Aurelio López

Who was Aurelio López?

Aurelio Alejandro López Rios was a Mexican professional baseball player. After pitching for several years in the Mexican League, he spent eleven seasons with four teams in Major League Baseball. He acquired the nickname "Señor Smoke" in Detroit, while he was known as "El Buitre de Tecamachalco" in Mexico. López was discovered in his hometown by Mexican League scouts and converted from a starting pitcher to a relief pitcher.

López led the Mexico City Reds to the 1974 Mexican League World Series, then made a brief MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals before returning to the Mexican League. López was named the 1977 Mexican League Most Valuable Player. He returned to the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1978 and pitched for the Detroit Tigers between 1979 and 1985. López finished seventh in the Cy Young Award voting in 1979. He earned a 10–1 record and 14 saves for Detroit's 1984 World Series championship team.

López returned to the postseason with Houston in 1986, but he was the losing pitcher in Game Five of that year's National League Championship Series. By the end of his MLB career, López earned a 62–36 win–loss record, 93 saves and a 3.56 earned run average. After his retirement from baseball, López served as municipal president of his hometown of Tecamachalco, Puebla, Mexico from 1989 until his death. He was killed in an automobile accident in 1992. López was inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame the following year.