Héctor José Alberto Villanueva Balasquide (born October 2, 1964), is a former professional baseball player who played catcher in the Major Leagues from 1990 to 1993.

In 1991, he became the fourth player in the history of the Puerto Rico Baseball League to win the triple crown.

[1][2] Héctor Villanueva attended Cupeyville High School in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.

In 1986 he had a .318 average, with 13 home runs and 100 RBIs during his second season playing Class-A baseball for the Carolina league.

Other catchers that eventually became big league players were in the Cubs system, including Joe Girardi and Rick Wrona so Héctor began to play mostly at first base.

In 1990 he made his Major League debut for the Chicago Cubs against the St. Louis Cardinals as a pinch-hitter replacing Mark Grace.

After catcher Damon Berryhill returned from shoulder surgery, Villanueva became the number-three receiver on the team.

In 1993 during the winter he played in Puerto Rico for the Cangrejeros de Santurce and the team won the league championship.

He later signed a contract that year to play for the Expos on a minor league triple-A team for the Ottawa Lynx.

He also felt very uncomfortable with the type of gambling that was going on so he ultimately traveled back to play in Mexico again where would move from one ball club to another.