Edwin Correa

Right-hander Edwin Correa spent parts of three seasons (1985-1987) as a starting pitcher with the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers before suffering a career-ending shoulder injury. Only 19 when he earned his first victory, he was the majors’ youngest player for all but one of his big league appearances.1 Although he pitched some Friday night and Saturday afternoon games, he was reluctant to do so due to his Sabbath observance as a practicing Seventh Day Adventist.

Edwin Josue Correa Andino was born on April 29, 1966, in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to César and María (Andino) Correa. “My father was a police officer, and my mother is a nurse. I have a sister and brother, both younger than me.”2 His brother Ramser also became a professional pitcher. Correa grew up two doors down from his distant cousin, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente, in Carolina, less than 15 miles east of San Juan on the island’s northeastern coast.34 He was 6 when the Hall of Famer perished in a plane crash. “He died in such a humanitarian way, to help another country in need. That’s stuff movies are made of,” Correa observed. “We have Orlando Cepeda and other tremendous ballplayers, but that is what makes him special.”5

Before Correa entered his teens, he played on teams with Roberto Clemente Jr. and Rubén Sierra, a friend since age five.6 In 1980, he pitched for a Vic Power-managed Pony League club featuring José Guzmán and Juan Nieves in the rotation.7 Correa and Nieves were together again with the Carolina Cowboys American Legion club in 1981.8 Benito Santiago and Sandy Alomar Jr. were other amateur teammates who reached the majors by the end of the decade.9

In addition to baseball, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound Correa played volleyball and established himself as a highly touted basketball prospect at Academia Adventista Metropolitana.10 Shortly after he struck out 11 of the 12 batters that he faced for the Fajardo Raiders in an American Legion game, however, the Chicago White Sox signed him on July 11, 1982.11 He was 16.

Correa reported to Chicago’s rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate in Sarasota, Florida, and posted a 5-2 record and 2.75 ERA in 10 games. In 59 innings, he struck out 53 and allowed only 40 hits. After the season, the White Sox protected him instead of Jerry Koosman — a 39-year-old with 191 big league victories — in the free agent compensation draft.12 In the Puerto Rican Winter League, Correa split a pair of decisions and struck out eight in eight innings for the Vaqueros de Bayamón.13

In 1983, Correa was the youngest player in the Class A Midwest League. For an Appleton (Wisconsin) Foxes club that won the championship, his record was only 3-9 with a 4.45 ERA in 19 appearances, but his velocity was clocked at 92 mph.14 When he returned to Appleton in 1984, Correa remained the circuit’s youngest performer, but he improved to 10-6 (3.44) in 26 starts to help the Foxes retain their title.

Correa began 1985 with Chicago’s Double-A Eastern League affiliate in Glens Falls, New York, but he was sent back to Appleton after going 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA in eight starts. Before rejoining the Foxes, however, Correa met the White Sox in Kansas City over Memorial Day weekend and threw on the side. “They tell me I lost my confidence, and I’m too young for that,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me I’m not confident. But whatever they want to do is fine. I’m a better pitcher than that record shows.”15 He proved it by going 13-3 with a 2.53 ERA in 18 starts. In 139 innings, he allowed only 93 hits and demonstrated improved control with a 128:56 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Correa made his major league debut on September 18, 1985, at Comiskey Park, hurling one hitless inning against the Angels and striking out the first batter he faced — six-time All-Star Bobby Grich. In his next three appearances, Correa surrendered Reggie Jackson’s 529th career homer and José Canseco’s fourth before working a scoreless frame in Minnesota. “It was a big turning point for me,” he said of his initial weeks in the big leagues. “I have to thank [White Sox pitching coach] Dave Duncan. He taught me a lot of things like mechanics and the way to think about pitching.”16 Correa started the final game of the season against the Mariners, held Seattle hitless until the fourth inning and delivered a 3-2 lead to the bullpen after five. He struck out six, walked six, and earned his first victory when relievers Joel Davis and Bob James finished up with four scoreless frames.

