Books and articles about Jose Rijo

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The Yankees wanted a hard-throwing rookie pitcher to counter the emergence of Dwight Gooden for the rival Mets in 1984, so they rushed the 18-year-old Rijo to the ML after he had been named Florida State League MVP with a 15-5, 1.68 record in 1983. The wild young Dominican proved too raw, and was returned to the minors after winning just two games before being traded to Oakland as part of a five-player package that pried Rickey Henderson from the A's. Rijo struggled for three seasons in Oakland, although he did strike out 16 Mariners April 16, 1986, and in December 1987 was traded to the Reds with Tim Birtsas for Dave Parker. Rijo was still only 22 when the 1988 season began, but it was his fifth year in the ML, and he finally emerged as a consistently overpowering starter, going 13-8, 2.39 for the Reds with 160 strikeouts in 162 innings. (SCL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 20, 1984: At Detroit, Yankee reliever Jose Rijo goes 1–7 when he serves up a 2-out three-run homer to Howard Johnson in the 13th inning. Detroit wins, 9–6. Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish, and Chet Lemon also hit homers for the Tigers, who draw their 3rd straight 40,000+ crowd. » December 5, 1984: The A's send base-stealing OF Rickey Henderson and P Bert Bradley to the Yankees in exchange for pitchers Jay Howell and Jose Rijo, OF Stan Javier, and minor leaguers Tim Birtsas and Eric Plunk. On the same day, the Yankees trade C Rick Cerone to the Braves for P Brian Fisher. » April 19, 1986: Oakland's Jose Rijo sets a club record with 16 strikeouts in eight innings as the A's beat Seattle 7–2. The two clubs combine for 30 strikeouts overall, setting the modern major-league record for a 9-inning game. » December 8, 1987: Cincinnati trades OF Dave Parker to the A's for pitchers Jose Rijo and Tim Birtsas, the Braves trade SS Rafael Ramirez to the Astros for a pair of minor leaguers, and in the day's biggest (and most lopsided) deal, the Cubs send dominating reliever Lee Smith to the Red Sox for pitchers Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi. » June 8, 1988: In a pair of trades, the Giants send OF Jeff Leonard to the Brewers for IF Ernest Riles, and the Reds deal P Dennis Rasmussen to the Padres for reliever Candy Sierra. Jose Rijo will replace Rasmussen in the Reds' starting rotation. » October 20, 1990: The talk of an Oakland dynasty is proven premature, as Cincinnati beats Oakland 2–1 to complete one of the most stunning sweeps in World Series history. Series MVP Jose Rijo (2-0, 0.59 ERA) retires the last 20 batters he faces to give the Reds their first World Championship since 1976. Not joining the celebration at the end is Eric Davis, who ruptures his kidney diving for a ball during the game and is taken to the hospital. It will take Davis several years to fully recover. » September 25, 1993: Cincinnati P Jose Rijo shuts out the Rockies, 6-0, on one hit. Charlie Hayes' broken bat single in the 2nd inning is Colorado's only hit. » July 2, 1996: The Reds put P Pete Schourek on the 15-day DL, but he'll undergo elbow surgery on July 17th and miss the rest of the season. The Reds other ace, Jose Rijo, recovering from surgery last August, has yet to pitch off the mound for Birmingham. » August 17, 2001: The Brewers defeat the Reds, 5–1. Cincinnati P Jose Rijo hurls the last two scoreless innings in relief, his first major league action in six years. » April 21, 2002: Making his first start in almost seven years, Cincinnati's Jose Rijo allows one unearned run in five innings as the Reds defeat the Cubs, 5–3. It is Rijo's first win since July 13, 1995.