José Miguel Torres Fornieles

Baseball player in the Cuban Professional Baseball League. The child prodigy of Cuban baseball in the 1950s. Elected to the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.

He was born in Havana in the Reparto Sevillano neighborhood. Known as Mike Fornieles, he made his Major League debut in 1952 with the Chicago White Sox.

He made his debut at age 20 in 1952 with the Tigres de Marianao uniform. However, just as it later happened to Pedro Ramos, his professional debut was in the United States. His first major impact in the winter circuit was winning the Rookie of the Year award in the aforementioned 1952-1953 season.

Those who saw him pitch say that, despite his youth, he would take the mound and seek to get outs with the composure of veterans.

In the eight seasons he played in Cuba, "Mike" was a key player in the ranks of Marianao, the team with which he played his entire career in the island circuit.

Three times he won more than ten games in a season, he obtained several pitching titles and finished his work among the top ten before the start of the National Series in total victories, games pitched and losses.

After the transition of the professional system to the amateur league in the winter circuit, he left the country where he was developed as a baseball player and ended his career in North America.

He made his debut with Los Tigres De Marianao and with Los Senadores De Washington. Most importantly, in his Major League debut, he pitched a one-hit shutout against Los Atléticos de Filadelfia, blanking them 5-0 in the second game of a doubleheader held on September 2, 1952.

Fornieles was signed by Joe Candria in 1951. He began his meteoric career with Big Spring of the Longhorn League, a Class "C" league, with a record of 17-6. He later played with Los Habana Cubans of the International League in Florida in 1952, where he won 14 and lost 12. That same year Fornieles made his Major League debut with Los Senadores de Washington.

Fornieles remained in Major Leagues for 12 years, where he played with Washington, White Sox, Red Sox and Minnesota.

Finishing with a win-loss record of 63-64 and an ERA of 3.96, with 421 walks and 576 strikeouts.

He ended his career with Marianao in the Cuban League after 9 years, with a record of 70-63, 606 strikeouts and 370 walks.

He died in St. Petersburg, Florida