Aguilera began his career as a third baseman and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980, but he decided to attend Brigham Young University instead. By the time the Mets drafted him in 1983, he was a pitcher. Aguilera saw his first Major League action in June 1985 as the Mets were in a fierce division race with the Cardinals. He was particularly effective in July, going 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA, and ended the season 10-7 as the Cardinals edged out the Mets. Aguilera posted an identical record the next year in 1986 as the number five starter for the division-winning Mets and went on to pitch five scorless innings in relief against the Houston Astros in that year's NLCS. Despite a horrid 12.00 ERA in the World Series that year, he was the pitcher of record in the Mets' dramatic Game 6 victory. Injuries slowed him the next two years, but he did pitch seven innings of one-run relief in the 1988 NLCS, which led to the Mets to experiment with him as a reliever.

At the trading deadline in 1989, Aguilera was one of five pitchers dealt to the Minnesota Twins for Frank Viola. Although he completed the season as a starter, he was shifted to the closer's role in 1990 and responded by saving 32 games for a team that went 74-88. The next year, his relief pitching was instrumental in the Twins surprising division title, as he saved 42 games with a 2.76 ERA, a team record that would stand until Eddie Guardado broke it in 2002 with 45 saves. He went on to save three of four victories in the ALCS and the first two games of the World Series against the Atlanta Braves. In Game 3, he became the first pitcher to pinch hit in a World Series game since Don Drysdale in 1965, flying out in the top of the 12th with the bases loaded and two outs before giving up the game-winning hit in the bottom of the inning. Aguilera also won Game 6. Aguilera was a fine closer for the Twins (and very briefly the Red Sox in 1995) from 1990-95 and was named to three all star teams from 1991-93. After an off year in 1996, he continued to be effective through 1999, when the Twins traded him to the Cubs near the beginning of the season because they thought he would leave as a free agent at the end of the year. He retired after the 2000 season. He is the Twins' all time leader saves (254) as well as being thirteenth on the all-time saves list with 318.

Baseball