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Pitcher Jose DeLeon, who spent parts of five of his 13 major-league seasons with the White Sox, died Sunday in the Dominican Republic after a battle with cancer. He was 63.
DeLeon, who led the National League with 201 strikeouts for the Cardinals in 1989, started 13 and 31 games for the Sox in 1986 and '87, respectively, posting ERAs of 2.96 and 4.02.
He pitched again for the Sox in 1993, appearing in 11 games as part of their American League West championship with a 1.74 ERA. In the 1994 season that was abbreviated by a players' strike while the Sox were in first place in August, DeLeon appeared in 42 games, pitching to a 3.36 ERA.
“Jose was a terrific teammate and passionate about people,” said Dan Evans, the Sox' assistant general manager during DeLeon's playing days. “He had an above-average repertoire and helped us when we badly needed a starter in the mid-1980s, and then contributed a lot from the bullpen in the 1990s.”
With a career 86-119 record and a 3.76 ERA, DeLeon was known as something of a tough-luck pitcher. He was the first to have at least 1,500 strikeouts but not win 100 games, a feat later accomplished by Kerry Wood and Oliver Perez.
DeLeon debuted with the Pirates in 1983 and finished seventh in NL Rookie of the Year voting after going 7-3 with a 2.83 ERA in 15 starts with three complete games. He struggled with the Pirates after that and was traded to the Sox for Bobby Bonilla during the 1986 season after going 2-19 in 1985.
The Sox traded DeLeon to the Cardinals for outfielder Lance Johnson in 1988 and traded closer Bobby Thigpen to the Phillies to get him back in 1993.
“I'm saddened to hear of Jose's passing,” said former Sox and Pirates manager Gene Lamont, who had DeLeon as a pitcher the '90s. “That's too bad. He was a really good pitcher for a lot of years and a super guy. He was always ready to pitch.”