Pete Mesa

Richard Peter Mesa

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• School San Jose City College, Stanford University

• Born August 29, 1929 in Santa Monica, CA USA
• Died January 2, 2014 in Los Altos, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Pete Mesa played in the minor leagues for 9 seasons, including multiple campaigns at the Open and Triple-A levels.

He began his career in 1950, in the Cleveland Indians system, and remained there through 1957. He was 3-3 with a 6.53 ERA for the 1950 Bakersfield Indians, walking 73 in 73 innings. In '51, he improved to 8-8, 4.20 for Bakersfield with 103 walks in 150 frames. In a high-walk era, he did not make the California League top 20 in walks. In 1952, he won 15 games but lost 18 for the Wichita Indians; he had a 3.83 ERA. His walk rate continued to drop (146 in 270 IP) and he whiffed 201. He tied Lou Ciola and Mario Picone for 7th in the Western League in wins, tied Dutch Romberger for the most losses, was third in complete games (20, behind Connie Johnson and Bob Giddings), led in innings pitched (17 ahead of Giddings), was second in hits allowed (243, trailing Giddings), was second in runs allowed (137, 17 shy of Jack Bruner), was second in earned runs (115, 5 behind Bruner), was third in walks (behind Marvin Williams and Bruner) and was second in whiffs (trailing Johnson by 32).

He didn't play in 1953 or 1954, likely due to service in the Korean War. Upon returning from his time away from professional baseball in 1955 - rattled off three seasons of 10-plus victories. He split 1955 between the Reading Indians (12-6, 4.30) and Indianapolis Indians (6 GP). He tied Zach Monroe for 9th in the Eastern League in wins. In '56, he had a 13-12, 3.85 record for the San Diego Padres. He tied Charlie Beamon, Dick Drott, Bud Podbielan and Ben Wade for 10th in the 1956 PCL in wins; every other hurler with 13 or more wins played in the majors during their career. Mesa tied Russ Kemmerer and Wade for 9th in complete games (13), was third in innings (240 2/3, trailing Rene Valdez and Bill Werle) but led in walks (137, 29 more than runner-up Drott).

In 1957, he fell to 10-11, 4.06 for the Padres with 96 walks in 170 2/3 IP. He tied Marshall Bridges for 4th in the 1957 PCL in free passes. That winter, he was 0-3 with a 5.21 ERA for the Leones del Caracas. On February 25, 1958, he was traded to the Washington Senators for infielder Milt Bolling. He was 7-11 with a 3.47 ERA for the '58 Sacramento Solons with 122 strikeouts to 55 walks in 158 innings. He was 4th in the 1958 Pacific Coast League in whiffs behind Bridges, Dom Zanni and Art Fowler, all of whom worked at least 43 more innings. His 11 wild pitches, though, tied Russ Heman, Ted Wieand and Larry Sherry for third place.

In the 1959 Caribbean Series, he was 0-1 with 8 walks in 8 IP for the Azucareros of Panama. He led the Series in walks. He went 7-5 with a 5.21 ERA for the 1959 Denver Bears and issued 78 walks in 114 innings. He split his final campaign, 1960, between the Salem Senators (3-6, 3.17) and Portland Beavers (0-2, 8.10, 21 BB in 20 IP). Mesa played in the Open level in 1956 and 1957. He was at Triple-A in 1955 and from 1958 to 1960. He finished 78-82 in the minor leagues.

After baseball, he went to earned an advanced degree in education. He taught English and coached at Sunnyvale High School, scouted for the Mets, was principal of San Jose High School and was a superintendent of a couple of school districts. He taught at Stanford, San Jose State University and Mills College.

Sources

• Obituary
• 1951 and 1953 Baseball Guides
• Purapelota
• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman