A major-league pitcher for 18 seasons — mostly with the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins — Pascual won 174 games, which ranks fourth behind Luis Tiant (229), Adolfo Luque (194) and Mike Cuellar (185) for career wins by Cuban-born pitchers. Pascual was a seven-time all-star.
In the Cuban League, he compiled a 58-32 record with a 2.04 ERA, mostly with Cienfuegos, according to Who’s Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961. Pascual the league’s MVP in 1955-56, twice led the league in strikeouts (108 in 1958-59 and 163 in 1959-60) and twice won 15 games in a season (1956-57 and 1959-60).
He was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
I wish I had been of age to see Camilo pitch. As it was, I grew up watching fellow Twin Bert Blyleven pitch. A recent comment which impressed me was that Pascual's curveball was much better than Blyleven's. As it is, it took far too long for Camilo to be given recognition by the Twins. Better late than never!
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