Veteran Charlotte Sting hurler Eduardo Amaro has announced that he will call it quits on his professional baseball career at the end of the current season.
Amaro, currently working out of the Charlotte bullpen, much to his dismay, has had a checkered, but fascinating WPK career. Twice the soft-spoken (some would say introverted) Amaro has led the league in losses and he has always been prone to giving up the long-ball, leading the SJL in that dubious category in 1970 when he allowed 35 homers. He also led the league in walks allowed that year with a whopping 128.
On the other hand, for three seasons- from 1966 through 1968- it could be argued he was one of the more dominant starting pitchers in the game. He went 21-11 with a 2.89 ERA in 1967 as the clear ace of the 4th place Pittsburgh Roadrunners. He followed that up with a 18-12, 2.23 performance in 1968. (Admittedly, this was a year of dominant pitching, but his numbers are still not to be sneered at.) Amaro led the league in strikeouts in 1966 and was among the leaders the following 2 years as well, with his highest total coming in 1968 when he fanned 219 batters.
He has also been one of the best hitting pitchers in the game, having won 6 Silver Slugger awards in his 10 WPK seasons. In 1972 he put up a slash line of .296/.345/.383 in 94 plate appearances. And his 3 Gold Glove awards testify to his overall athleticism.
Although Amaro appears to be limping towards the finish line of his career, with 10 years in the bigs and a WAR of 21.5 he can certainly say he accomplished far more than most who have the honor of playing the great game of baseball for a living.