Pedro Borbon, a member of the Big Red Machine and one of the top relievers of his generation, passed away Monday after fighting cancer. He was 65.
Borbon spent 12 years in the majors, 10 of them with the Reds from 1970-79. He was an elite reliever from 1972-77, throwing at least 120 innings each of the six years. He had his best season in 1973, finishing with 11 wins, 14 saves and a 2.16 ERA in 80 appearances.
Overall, Borbon went 69-39 with a 3.52 ERA in 593 career appearances, all but four of them coming out of the pen. He pitched for two World Series champions with the Reds and had a 2.42 ERA in 26 career postseason innings.
Borbon was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2010.
“The entire organization is very sad to hear of the loss of another member of our baseball family,” Reds owner Bob Castellini said. “Pedro was an important contributor to the success of the Big Red Machine, and he always will be remembered for his colorful personality and his contributions to that wonderful time period in our history.”
