The days of the unfiltered athlete died a little bit more on Monday with the passing of former Major League Baseball reliever Pedro Borbón, who succumbed to cancer at the age of 65. During a 12-year career, Borbón pitched for four teams — most notably the Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine — and from 1970 to 1978 threw more innings out of the bullpen than anyone in the National League. His son, Pedro Borbón, Jr. also pitched nine seasons in the big leagues, from 1992 to 2003.
Borbón was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2010, but his legacy in MLB goes far beyond what he accomplished on the mound.
After being traded from Cincinnati to the San Francisco Giants in 1979, one popular legend held that Borbón placed a Pedro Cerrano-style voodoo hex on the Reds until the last member of their front office left the club — which didn't occur until 1990. Though in 2002 Borbón announced the whole story was a hoax, coincidentally the Reds won the NL West in 1979, and didn't capture another division crown until 1990.
In 1973, during a bench-clearing brawl with the New York Mets, Borbón accidentally switched hats with Mets pitcher Buzz Capra without realizing it. Upon figuring out his mistake, Borbón took the hat off, bit it and tore a piece off before tossing it to the ground.
Additionally, a reference to Borbón played a small role in the hit 1980 film Airplane!, where the voices inside the head of a character resemble a public address announcer saying "Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbón, Manny Mota… Mota… Mota."
For the record, Borbón and Mota never played on the same team.
