Nieves Mardie Cornejo (born August 5, 1951) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 1978 New York Mets. Cornejo played collegiately at University of Tulsa (TU), and is the father of former MLB pitcher Nate Cornejo, who played for the Detroit Tigers, from 2001 to 2004.

Draft history

Cornejo was first selected by the Washington Senators, in the third round of the 1970 amateur draft, and again in the second round of the secondary phase of the 1970 draft, but did not sign. The Mets drafted him in the third round of the secondary phase of the 1971 amateur draft, and were also unable to sign him. He eventually signed with the Mets when they drafted him again in the 21st round of the 1973 amateur draft.

MLB debut

After five season in the Mets' minor league system, he made it to the big league club out of Spring training in 1978. In the second game of the season against the Montreal Expos, Cornejo entered the game in the eighth inning with the Expos leading 5–2, and pitched the final two innings without giving up a run. The Mets, meanwhile, scored two in the eighth and two in the ninth to earn the victory for Cornejo in his Major League debut. Despite respectable numbers (4-2, 2.45 earned run average), Cornejo was back in Tidewater by the end of the season.

Detroit Tigers

Prior to the start of the 1979 season, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Ed Glynn. After one season with the Tigers' triple-A affiliate, the Evansville Triplets, Cornejo retired from baseball.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Mardie Cornejo at Baseball Almanac