Monteagudo was born in
Caibarién,
Villa Clara Province,
Cuba. He moved to
Venezuela after
Fidel Castro's rise to power in his homeland. As a 19-year-old rookie, Monteagudo made his majors debut with the
Kansas City Athletics on September 1, 1963. After three-plus seasons with Kansas City, he was dealt to the
Houston Astros on May 17, 1966. At the end of the season, he received
Venezuelan
citizenship. Then, he joined the
Chicago White Sox on July 16, 1967, with a new nationality. After a season in Chicago, he played with the
Kansas City Royals (1970) and
California Angels (1973). Monteagudo was traded along with
Chris Coletta from the Angels to the
Phillies for
Denny Doyle at the
Winter Meetings on December 6, 1973, completing a transaction from four months earlier on August 14 when Philadelphia purchased
Billy Grabarkewitz's contract from California. In seven seasons, Monteagudo compiled a 3–7 record with 58
strikeouts, a 5.05
ERA, four
saves, and 132
innings pitched in 72 games (65 as a
reliever). He played his final majors game on September 28, 1973. Monteagudo also played 20 seasons in the
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League with five teams:
Caracas (1963–68),
Magallanes (1968),
La Guaira (1968–74, 1976–82) and
Portuguesa (1975), compiling a 79–81 record with 897 strikeouts and a 3.37 ERA. On December 20, 1973, Monteagudo kept the
Cardenales de Lara hitless for innings until Faustino Zabala ruined the
no-hitter with a
single to
center field. At the same time, Monteagudo played in the
Mexican League with the
Puebla,
Coahuila,
Aguascalientes and
Veracruz clubs. He pitched a no-hitter game against
Nuevo Laredo (March 19, 1979) and led the league in strikeouts once (222, in 1978). After retiring in 1981, he started a successful
managerial career in the league. Aurelio Monteagudo was killed in a car accident in
Saltillo,
Mexico nine days before his 47th birthday. ==See also==