Dominican pitcher Pedro Borbón passes away

Pedro Borbón, a Dominican pitcher that won two World Series titles with the Reds passed away at his home in Texas on Monday. He was a member of the bullpen on the Big Red Machine championship teams of 1975 and '76.

Borbón led the majors in appearances from 1970-78 and is still the Reds career leader in appearances with 531. He had a career 3.52 ERA in 593 appearances. He was the consummate set-up reliever before there were even set-up guys in baseball.

The Dominican Baseball Guy really did not know much about Borbón as a player. He is best known to myself and my generation for appearing in the movie Airplane. Main character Ted Striker is heard thinking "Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon...Manny Mota...Mota...Mota." The funny thing is that Manny Mota and Borbon never actually played on the same team, and both were Dominican baseball players. Just another quirk of the hilarious movie.

After hearing more and more about Borbón, it is obvious that he was one of the top releivers of his generation, not just a cultural icon from the movie.

The Dominican pitcher Borbón was from Santa Cruz de Mao, Dominican Republic.

Dominican pitcher Pedro Borbón was a two time World champion with the Reds