at Shea. He allowed just one run on eight hits & struck out six. He then lost his next three decisions to fall to 6-11. On August 23rd he gave up just one run to the Astros, pitching into the 8th inning. He got no decision as the Mets won the game on Len Randle's Walk off hit off Long Island's own Joe Sambito.

In September, Espinosa went 4-2 & threw four more complete games. 

On September 14th in Philadelphia, he shut out the first place Phillies beating Steve Carlton 1-0, in the three-hit win. Espinosa drove in the only run of the night with an RBI single off Carlton in the 5th inning. Nino had five RBIs on the season.

On September 27th, Nino allowed one run (unearned)allowing just four hits to beat the Pirates in Pittsburgh. On October 1st, he threw his seventh complete game of the season, getting to double digits in wins with ten as he beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

For the last place team, Nino led the club with ten wins (10-13) & had the best ERA among the starters at 3.42.

 Espinosa was a work horse throwing 200 innings with 29 starts, both second on the club to veteran Jerry Koosman.

He made 32 appearances overall with 105 strike outs, 55 walks, seven complete games & one shut out.

Hair Trivia: In 1977 he was known to have one of the league's best afros, rivaling Oscar Gamble.

1978: On April 8th, Espinosa began the year with a no decision allowing three runs to the Montreal Expos. The Mets went on to a 6-5 win with Ed Kranepool hitting a walk off two run HR.

On April 17th he earned his first win & would be 1-2 in early May. From May 10th to May 28th Espinosa won four straight games, pitching three complete games posting a 1.59 ERA in that time. 

On May 28th, Espinosa pitched a 7-2 complete game win over the Expos in Montreal. On May17th, he gave up one run in a complete game 3-1 win to beat the Braves at Shea in the second game of a doubleheader. 

On May 23rd, Nino beat the Pirates pitching seven strong innings allowing two earned runs in the 7-3 Mets win. On May 28th, he threw another complete game, where he gave up just one run at the Astrodome, to beat Tom Dixon & the Astros 3-1.

Espinosa entered June with a 5-2 record but then lost four straight decisions, where he gave up four runs or more three times.

Four Hit Shut Out: On June 20th, in Montreal he tossed his only shut out of the season, a four-hitter striking out five Expos. He lowered his ERA to 3.91 & got back to .500 at 6-6.

 In July although he gave up three runs in all five starts, we went 3-2 pitching seven innings or more four times. From July 31st to August 27th, he lost five straight starts, giving up five or more runs in all but one of those starts. He fell to a 9-13 record as his ERA rose to 4.72.

On September 7th, Espinosa broke his personal five game losing streak, as he pitched another complete game win, with some run support in a 9-4 Mets win in Montreal. After a pair of losses, he won his last game of the season, on September 29th at Wrigley Field. 

On the year he led the Mets staff again with 11 wins but also led the team with 15 losses (third most in the NL). 

Espinosa allowed a league leading 107 earned runs, giving up 24 HRs & 230 hits while posting a 4.73 ERA. He started 32 games & pitched over 200 innings once again for the third straight year.

At the end of Spring Training 1979, the Mets traded Espinosa to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Richie Hebner. The Mets were still trying to find a steady third baseman who could hit. But Hebner hated New York and was done after one season, hitting only .268.

Mets Career Stats: In his five-year Mets career, Espinosa was 25-33 with a 4.17 ERA in 80 appearances, 67 starts.

Post Mets Career: In 1979 at Philadelphia, Espinosa had a career year 14 games (going 14-12) with a 3.65 ERA, pitching 212 innings with 32 starts, & throwing three shutouts. The Phillies finished fourth at 84-78 as they fired Danny Ozark & hired Dallas Green.

Injuries & Drama: In the 1980 Phillies Championship season, Nino had arm troubles & didn’t pitch until early July. He would go 3-5 as a fifth starter along with Larry Christensen.  

In September he suffered from bursitis stating, it only hurt when he pitched. Manager Dallas Green felt he should pitch thru any pain he had, once cleared by the doctors. The two had a meeting & things seemed to be settled.

That month, the Phils brought up Marty Bystrom who won five games, with Espinosa pitching only once. When the post season rolled around, the Phils appealed to league office that Espinosa had been injured & that Bystrom should be eligible for the post season. MLB agreed, as permission was granted. 

Espinosa cheered his team on in the dugout but was hurt by the decision of him being passed up. Some baseball people wondered if his injury was legit calling it convenient bursitis.

In the strike shortened 1981season he went 2-5 in 14 games before getting released at the end of August. He said he was released because he was Latin. In September he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays where he pitched one game. In Spring Training 1982 he was waived. He refused to report to AAA & chose to pitch in Mexico. In 1983 he was in the Pirates organization but did pitch at any level.

Career Stats: In an eight-year career Espinosa was 44-55 with a 4.17 ERA. He struck out 338 batters while walking 252 batters, allowing 380 runs in 820 innings pitched.

Family: Nino & his wife Fidea had three children.

Retirement: In 1983 he became a full-time scout & ran a baseball academy for the Cubs in the Dominican Republic, working under Dallas Green.  

Passing: Nino lived in the Dominican town, he had grown up in. In 1985 he was hospitalized with heart problems but did not follow up as instructed by doctors. Tragically, on Christmas Eve 1987, he suffered a fatal heart attack, passing at the young age of 34.

Honors: In 1996 he was inducted into the Dominican Sports Hall of Fame. A baseball Stadium in Villa Altagracia was named in his honor.