Sanguillén was born in
Colón, Panama. Author Kal Wagenheim, who interviewed Sanguillen among many others while researching his 1973 biography of
Roberto Clemente, notes that the Pirates' catcher came to baseball remarkably late. Sanguillen grew up in a tough barrio and didn't touch a baseball until he was nineteen, when he heard a pastor preaching sermons on a street corner, joined the Evangelical Baptist Church, and became a member of the church team. Two years later he was signed to play professional baseball. On the field, Sanguillen was notorious for being a "bad-ball" hitter. Sanguillen was a valuable member of the world champion
1971 Pirates. He had his best year in terms of offensive production by hitting for a .319 batting average, while hitting 7
home runs and 81
runs batted in. The Pirates won the National League Eastern Division pennant by 7 games over the
St. Louis Cardinals, then defeated the
San Francisco Giants in the
1971 National League Championship Series, before winning the
World Series against the
Baltimore Orioles. In the seven-game series, Sanguillen had a .379 batting average with 11 hits, second only to the 12 hits by
Roberto Clemente. After the tragic death of Roberto Clemente before the
1973 season, the Pirates slated Sanguillen to take Clemente's place in
right field. By mid-June, it was apparent that Sanguillen couldn't adapt to playing the
outfield and he was moved back to the catcher's position. In
1977, Sanguillen was traded by the Pirates to the
Oakland Athletics for the services of then-A's manager
Chuck Tanner and $100,000 as a settlement of Tanner's contract with the A's. After one season with the A's, Sanguillen was traded back to the Pirates for
Miguel Diloné and
Elías Sosa. His playing time diminished further in
1979, playing in only 56 games, although he contributed a two-
out, game-winning
single and RBI for the Pirates in Game 2 of the
1979 World Series against the
Orioles. The
1980 season was Sanguillen's last in the majors, ==Career statistics==