Supported by the power of his left arm, Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman, from the Pittsburgh Pirates, reached glory once again this Saturday by becoming the left-handed reliever with the most strikeouts in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB).
At 36 years old, the Holguín native struck out Travis d'Arnaud and pinch-hitter Sean Murphy in the ninth inning, although the Pirates fell 1-2 to the Atlanta Braves in 10 innings.
In this way, Chapman surpassed Billy Wagner's mark of 1,196 and continues to make enough merits to be part of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame when he decides to end his career.
"Without a doubt, I left knowing that I was two strikeouts away from tying the record or moving forward," he said through an interpreter. "Yes, I was trying to achieve that today," he added according to ESPN.
Currently, the Cuban flamethrower has 49 strikeouts in the season and a couple of saves, which bring his total to 323, just one behind Huston Street in the 20th position of all time since this statistic became official in 1969.
After winning the last World Series with the Texas Rangers, Chapman signed a one-year contract for 10.5 million dollars to defend the Pittsburgh team and prove that he still has that almost unique strength when it comes to sending the ball towards home plate in the MLB.
It is worth remembering that in 2023, the Cuban received the certificate officially accrediting him as the Guinness World Record holder for the fastest pitch in baseball history: 105.8 miles per hour (mph), achieved in 2010.
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