Roger Moret

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Rogelio Moret

|position=Pitcher

|image=1974 Boston Red Sox Yearbook Cards Roger Moret (cropped).jpg

|bats=Switch

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date|1949|9|16}}

|birth_place=Guayama, Puerto Rico

|death_date={{Death date and age|2020|12|7|1949|9|16}}

|death_place=Guayama, Puerto Rico

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 13

|debutyear=1970

|debutteam=Boston Red Sox

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=June 16

|finalyear=1978

|finalteam=Texas Rangers

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=47–27

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=3.66

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=408

|teams=

Boston Red Sox ({{mlby|1970}}–{{mlby|1975}})
Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|1976}})
Texas Rangers ({{mlby|1977}}–{{mlby|1978}})

}}

Rogelio "Roger" Moret Torres (September 16, 1949{{spnd}}December 7, 2020) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher from 1970 to 1976 and in 1978 for the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, and the Texas Rangers. Tall and slender, the left-hander was listed as {{convert|6|ft|4|in}} tall and {{convert|170|lb}}.

Career

In 168 games pitched (82 as a starter and 86 as a reliever), Moret posted a career win–loss record of 47–27 and an earned run average of 3.66. He notched 24 complete games, five hits, and 12 saves. He allowed 656 hits and 339 bases on balls in 723{{fraction|1|3}} innings pitched, with 408 strikeouts. Moret led the American League in winning percentage in both 1973 (.867) and 1975 (.824). On August 21, 1974, he hurled a complete-game, one-hit shutout against the Chicago White Sox. An infield single by Chicago slugger Dick Allen in the seventh inning spoiled the no-hitter bid. Moret walked two hitters and fanned 12.{{cite web |title=Boston Red Sox 4, Chicago White Sox 0: Game Played on Wednesday, August 21, 1974 (D) at Fenway Park |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B08210BOS1974.htm |publisher=Retrosheet}}

Moret was a member of the 1975 American League champion Red Sox. After winning 14 of 17 decisions during the regular season in 36 games (including 16 starts), he appeared in four postseason contests. In the ALCS, he was the winning pitcher in relief of Reggie Cleveland in Game 2 against the Oakland Athletics, hurling a scoreless sixth inning and earning the victory when Boston broke a 3–3 tie in their half of the frame. Then, in the 1975 World Series, Moret worked in three games, including the legendary Game 6. He held the Cincinnati Reds scoreless in 1{{fraction|2|3}} innings pitched, although he allowed two hits and three bases on balls, one of those intentional. He was traded to the Braves for Tom House a little more than seven weeks after the conclusion of the Fall Classic on December 12, 1975. At the time, the Braves needed more starting pitching of which the Red Sox had a surplus.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CZguAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nqEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3610,3309039&dq "Braves, Red Sox swap lefties," United Press International (UPI), Saturday, December 13, 1975.] Retrieved May 1, 2020 Nearly one year later on December 9, 1976, Moret was part of a five-for-one trade that sent him, Ken Henderson, Dave May, Adrian Devine, Carl Morton, and $200,000 from the Braves to the Rangers for Jeff Burroughs.[https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/10/archives/braves-trade-5-players-for-rangers-burroughs-morton-moret-among-5.html Chass, Murray. "Braves Trade 5 Players For Rangers’ Burroughs," The New York Times, Friday, December 10, 1976.] Retrieved May 1, 2020

Scheduled to be the starting pitcher against the Detroit Tigers on April 12, 1978, Moret was spotted in the Rangers locker room in a catatonic state, with his arm extended holding a slipper. He was unresponsive to examiners, and was immediately taken to a psychiatric facility and placed on the disabled list. He appeared in only six more games after the incident.[http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/headlines/20121224-ex-rangers-owner-brad-corbett-dies-once-had-4-managers-in-8-days.ece "Ex-Rangers Owner Brad Corbett Dies"], Dallas Morning News, December 24, 2013{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9e2f0fd4|title=Roger Moret|last=Kearney|first=Seamus|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project|accessdate=September 21, 2018}} In the film Fever Pitch, the incident was cited as an instance where the Curse of the Bambino struck the Red Sox, but this is an error, as Moret was no longer with that team.{{cite web| url = http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=merron/050930&num=3| title = ESPN.com: Page 2 : Reel Life: 'Fever Pitch'}}

Moret died on December 7, 2020, in his hometown of Guayama, Puerto Rico, from cancer, at age 71.[https://www.elnuevodia.com/deportes/beisbol/notas/de-luto-el-beisbol-boricua-por-el-fallecimiento-de-rogelio-moret/?fbclid=IwAR1sGNSPRdCQOGWhfyfornZcd_xQ1UgpTn-KxImJJzzfvDTWL3kusnaTx40 De luto el béisbol boricua por el fallecimiento de Rogelio Moret]