Willie Hernandez Stats

Willie Hernandez was born on Sunday, November 14, 1954, in Aguada, Puerto Rico. Hernandez was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 9, 1977, with the Chicago Cubs. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Willie Hernandez baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Willie Hernandez was one of the most colorful performers our town ever had. I do not mean to be disrespectful by calling him 'Willie' instead of 'Guillermo' but now that he is gone to play for the Oakland A's Triple-A team in Tacoma, I feel I can do this, because it was as Willie Hernandez that he brought us all the excitement - all that electricity - in that remarkable 1984 season. What set him apart from most players on the Tigers is that he touched us all whenever he came in to pitch. You always felt something stir within you whenever he was heading to the mound. It could be good, or it could be bad, but no one could ever ignore Willie Hernandez's presence in a baseball game. Some would cheer and some would boo, but we all wondered what he was going to do. He could get them out with that sinking screwball bending it like a pretzel, or he might groove a fastball and it would wind up bounding aroud in the upper deck for another shattering loss. You just never knew what was going to happen... and this was the essence of Willie Hernandez in Detroit." - Falls, Joe. Detroit Free Press Staff Writer. Hernandez was MVP of '84 season. 29 February 1990. Reprinted From They Earned Their Stripes: The Detroit Tigers' All-Time Team. Whitt, Alan. Editor. Sports Publishing LLC. 1 April 2001. Page 158.

Willie Hernandez

Willie Hernandez Autograph on a 1984 Topps Baseball Card (#51T)

Willie Hernandez Autograph on a 1984 Topps Baseball Card (#51T)

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Birth Name:   Guillermo Hernández
Nickname:   Willie
Born On:   11-14-1954  (Scorpio)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Aguada, Puerto Rico
Year of Death Data Died On:   11-20-2023 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Sebring, Florida
Cemetery:   Cementerio Monte Cristo, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
High School:   Martin Hernandez High School (Aguada, Puerto Rico)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Left
Player Height Chart Height:   6-03   Player Weight Chart Weight:   180
First Game:   04-09-1977 (Age 22)
Last Game:   08-18-1989
Draft:   Undrafted Free Agent / Signing Bonus = $25,000

Willie Hernandez

Willie Hernandez Pitching Stats

1977 23 Cubs 67 1 23 8 7 .533 3.03 0 0 4 110.0 437 94 37 42 11 28 9 78 8 1 3 -
1978 24 Cubs 54 0 21 8 2 .800 3.77 0 0 3 59.2 264 57 25 26 6 35 7 38 3 1 0 -
1979 25 Cubs 51 2 19 4 4 .500 5.01 0 0 0 79.0 359 85 44 50 8 39 12 53 3 4 1 -
1980 26 Cubs 53 7 13 1 9 .100 4.40 0 0 0 108.1 473 115 53 58 8 45 4 75 6 2 1 -
1981 27 Cubs 12 0 3 0 0 .000 3.95 0 0 2 13.2 62 14 6 7 0 8 2 13 2 0 0 -
1982 28 Cubs 75 0 30 4 6 .400 3.00 0 0 10 75.0 312 74 25 26 3 24 11 54 0 1 0 -
1983 29 Cubs 11 1 4 1 0 1.000 3.20 0 0 1 19.2 80 16 7 8 0 6 1 18 0 0 0 -
1983 29 Phillies 63 0 27 8 4 .667 3.29 0 0 7 95.2 398 93 35 39 9 26 7 75 5 1 0 -
1984 30 Tigers 80 0 68 9 3 .750 1.92 0 0 32 140.1 548 96 30 30 6 36 8 112 2 4 0 -
1985 31 Tigers 74 0 64 8 10 .444 2.70 0 0 31 106.2 415 82 32 38 13 14 2 76 2 1 0 -
1986 32 Tigers 64 0 53 8 7 .533 3.55 0 0 24 88.2 376 87 35 35 13 21 1 77 2 5 1 -
1987 33 Tigers 45 0 31 3 4 .429 3.67 0 0 8 49.0 217 53 20 27 8 20 7 30 1 0 0 -
1988 34 Tigers 63 0 38 6 5 .545 3.06 0 0 10 67.2 284 50 23 24 8 31 6 59 3 4 3 -
1989 35 Tigers 32 0 25 2 2 .500 5.74 0 0 15 31.1 141 36 20 21 4 16 2 30 0 1 1 -
13 Years 744 11 419 70 63 .526 3.38 0 0 147 1,044.2 4,366 952 392 431 97 349 79 788 37 25 10 -

Willie Hernandez

Willie Hernandez Hitting Stats

1977 23 Cubs 67 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 3 0 0 0 .063 .063 .063
1978 24 Cubs 55 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1979 25 Cubs 52 8 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 .250 .250 .375
1980 26 Cubs 53 19 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 1 0 0 0 .211 .211 .263
1981 27 Cubs 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1982 28 Cubs 75 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 .000 .250 .000
1983 29 Cubs 11 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500
1983 29 Phillies 63 13 2 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 .385 .385 .385
1984 30 Tigers 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1985 31 Tigers 74 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1986 32 Tigers 64 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1987 33 Tigers 45 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1988 34 Tigers 63 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1989 35 Tigers 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
13 Years 747 63 4 13 2 0 0 0 3 1 0 29 6 0 0 0 .206 .219 .238

