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THE ROAD RAGE
Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The baseball newsletter that appreciates a good secret handshake.
This one from the Vandy boys is definitely in the handshake HOF.
Let's dive in.
Today's story is about a major-league pitcher that went to prison for murder.
Julio Machado played three years in the big leagues from ‘89-’91.
He was 7-5 with six saves and a 3.12 ERA.
Pretty solid, but after the '91 season he didn't have a big league contract.
He went down south to play in the Venezuelan winter league, and there, his life would change forever.
Machado was playing for the Zulia Eagles, and he went out to a party one night.
On his way home, he was involved in a car accident with a woman named Edicta Vasquez.
Some heated words were exchanged, and Machado snapped.
He pulled out a 9mm pistol and fired two shots, one of which hit Vasquez in the head; killing her instantly.
Four days later, police announced Machado was wanted for questioning, but he was nowhere to be found.
Eventually, he turned himself in and admitted to firing the gun, but said he was innocent of killing Vasquez.
Machado claims that Vasquez's car had tinted windows and he thought he was being robbed.
His lawyer claimed that Julio shot with his left hand, which was supposed to be "proof" that the pitcher didn't mean to kill anyone - because he's a righty.
Machado faced two charges of ”intentional murder” and one charge of illegal possession of a handgun.
After spending two months in jail, the court granted Julio conditional freedom with the stipulation that he could not leave the country.
Coincidentally, right after he got out, thieves stole the prosecutor's car and set it on fire.
In March of '92, Machado reached an "out-of-court settlement" with Vasquez's family, reportedly around $38,000.
Two years later, he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
After Machado served his sentence, he stayed in Venezuela and transitioned into coaching.
SWEET SEATS
Nothing better than spending an afternoon at the diamond, but these days it can get a little pricey.
That’s why Seatgeek is giving Dead Legends subscribers $20 off your next trip to the ballpark.
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STRANGE NAMES
If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.
Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.
If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.
Today's winner is:
To say Frederick “Tricky” Nichols is a baseball OG would be an understatement.
He played for the Boston Red Caps during the inaugural season of the National League, and he also played in two other professional leagues (AA & NA) during his six-year career.
Nichols didn’t have completely terrible numbers, his lifetime ERA was 3.04, but he played on shitty teams - so he took a ton of L’s.
THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE
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