Pressure? You think there was pressure on Jose Contreras when he started his first game in the National League on Saturday night? You think there was pressure on Contreras pitching for the Rox against the Diamondbacks with the wild-card leadership on the line? You think there was pressure on Contreras in the fourth inning with two runners on and the Rockies leading by only a run, and he got out of the dilemma with a groundball double play?
Pressure for Jose Ariel Contreras Camejo was when he was chosen as a pitcher for the Cuban Olympic Team at the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996 — and he struck out 16 batters in 17 innings and won one game, and the Cubans took the gold medal.
Pressure was when Contreras beat Korea and Japan at the World Baseball Championships in 1998, then was invited to dine with Cuba’s El Comandante.
Pressure was when Fidel Castro, the No. 1 baseball fan in Cuba, called Contreras the island country’s greatest pitcher ever, and he was named Cuban athlete of the year three times.
Pressure was when Contreras won seven games without a loss (and had a 0.59 earned-run average) in the 1999 Pan Am Games (a victory over the U.S. and another after one day of rest), the 2000 Olympics in Australia (27 strikeouts in two games) and the 2001 World Cup.
Pressure was when Contreras was selected to pitch for Cuba against the Baltimore Orioles in 1999 in a historic exhibition game in Havana, and he threw eight scoreless innings.
Pressure was when Contreras’ car broke down after a Cuban League game in Havana, and he asked the sports federation for help in paying the $400 in repairs because that amount was more than his salary for the entire year (his record was 13-4), and an official refused, so Contreras had no car to get to the ballpark.
Pressure was when Contreras flew off to Mexico for the 2002 Americas Cup, and he secretly defected, leaving behind his elderly father — a Cuban baseball player before fighting with Castro in the revolution — and his mother and his wife and two young daughters.
Pressure for Contreras was after he signed a four-year, $32 million free-agent contract with the Yankees, he spent two months of the 2003 season on the disabled list, was sent back to the minor leagues four times, ended up in the bullpen and called his wife back in Cuba every night and cried.
Pressure for Contreras was pitching against the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series and losing the sixth game, then giving up three runs in the critical fifth game of the World Series against the Marlins.
Pressure for Contreras was starting the next season poorly and doing everything he could to get wife Miriam (whom he had married when he was 16 and she 15) and daughters Nayland and Naylenis out of Cuba after Castro ruled they couldn’t leave for five years. Contreras, testimony in a court case later revealed, offered $200,000 to a Cuban boat owner to bring his family to America. In June 2004, a speedboat carrying his wife and kids (and 18 friends) reached the lower Florida Keys, and Contreras was reunited with his family in Miami, then pitched before them on June 27 in his best start of the season.
Pressure for Contreras was being traded on July 31, 2004, to the White Sox and pitching erratically the rest of the season.
Pressure for Contreras was the struggle to become a complete pitcher again in 2005, and he would, winning 15 games and starting the first game of all three White Sox postseason series. He won the first game of the World Series, and the Sox won in four. (Castro would not allow telecasts of the games in Cuba.)
Pressure for Contreras was the 2006 season after he signed a three-year contract extension, and he set the White Sox record for 16 consecutive regular-season victories (dating to 2005).
Pressure for Contreras was opening day of 2007 when, before he started on the mound, he was served with divorce papers in the clubhouse. He finished the season with a 10-17 record.
Pressure for Contreras was in 2008 when he ruptured his Achilles tendon in August and was out the rest of the season.
Pressure for the 37-year-old Contreras was this season, his seventh in the majors, when he was 0-5 and removed from the rotation. In May, Contreras was put on waivers; nobody wanted him, and he was sent to Triple-A. He was brought back to the White Sox in June but compiled an overall 5-13 record and, following a short, awful stint, was traded to the Rockies last Monday.
On Saturday night, Contreras pitched 6 2/3 effective innings, struck out five and allowed eight hits, one walk and only one run — earning his first National League victory as the Rockies won 4-1.
Nervous? Yes, Contreras was, manager Jim Tracy said.
But no sweat. No problem. No pressure for Contreras.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
