José DeLeón, Former MLB Pitcher for White Sox, Pirates and Cardinals, Dead at 63

Former baseball professional José DeLeón has died, the Associated Press reports. He was 63 years old.

The former major league pitcher’s cause of death has not yet been released, although he had health issues, his Dominican Winter League team, Los Leones del Escogido, said, according to the AP. MLB Insider Hector Gomez and Chicago Sun-Times announced that DeLeón had died of cancer.

DeLeón died Sunday night at Cedimat Hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Los Leones del Escogido said, according to the AP. Other details were not immediately available.

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Jose DeLeon.

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During his 13 seasons in the MLB, DeLeón played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos, writes CBS Sports. It operated from 1983 to 1995.

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Former Sox and Pirates manager Gene Lamont, who worked with DeLeon in the 1990s, told Sun-Times he was “saddened” by the player’s death.

“I am saddened to hear of Jose’s passing,” Lamont said. “That’s really bad. He was a really good pitcher for many years and a great guy. He was always ready to throw.”

Jose DeLeon.

Ron Vesely/Getty

“Jose was a great teammate and passionate about people,” said Dan Evans, who was the White Sox’s general manager when DeLeón was with the team. Sun-Times. “He had an above-average repertoire and helped us when we desperately needed a starter in the mid-1980s, and then contributed a lot out of the bullpen in the 1990s.”

DeLeón’s professional highlights include his major league debut on July 23, 1983, in which he struck out nine over eight innings in a 5–2 victory against the San Francisco Giants. In 1989, DeLeón led the National League with 201 strikeouts.

He also made 415 appearances, including 264 starts, during his career.

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