Rincón was a
left-handed specialist who spent nearly his entire career as a
middle reliever and
setup pitcher. In his 11-year career, Rincón never started a game and only accumulated 21
saves; he is generally credited with 109
holds. Rincón played for several teams in Mexico before being signed by the
Pittsburgh Pirates in , breaking into the major leagues at the relatively advanced age of 27. Rincón was part of a combined
no-hitter on July 12, 1997. After
Francisco Córdova threw nine
innings of no-hit ball, Rincón relieved him and pitched a scoreless 10th. Teammate
Mark Smith then hit a three-run
walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th to give Rincón the
win. On July 30, 2002, the Indians traded him to the
Oakland Athletics for
Marshall McDougall. He later pitched for the
St. Louis Cardinals and
New York Mets. Rincón played for his native Mexico in the
2006 World Baseball Classic, appearing in four games. Shortly after the Classic and five games into his Cardinal career, Rincón experienced shoulder pain and later underwent surgery to repair a torn
labrum and
rotator cuff. He also had
Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.{{cite web He threw a four-seam
fastball,
slider,
changeup, and two-seam fastball. He is currently married to his wife Jaqueline, they have two children, a daughter, Damaris, and a son, Ricardo, Jr. He is a subject of the 2003 book
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and the
2011 film based on the book. ==Notes==