Ugueth Urbina Out of Venezuelan Prison, Throwing 90 mph, Trying to Return to the Bigs

[TheGreatShowtime]

Ugueth Urbina will return to baseball after spending nearly six years in Venezuelan prison | Big League Stew - Yahoo! Sports

You won’t come across many stories more bizarre than those involving former major league reliever Ugueth Urbina over the 2 1/2 year period that led up to his attempted murder conviction in 2007.

If you don’t recall all of the details, in September of 2004, Urbina’s mother, Maura Villarreal, was kidnapped and held for $6 million ransom in their native Venezuela. Urbina’s family steadfastly refused to meet the kidnappers’ demands, which led to a successful commando-style rescue operation and her safe return home a little more than five months later.

Despite that horrifying ordeal, Urbina was able to refocus and continue his big league career in 2005, pitching for both the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers, saving 10 games along the way. He then returned to Venezuela again in the offseason, and that's when his life took an even stranger turn.

On Nov. 7, Urbina was arrested and charged with attempted murder three weeks after being accused of attacking five farm workers on his ranch property with a machete and dousing them in gasoline. At first it was believed the incident was an act of revenge on Urbina's part to get back at people he believed to be involved in his mother's kidnapping, but it was later reported that Urbina had accused the men of stealing his gun and took the law into his own hands.

On March 28, 2007, Urbina was convicted on the attempted murder charges and sentenced to 14 years in a Venezuelan prison. His professional baseball career, which was obviously viewed from a much different perspective by that moment, seemingly going right along with it.

All of that backstory leads us to the here and now, as earlier in the week Urbina was released from prison eight years and three months early for good behavior. His son, Juan Urbina, a pitching prospect in the New York Mets organization, quickly took to Twitter to both confirm and celebrate his father's release.

What has also been confirmed in the wake of Urbina's release is that he managed to stay in shape by continuing to play baseball in prison. Reports out of Venezuela even say that the now 38-year-old right-hander still possesses a fastball that can hit 90 mph, which would be pretty remarkable if true. And it appears we'll soon learn if those reports are in fact true, because Urbina is already prepared to take the first necessary steps towards resuming his career after showing up to University Stadium in Caracas on Friday night with a smile on his face and a clear plan to resume his career in the United States.

"The first order of business is pitching in Venezuela," Urbina told reporters. He also added that he's "more mature" and just "excited to be playing baseball again" after it looked like that opportunity would never be afforded to him, at least on a professional level.

Urbina's comeback attempt will be interesting to say the least. It's not exactly a story I'll be emotionally invested in or actively rooting to see end happily, but just to see what he has left in the tank and which teams might be willing to take the gamble will make it worth following. When all is said and done, I'm guessing we've seen the last of him in MLB, but a comeback from these circumstances would certainly be unique and worth applauding from an athletic standpoint.

Apparently Urbina started as many as three charitable organizations during his time prison as well, which is great to hear. Even if he can't make it all the way back, let's hope he continues to make positive contributions on that level. But above all, let's just hope he's able to make good, sound decisions and find happiness after paying off his debts to society.

 

[TheGregReaper]

Dude has to be older than dirt

I haven't followed baseball in almost 10 years and dude was even back then

 

[Rev]

Good for him...great news that he's out. I know his fine ass wife pretty well. He had it pretty "easy" out in that prison, too.

Hope he can make it back. Tons of teams need relievers anyway. So he could get a shot quickly, I'd imagine, if he's really hitting 90 like that. Gotta see if it would last a season tho.

 

[MikelArteta]

can he even get back into the states?

 

[FaTaL]

has it really been 6 years?



aint nobody signing him

 

[concise]

I bet he gets signed rather quickly (or at least as quickly as a foreigner with a criminal record can).

 

[Soundwave]

Every team needs a goon

 

[Muzion]

That's my former Montreal Expo

 

[Da_Eggman]

marlins will take him

 

[jadillac]

Good for him...great news that he's out. I know his fine ass wife pretty well. He had it pretty "easy" out in that prison, too.

Hope he can make it back. Tons of teams need relievers anyway. So he could get a shot quickly, I'd imagine, if he's really hitting 90 like that. Gotta see if it would last a season tho.

Why is it so "good for him" and why do you "hope he's back" when he committed a crime against undeserving ppl?

 

[madness]

can he even get back into the states?

if he really can throw 90 they'll find a way to let him back into the country

now if he's barely hitting 80 MPH and looking then he better start looking around the venezuelan baseball league for work

 

[Rev]

Why is it so "good for him" and why do you "hope he's back" when he committed a crime against undeserving ppl?

Here we go.

Who knows the real details besides those involved anyway? If I remember correctly from past investigative reports, he did what he did to those contractors because he found them fukkin around on his property. In a place like that & after what happened to his mom, many would go wild on a person if they crossed them the wrong way. So spare me the "undeserving people" bit.

I say good for him because he's outta jail & hope he can get his life back on track. I wish that for many who get outta jail. Nothing wrong with that. Hope he gets back because everybody loves a comeback story.

 

[RedBull]

Why is it so "good for him" and why do you "hope he's back" when he committed a crime against undeserving ppl?

 

[the cool]

Ugeuth what you pay for

 

[No_bammer_weed]

you would want a cat that sliced someone up with a machete and then tried to light a nicca on fire in your clubhouse? Whats finna happen if he thinks u lookin at his bish the wrong way, or if you scrape him in poker in like 8 hands straight?