Playing career

Extremely wild as a youngster, Berenguer learned to harness his sneaky fastball which he liked to throw inside, and added a deceptive forkball. His effectiveness was aided by his intimidating appearance and disposition.

Berenguer was signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in 1975. He later pitched for seven organizations before joining the Minnesota Twins. His breakout season came in 1987, when he posted a 8-1 record with a 3.94 ERA and four saves for the American League champion Twins, en route to the 1987 World Championship over the St. Louis Cardinals. He previously won a World Series ring with the 1984 Champion Detroit Tigers, though he did not play in the Series.

A hard worker, Berenguer was able to threw 100-plus innings out of the bullpen 195 times, with each of them doing so in four seasons for the Twins from 1987-1990, going 35-13 with a 3.70 ERA in 418 ⅓ innings of work in that span.

Unfortunately, Berenguer suffered one of MLB's oddest off-field injuries while pitching for the Atlanta Braves in 1991. On an off day, while he was home wrestling with his kids, he broke his pitching arm and was placed on the disabled list. He ended up missing the remainder of the season, also missing out on the Braves cinderella run to the World Series that year.

Following his Major League career, Berenguer continued to play in the minors. After spending 1993 and part of 1994 in the Mexican League, he returned to Minnesota and pitched for the independent Minneapolis Loons and Southern Minny Stars in the Prairie League. He then signed to pitch for the Duluth-Superior Dukes of the Northern League prior to the 1998 season, but never played for them. In between, he played winter ball in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

After baseball, Berenguer returned to Minnesota, where he worked in marketing for a local television station.

Personal life

Berenguer married Denise Colacurcio. His son Chris is a hockey player with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League.

Sources

[ Source: Wikipedia ]