When the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961, they brought with them some of the hottest pitchers in baseball in Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, and Jack Kralick (not to mention young future-Hall of Famer Jim Kaat.)
Pascual—who Ted Williams said had the most feared curveball in the American League—was sensational over the Twins’ first four seasons in Minnesota. He led the American League in strikeouts in 1961, ’62, and ’63, and led the majors in shutouts in 1959, ’61, and ’62.
He pitched back-to-back shutouts three separate times during the Twins’ inaugural 1961 season, and once again in 1962.
On July 19, 1961, he struck out 15 Angels in a five-hit shutout at L.A.’s Wrigley Field—a team record tied several times, but not broken until Johan Santana struck out 17 in just eight innings on August 19, 2007. (Joe Nathan came in for the save in that game.)
On September 30, 1962 (Game 163), Pascual pitched a three-hit shutout to become the first 20-game winner in Twins history. He won 21 games in 1963.
Over the six-year period from 1958 to 1963, no pitcher in MLB racked up a higher cumulative WAR (32.0 as retroactively calculated by Baseball Reference.)
On April 27, 1965, he hit the only grand slam by a pitcher in Twins history. He had also hit a grand slam on August 14, 1960—the Senators’ final season in Washington.
In December 1966, the Twins traded Pascual to the new expansion Senators for second baseman Bernie Allen. Altogether, Pascual’s major league career spanned 18 seasons, from 1954 to 1971.
Following his playing career, Pascual became a scout. Two of his more noteworthy signings were Jose Canseco for the Athletics in 1982, and Alex Cora for the Dodgers in 1996.
Camilo Pascual was inducted as the 24th member of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame on July 14, 2012.
Fun Fact: Camilo’s brother Carlos pitched two games for the Washington Senators in 1950.