Willie Hernandez

Willie Hernandez Fielding Stats

1977 Cubs P 67 1 330 35 0.5 35 8 27 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.86
1978 Cubs P 54 0 179 14 0.3 14 2 12 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.11
1979 Cubs P 51 2 237 16 0.3 15 4 11 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .938 1.71
1980 Cubs P 53 7 325 32 0.6 32 12 20 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.66
1981 Cubs P 12 0 41 3 0.3 3 0 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.98
1982 Cubs P 75 0 225 28 0.4 27 5 22 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .964 3.24
1983 Cubs P 11 1 59 5 0.5 5 1 4 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.29
1983 Phillies P 63 0 287 14 0.2 14 1 13 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.32
1984 Tigers P 80 0 421 19 0.2 19 5 14 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.22
1985 Tigers P 74 0 320 15 0.2 14 7 7 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .933 1.18
1986 Tigers P 64 0 266 19 0.3 19 6 13 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.93
1987 Tigers P 45 0 147 7 0.2 6 2 4 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .857 1.10
1988 Tigers P 63 0 203 18 0.3 18 3 15 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.39
1989 Tigers P 32 0 94 6 0.2 6 2 4 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.72
P Totals 744 11 3,134 231 0.3 227 58 169 4 12 n/a n/a n/a .983 1.96
13 Years 744 11 3,134 231 0.3 227 58 169 4 12 n/a n/a n/a .983 1.96

Willie Hernandez

Willie Hernandez Miscellaneous Stats

1977 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 1.8 0.0 2.79 6.38 2.29
1978 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.09 5.73 5.28
1979 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 1.6 8.0 1.36 6.04 4.44
1980 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.7 19.0 1.67 6.23 3.74
1981 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.63 8.56 5.27
1982 Cubs 1 0 1.000 0 0 n/a 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.25 6.48 2.88
1983 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.00 8.24 2.75
1983 Phillies 1 0 1.000 0 1 n/a 0.0 2.6 13.0 2.88 7.06 2.45
1984 Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.11 7.18 2.31
1985 Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.43 6.41 1.18
1986 Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.67 7.82 2.13
1987 Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.50 5.51 3.67
1988 Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.90 7.85 4.12
1989 Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.88 8.62 4.60
13 Years 2 0 1.000 0 3 0 0.0 2.2 21.0 2.26 6.79 3.01

Willie Hernandez

Willie Hernandez Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1977 Chicago Cubs 38 $25,000.00 - -
1978 Chicago Cubs 38 $26,500.00 - -
1979 Chicago Cubs 38 $31,000.00 - -
1980 Chicago Cubs 38 $55,000.00 - -
1981 Chicago Cubs 38 $65,000.00 - -
1982 Chicago Cubs 38 $125,000.00 - -
1983 Chicago Cubs 38 $225,000.00 - -
1983 Philadelphia Phillies 48 "     "     - Stats
1984 Detroit Tigers 21 $530,000.00 Stats Stats
1985 Detroit Tigers 21 $660,000.00 Stats -
1986 Detroit Tigers 21 $960,000.00 Stats -
1987 Detroit Tigers 21 $1,060,000.00 - -
1988 Detroit Tigers 21 $1,210,000.00 - -
1989 Detroit Tigers 21 $1,310,000.00 - -

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Guillermo Hernández was a Major League Baseball player with the Chicago Cubs (1977-1983), Philadelphia Phillies (1983), and Detroit Tigers (1984-1989). Willie, his nickname, took the mound in sixty-seven games during his first season in the majors, only the second Cubs pitcher in franchise history to appear in sixty-or-more games during their first season – a still-standing franchise mark. Whose record, sixty-three games pitched in 1880, did Hernandez break? [Answer]

Willie Hernandez Rookie Card | Baseball Almanac

Willie Hernandez Rookie Card | 1978 Topps Baseball Card (#99 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

In 1984, Aurelio Lopez "almost" set a Detroit Tigers record for games pitched in a season when he took the mound in 71 games, breaking the mark of 69 games set in 1971, by Fred Scherman. Almost, because that same season, Willie Hernandez broke the record himself, appearing in 80 games, the first Detroit Tigers pitcher to appear in 80 games in a single season. Hernandez has since lost the record, a few times, and it's currently 88 games, held by Mike Myers (1997) and Sean Runyan (1998).

Willie Hernandez was the sixth pitcher in American League history to pitch in 80-or-more games, joining John Wyatt (81 GP in 1964), Eddie Fisher (82 GP in 1965), Wilbur Wood (88 GP in 1968), Ken Sanders (83 GP in 1971) and Mike Marshall (90 GP in 1979).

Did you know that Willie Hernandez was the first left-handed pitcher in American League history to win a Cy Young Award, a Most Valuable Player Award, and a World Series ring, all in the same season (1984)? Sandy Koufax (1963) was the first lefty from the National League (as well as the first ever).

Willie Hernandez won the 1984 American League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP), the sixth Detroit Tiger to win the MVP (Mickey Cochrane, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, Hal Newhouser, Denny McLain), their third pitcher (Hal Newhouser, Denny McLain), their first relief pitcher. [Other relief pitchers who won an MVP, before Willie (from either league), were Jim Konstanty, Rollie Fingers, and Dennis Eckersley.]

Willie Hernandez, Cy Young Award

Willie Hernandez Wins Cy Young | The Index-Journal | 31 October 1984 | Page 12
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Willie Hernandez hung up his cleats in 1989, pitching in 744 games, and recording 147 saves, each stat the most by any pitcher born in Puerto Rico (each mark since broken by Roberto Hernandez). On Monday, November 20, 2023, Willie Hernandez died at his home in Sebring, Florida. He was 69-years-old.