Héctor Fajardo Nabaratte (born November 16, 1970, in Sahuayo

Sahuayo

Sahuayo is a city in the state of Michoacán, in western México, near the southern shore of Lake Chapala. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name...

, Michoacán

Michoacán

Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...

, Mexico) is a former Mexican

Mexican people

Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

 major league baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 player. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

 and Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers (baseball)

The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...

 in a career that spanned 4 years, from 1991 to 1995.

Minor leagues

Fajardo was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Mexico City Red Devils on April 2, 1989. He played that season with the Gulf Coast League Pirates. Over the next two seasons, he worked his way through the Pirates organization. Fajardo was nicknamed "Senor Lluvia" or "Mr. Rain" because of how many of the games he was expected to start were rained out.

1991 season

Fajardo had surgery in the off-season to remove bone chips from his arm and his fastball improved significantly, from 85 mph to 93-95 mph. As his fastball and forkball were his main pitches, this marked a key transition. He also threw a curveball and changeup. He pitched at almost every level of the Pirates farm system, leading the club's minor leaguers with 151 strikeouts overall. In a minor-league game in 1991, he broke 9 of opponents bats while pitching.

Fajardo played his first games in the major leagues with the Pirates, making his major league debut on August 10. He was traded by the Pirates to the Texas Rangers on September 6, 1991, completing a trade in which Pittsburgh Pirates traded Kurt Miller

Kurt Miller

Kurt Everett Miller is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played parts of five seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1994 and 1999, for the Chicago Cubs and Florida Marlins...

 and a player to be named later to Texas Rangers for Steve Buechele

Steve Buechele

Steven Bernard Buechele is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. Buechele played from to for the Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Cubs. He joined the Rangers in after he was named the Tom Grieve Minor League Player of the Year...

. He appeared in 6 games that season, being the starting pitcher in 5 of those games, recording a 9.95 ERA with Pittsburgh, and a 5.68 ERA with Texas. In total, he struck out 23 batters with 9 earned run

Earned run

In baseball, an earned run is any run for which the pitcher is held accountable . Any runner who tags his base and reaches home plate is scored against the pitcher as an earned run...

s in 25.1 innings pitched

Innings pitched

In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...

.

1992 season

Héctor Fajardo did not play in the major leagues in 1992, spending the entire season in the minor leagues, and was limited with injuries throughout the year, spending time with the Oklahoma City 89ers, Tulsa Drillers

Tulsa Drillers

The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies major-league club.-Stadium:...

 (2-1, 2.16), Charlotte Rangers

Charlotte Rangers

The Charlotte Rangers, based in Port Charlotte, Florida, were an American minor league baseball team that existed from 1987 through 2002. The team played at Charlotte County Stadium as a Class A Florida State League affiliate of the Texas Rangers, who at the time made their spring training base in...

 and GCL Rangers for a total of 11 games.

1993 season

Fajardo continued to be plagued by injuries in the '93 season, pitching only 2/3 of an inning with the Rangers. He pitched in two games for Charlotte and recorded six starts for the GCL Rangers.

1994 season

1994, his official rookie season, was the year Fajardo finally got a real audition with the Rangers, pitching in the rotation for 3 months, pitching 5-7 with a 6.91 ERA in 18 appearances and 83.1 innings pitched and recording 45 strikeouts. After his time in MLB, he was demoted to the Oklahoma City 89ers, where he was 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA.

1995 season

Like 1991-1993, Fajardo had few appearances in the majors, pitching only 15 innings, and recording a 7.80 ERA. He was traded to the Expos for Lou Frazier

Lou Frazier

Arthur Louis Frazier is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played all or part of five seasons in the majors, between 1993 and 1998, for the Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers, and Chicago White Sox. He was primarily a left fielder.From 2007-2008 Frazier was the first base coach for the...

. He didn't play with the Expos, and was instantly demoted to the Ottawa Lynx

Ottawa Lynx

The Ottawa Lynx were a minor league baseball team that formerly competed in the Triple-A International League from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over the team's 15 seasons, it was the Triple-A Minor League affiliate of the Montreal Expos , Baltimore...

, where he had 11 relief appearance, not recording any decisions, and a 4.11 ERA.

Back to the Mexican League

In 1996, Fajardo returned to the Mexican League. He played there until 1998.