After two dominating years with the Pirates, Rincon came to the Indians in a trade for Brian Giles, hyped as the Tribe's closer of the future. He would be haunted by the comparisons as he spent parts of two seasons on the disabled list, while Giles became the regular #3 hitter in Pittsburgh. Never able to recapture his old form, Rincon became a lefty specialist, allowing no home runs or RBIs to southpaws in 2000.
Beyond his injury woes, Rincon suffered an identity crisis in 1999. Known occasionally among teammates as Ricky Rincon, the Indians website producer misinterpreted the name as Ricky Ricardo. A card show then decided to list his full name as Roberto Ricardo. Finally, Rincon settled the matter by asserting that he be called Ricardo Rincon, since that was a name that had brought him so much success with the Pirates.
(EPW)
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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»July 12, 1997: In Pittsburgh's 1st non-Opening Day sellout since 1977, a crowd of 44,119 sees Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon combine on a 10-inning no-hitter as the Pirates down the Astros, 3-0, on a 10th-inning pinch home run by Mark Smith. Cordova hurls the 1st nine innings while Rincon hurls the 10th and gets the win. The victory keeps the Pirates in a tie for 1st place with the Astros in the National League Central.
»June 16, 1998: The Phillies trail the Pirates, 71, heading into the bottom of the 9th. They fight back against relievers Ricardo Rincon and Rich Loiselle, however, to score seven runs in their half of the frame for an 87 victory.
»November 18, 1998: In a good swap for Pittsburgh, the Indians trade OF Brian Giles to the Pirates for P Ricardo Rincon.
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