New White Sox general manager Hawk Harrelson noted that Correa had hit 98 mph on the [faster] JUGS radar gun and called him “one of the five best pitching prospects in baseball.”17 Nevertheless, after finishing six games behind the Royals, Chicago swapped Correa, infielder Scott Fletcher, and a player to be named later (José Mota) to the Texas Rangers for reliever Dave Schmidt and infielder Wayne Tolleson on November 25. “I know how good [Correa] can be. He could win 200, and if he does, no one will be happier than me,” Harrelson explained. “We just felt we had to trade now to contend again.”18 Rangers GM Tom Grieve said, “Our scouts rated Correa as the White Sox’s best minor league prospect. There’s no doubt we got more in this trade than they did. The difference is they’re shooting for 1986.”19

“I think Correa could figure in our plans for next season,” remarked Texas manager Bobby Valentine. After consecutive last-place finishes, the Rangers also planned to give rookies José Guzmán and Bobby Witt legitimate chances to crack their rotation. Guzmán, about to turn 23 and Correa’s friend from Puerto Rico, had won three of five decisions in a September trial. “[Correa] probably doesn’t have Guzmán’s command yet, but he throws harder,” observed Grieve. Witt, 21, had even better velocity, but extreme wildness had doomed the 1985 first-round draft pick to an 0-6 Double-A record the previous year. Correa was the youngest, and Valentine said, “I would probably rank him a little higher than the other fine young arms we have.”20

A few weeks before spring training in 1986, Correa and Guzmán pitched for Puerto Rico at the Caribbean Series in Maracaibo, Venezuela. In his lone start, Correa whiffed eight over 6 ⅓ innings.21 Prior to that, he logged 66 frames in the Puerto Rican Winter League for the Cangrejeros de Santurce. Between the majors and minors in 1985, he’d worked another 189 ⅓ innings. “I think I’ve had one week off,” Correa said upon arriving at Rangers camp in Pompano Beach.22

Texas pitching coach Tom House monitored the inexperienced hurlers’ exhibition outings closely and cautioned, “We’re not going to let either of them fail in the spring and make the big-league club with their confidence at a low ebb.”23 Correa believed he was ready for the majors. Now able to consistently throw strikes with his sharp curve and changeup, he said, “I feel like I’ve become a mature pitcher. I’m not just a 19-year-old kid living out a fantasy. This is my job and I want to do it well.”24 Veteran knuckleballer Charlie Hough was expected to lead the rotation, but the 38-year-old would be out until May with a fractured pinky.25 Guzmán became the Rangers’ Opening Day starter, followed by Correa and Witt. The trio started 92 of Texas’s 162 games. “We look young. We are young. But we think like old men,” Correa insisted.26

“Intense, with no anxiety,” was House’s description of Correa. “You see it in corporate executives, surgeons and pilots. In any high-pressure existence, it’s the perfect profile.”27 Although Correa lost his Rangers debut, 3-1, to the Blue Jays at Arlington Stadium, he acquitted himself well, allowing only two runs over five innings while striking out eight. He won his next outing in Milwaukee despite walking seven by hurling eight innings of three-hit ball. Three days after his 20th birthday, he tossed his first shutout, a Friday night three-hitter at Yankee Stadium. “The only pitcher I’ve seen with matching composure in somebody so young is Bret] Saberhagen,” said Rangers catcher Don Slaught, who’d caught the Royals’ right-hander one year before he won an AL Cy Young Award at age 21.28 “It’s just the way I am,” Correa said. “I’m the kind of person who says, ‘Here I am, here’s my best stuff. If you can beat my best stuff, I give you credit.’ But they have to prove to me they can do that.”29

Correa missed one start because of a tender triceps.30 Upon returning, he allowed his first homer of the season — after 39 ⅔ innings — but had worked into at least the seventh in six straight outings. The surprising Rangers were in first place by the time he beat the White Sox in consecutive appearances. “[Correa] looked like Cy Young to me,” said Chicago’s Carlton Fisk. “The few times I faced him he hasn’t made a mistake. He threw a couple of 3-2 changes as good as you can throw them.”31 Through 13 starts, Correa was 5-4 with a 2.90 ERA and drawing comparisons to each league’s All-Star Game starter that summer. “Correa is the best-looking young pitcher I’ve seen since Dwight Gooden,” raved Dodgers scout Mel Didier.32 “Correa has more pitches than Roger Clemens,” said Tigers manager Sparky Anderson after the rookie dominated Detroit.33

Correa took his lumps, too. By the end of a nine-start stretch in which he surrendered at least six runs seven times, the Rangers had dropped into second place to stay behind the veteran Angels. Guzmán won only once in the second half and wound up with a 9-15 record, while Witt needed a 4-0 September to finish 11-9. Although Correa’s totals of 126 walks and 19 wild pitches ranked second only to Witt in the majors, he went 12-14 and led Texas’s rookie trio with 202 ⅓ innings and a 4.23 ERA. By whiffing 10 batters in three of his last four starts, he logged 189 strikeouts, records for both Rangers rookies and Puerto Rican pitchers.34 “[Correa] has a great competitive spirit,” said Valentine. “He can get into the 130s (pitches per start). He’s strong. He’s going to complete a lot of games if he ever throws less than five pitches to a hitter.”35

Three other rookies contributed significantly to Texas’s 87-75 record. Without any minor league experience, right fielder Pete Incaviglia pounded 30 home runs. Lefty reliever Mitch Williams led the AL with 80 appearances. Despite not debuting until June 1, Correa’s childhood friend Rubén Sierra reached double figures in homers, doubles, and triples. To improve in 1987, Texas prescribed a winter of complete rest for Correa and Guzmán until the Puerto Rican League playoffs in January.36 By December, however, Correa was reportedly pitching once a week for Santurce.37

The Rangers announced that they’d made an unwritten commitment to Correa — a Seventh Day Adventist — to attempt to allow him to observe the Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.38 “Eddie will be at the ballpark on Friday and get his work in, but he feels he needs to leave at 6:30 or so to go to church and be with his wife,” Grieve explained.39 Correa said, “After four years the Lord has answered my prayers…It’s what I was reaching for. It’s something I believe. It’s my religion.”40 As a rookie, Correa had started five times on Friday nights, and once on a Saturday afternoon. “I would try to do my best, but there is something in your mind saying you are doing something wrong,” he said.41

The Rangers’ willingness to grant Edwin’s wish may have been motivated in part by their desire to sign his brother. Ramser Correa had just turned 16, and the 6-foot-5 right-hander was one of baseball’s most coveted pitching prospects. Ramser’s demands included a $225,000 bonus, invitations to big league spring training, round trip airfare for his parents, and new cars for himself and his father — plus no Friday night or Saturday afternoon games.42 After Texas’s concession to Edwin, he remarked, “This definitely puts the Rangers in a better position [to sign Ramser].”43 But the Milwaukee Brewers landed Ramser in May.

Edwin was Texas’s number-two starter behind Hough in 1987. After he received a no-decision in his first outing, the Rangers dropped their next nine contests and never got back above .500. On April 28 — the night before his 21st birthday — Correa took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Yankees before Willie Randolph singled with one out. “2 Weak Hits” headlined the New York Daily News story about Correa’s first win of the season, in which he threw 133 pitches in 7⅔ innings.44 Two starts later, however, he failed to last two innings and told Valentine that his shoulder was hurting.45 In May, AL hitters batted .355 against him, and he walked more than one batter per frame.

After wearing uniform number 18 as a rookie, Correa had switched to Clemente’s 21 in 1987. But he changed again — to Don Drysdale’s 53 — allowing Sierra to wear the hallowed digits of his fellow Puerto Rican right fielder.46 Meanwhile, as Correa’s struggles continued, Valentine encouraged him to return to his old pitching motion, convinced that mechanical adjustments had made his pitches easier to see.47 Correa’s ERA remained over 7.00 throughout June as he complained of a “dead arm.”48 For his final start of the month, the Rangers wanted him to pitch the first game of a Saturday doubleheader against the Twins, believing the late afternoon glare off the center field seats and shadows around home plate would benefit him more than Hough, the second-game starter. However, the 5:35 P.M. opener would begin before the Sabbath was over. “I’m confused. I don’t know what to say about it,” Correa said. Grieve pointed out that Texas had never promised that he wouldn’t be asked to pitch, and that the team had made sincere efforts to accommodate him. Now it was the pitcher’s turn to give a little. “Maybe we need to know that baseball is important to him, too,” remarked Valentine.49 Correa allowed six runs in five innings, and a career-worst three home runs, but won his second straight start to improve his record to 3-5.

Eight days later at Yankee Stadium, Correa departed with one out in the fourth after loading the bases with a 7-3 lead –the ninth time in 10 starts that he failed to pitch more than five innings. Hoping to ease the pitcher’s worries about his shoulder, the Rangers ordered X-rays and a CAT scan as precautions. Nearly everyone was shocked when a stress fracture of the scapula (shoulder blade bone) originating in the triceps was diagnosed. “That means I’ve been pitching with a broken arm,” Correa said. When Valentine learned why his pitcher had been largely ineffective for two months, he said, “He was throwing the ball 90 miles an hour. That amazes me.”50

“I have a reason to be mad,” Correa said. “I do not want to go out and steal their money. I want to go out and pitch and give it all I have. I knew it was something, but nobody, not even me, thought it was this.”51 The Rangers’ orthopedic specialist described the specific type of stress fracture as “very, very rare” and noted that muscle strains were the typical source of pain near the major throwing muscles where Correa was hurting. The doctor insisted that continuing to pitch with the fracture –more of a crack than a break– did no additional harm and said the prognosis for Correa’s recovery was good since there was no damage to the rotator cuff or shoulder joint.52 Correa missed the rest of the season. After a December 9 CAT scan indicated that he had healed, he resumed throwing in mid-January.53

A few weeks before Opening Day 1988, Valentine said, “This is the best I’ve felt about the group of Correa, Witt and Guzmán in spring training. They are further along than they have been in any spring that I’ve seen them.”54 Following Correa’s March 23 exhibition outing, however, he complained of renewed pain. Dr. Frank Jobe recommended exploratory surgery to determine whether a bone spur or tear in the shoulder lining could be to blame, but the procedure would force Correa to miss the 1988 season.55 “Here I am, with no history of arm trouble in my life and with a chance my career could be over,” the pitcher lamented.56

The Rangers sought a second opinion from the Red Sox’s Dr. Arthur Pappas, who concurred with Jobe. Twins physician Harvey O’Phelan did the same. In May, Correa returned to Puerto Rico to consult Dr. Willie Castillo, described as a “faith healer” in one report.57 Dr. Castillo, also a dentist, realigned Correa’s jaw to take pressure off the pitcher’s shoulder.58 After two weeks of Dr. Castillo’s acupuncture treatments, Correa was throwing without pain and predicted that he’d rejoin the Rangers’ rotation before the All-Star break.59 He hurled six scoreless innings of one-hit ball against Puerto Rico’s Olympic team.60 Before June was over, however, Correa had surgery to repair torn cartilage and remove calcium deposits.61

When Correa was unable to complete a throwing session on February 26, 1989, the Rangers’ trainer acknowledged, “We have to be seriously concerned.”62 Before spring training was over, Dr. Jobe recommended rotator cuff surgery. Ramser had his own rotator cuff procedure performed in April and never advanced above Triple-A.63 Guzmán underwent a similar operation on May 29 and was out of the majors until 1991.64 Instead, Edwin opted to try a weight program developed by Tom House.65 “I’d say he threw some in the low 90s,” said House following Correa’s June 6 pre-game workout. “I can see the finish line now,” remarked the pitcher.66 On July 13, Correa reported to Sarasota, Florida, to begin a rehabilitation assignment with the Rangers’ rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate, but he was shut down again because of pain after only four starts totaling 8 ⅓ innings. “I hurt for the kid,” House said.67

After the season, Correa refused an outright assignment to the Triple-A Oklahoma City 89ers and became a free agent.68 Nevertheless, assistant Texas GM Wayne Krivsky said, “I assume if he’s healthy, throwing okay, he’ll be in our big league camp.”69 Instead, Correa sued the Rangers’ team doctor for malpractice and signed with the Dodgers.70 Correa appeared on a 1990 baseball card for the Vero Beach Dodgers in the Single-A Florida State League holding a bat. He could not pitch for the club until three years later, when he made a dozen starts between Vero Beach and the San Antonio Missions in the Double-A Texas League. In 1994, Correa suited up for the Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League. He spent 1995 as the pitching coach for the Dodgers’ rookie-level Pioneer League club in Great Falls, Montana.

At Great Falls, the Dodgers asked Correa to look after Pedro Feliciano, a freshly-signed, 18-year-old Puerto Rican pitcher who’d never thrown from a mound. As Correa finished his own playing career with a handful of appearances for Vero Beach in 1997, and five more for the independent Northeast League’s Allentown Ambassadors in 2001, he thought about ways to help prospects from his homeland.71 From the day he was born until he signed his first professional contract, Puerto Rico had been major league baseball’s chief source of Latin American talent.72 In the 1980s, however, the Dominican Republic took over that distinction, with Venezuela claiming the number-two spot by the end of the 1990s. Between 2000 and 2009, the number of new big leaguers from both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela increased compared to the previous decade, while the tally of Puerto Ricans declined.73 Correa’s experience had been typical for his generation: sign at age 16 and travel to the U.S. mainland to learn while playing the game professionally. Beginning in 1989, however, Puerto Ricans were subject to the June amateur draft. With no serious high school competition on the island, the players lost crucial developmental years before entering the pros.

Since Dominicans and Venezuelans were not eligible for the draft, academies sponsored by individual teams drove the exponential growth of players from those countries. In Puerto Rico, Correa reasoned, the solution would be a place where kids could earn their high school degrees while honing their baseball skills to impress scouts. When Correa approached Major League Baseball about helping him build such a complex in 2001, however, they declined. “I did believe in Edwin and that this was something worth pursuing,” recalled Sandy Alderson, then Commissioner Bud Selig’s Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations. “Basically, we told him, ‘Look, we believe in you, but we don’t want to get into a real estate project that’s going to take four or five years to accomplish. Go out and get it up and running. Establish a reputation. You’ll find the resources to make it more institutional and permanent’.”74

Correa started the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School (PRBAHS) at a former pharmaceutical warehouse in Gurabo, about 30 miles southeast of San Juan.75 Former pros, including his brother Ramser, assisted with the baseball instruction. More than 1,000 kids tried out for one of the initial class’s 103 spots.76 Correa designed long, exhausting days full of baseball and academics, and students commuted from up to two hours away to begin working at daybreak. In 2002, Alderson sent Don Odermann, an AG Edwards financial advisor with experience in Latin America, to conduct a feasibility study. “[Correa] has little prior experience running an organization,” Odermann reported. “However, he is a leader.” MLB began investing $250,000 in PRBAHS annually, and local stars like Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltrán helped with scholarship money and skills clinics. In 2004, nine players from PRBAHS’s first graduating class were drafted by major league teams. By 2006, the institution had grown to 172 students with 3,000 others on the waiting list. “I never imagined it was going to be this big,” Correa confessed.77

“Edwin gets all the credit because he deserves it,” remarked Alderson. “Probably Edwin’s greatest qualities are his own personality and character. People are always wondering, ‘What’s in it for Edwin?’ Edwin’s terrific at keeping the focus on the kids.”78 Correa said, “It brings me peace to know I’m returning to baseball what it gave me. It gives me great satisfaction hearing a parent say, ‘Thank you for giving my son discipline.’ I get the same thrill as I did starting at Yankee Stadium and throwing a shutout.”79 In 2007, he managed Trujillo Alto — a team of 14-year-olds from Puerto Rico — to victory in the Pony League World Series in Washington, Pennsylvania.80

As PRBAHS kept growing, its Board of Trustees ousted Correa and his wife in a dispute over donated scholarship money in 2009.81 “I’ve always said this isn’t Edwin Correa’s school. This is Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School,” he’d said previously. “It’s what we want to leave the youth of Puerto Rico on behalf of everyone who’s played this sport professionally.”82 Brewers pitcher Hiram Burgos became the school’s first alum to reach the majors in 2013, one year after the Astros chose future All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa (no relation) of PRBAHS number one overall in the June Amateur Draft.

In 52 big league games, Edwin Correa produced a 16-19 record and 5.16 ERA, but his greater legacy is more difficult to enumerate. Two decades after PRBAHS welcomed its first class of students, Puerto Rico boasts several similar institutions based on his vision and innovation, including the Carlos Beltrán Academy and a public school in the mountain town of Comerío.83

Correa fathered two sons, Joshua and Shaliz, during his first marriage. After remarrying in 2005, he raised Christian and Christie with his second wife, Wilca (Figueroa). As of 2021, they live in Caguas and work for the federal government.84

Last revised: August 4, 2021

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Edwin Correa (electronic correspondence with Malcolm Allen, winter and spring, 2021).

This story was reviewed by Bill Nowlin and Norman Macht and fact-checked by Brad Cuprik.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.baseball-reference.com and www.retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 When Correa pitched on April 28, 1987 the California Angels’ roster featured Miguel García, who was 48 weeks younger.

2 Edwin Correa, electronic correspondence with Malcolm Allen, February 18, 2021.

3 Dan Shaughnessy, “Whose Deal is It? Not Lou Gorman’s,” Boston Globe, May 24, 1987: 56.

4 Rafael Hermoso, “Baseball and Books,” New York Times, April 13, 2003: SP1.

5 Ivan Roman, “Spirit Lives on at Island Sports City,” Orlando Sentinel, March 31, 2002: B5.

6 Barry Horn, “Sierra Carries Scars from Final Texas Season,” Oklahoman, October 18, 1992, https://oklahoman.com/article/2409689/sierra-carries-scars-from-final-texas-season (last accessed March 9, 2021).

7 Michael Madden, “Nieves Inherited His Fight from His Father,” Boston Globe, June 16, 1986: 31.

8 “Brewers to Sign Correa,” United Press International, May 21, 1987, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/05/21/Brewers-to-sign-Correa/7134548568000/ (last accessed March 15, 2021).

9 David McNabb, “Sierra –Often Compared to Clemente—Just Wants to be Ruben,” Orlando Sentinel, April 6, 1988, https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1988-04-06-0030150030-story.html (last accessed March 9, 2021).

10 Ed Correa, 1987 Topps Baseball Card.

11 Edwin Correa, Publicity Questionnaire for William J. Weiss, January 18, 1983.

12 “Correa Watch,” Asbury Park (New Jersey) Press, July 24, 1983: 29.

13 Correa, Publicity Questionnaire.

14 “Correa Watch.”

15 Mike Kiley, “The ‘Lollar Mystery’ is Cleared Up,” Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1985: 9.

16 “Rangers’ Correa is Youngest Player in Majors,” Los Angeles Times, June 8, 1986: 10.

17 Peter Gammons, “Grieve Halts Attrition of Texas Pitching,” The Sporting News, December 9, 1985: 49.

18 Joe Goddard, “White Sox Notes,” Chicago Sun-Times, May 28, 1986: 113.

19 Jim Reeves, “Correa Key Man for Rangers,” The Sporting News, December 9, 1985: 45.

20 Reeves, “Correa Key Man for Rangers.”

21 “Pitcheo. Lideres en Cada Serie,” https://www.seriedelcaribe.net/articulos/pitcheo-lideres-en-cada-serie/ (last accessed March 11, 2021).

22 “Texas Rangers Ed Correa,” Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1986: 5.

23 Andy Cohen, “The Eyes of Texas on Youth,” Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), March 11, 1986: 4C.

24 Cohen, “The Eyes of Texas on Youth.”

25 Jim Reeves, “High Five is a Downer for Hough,” The Sporting News, April 7, 1986: 42.

26 Phil Rogers, “Texas’ Kiddie Corps Isn’t Kidding Around,” Newsday (New York, New York), April 25, 1986: 188.

27 Larry Millson, “Texas Freshman Keeps His Cool,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), April 10, 1986: D12.

28 Joe Donnelly, “Shaken Staff Gets Shakeup,” Newsday, May 3, 1986: 36.

29 Millson, “Texas Freshman Keeps His Cool.”

30 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, May 19, 1986: 21.

31 “Rangers’ Correa is Youngest Player in Majors,” Los Angeles Times, June 8, 1986: 10.

32 Ed Correa, 1986 Sportflics Baseball Card.

33 “Tigers, “The Sporting News,” July 21, 1986: 22.

34 As of 2021, Correa still holds the record for strikeouts by a Rangers rookie, but the Expos’ Javier Vázquez set a new mark for Puerto Rican pitchers in 2000. As of 2021, Vázquez’s 241 strikeouts in 2003 are the current standard.

35 “Rangers’ Correa is Youngest Player in Majors.”

36 Randy Galloway, “A Valentine to the Rangers’ Year,” Gazette (Montreal), September 2, 1986: H3.

37 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, January 12, 1987: 44.

38 Jim Reeves, “Rangers’ Correa Gives In –This Time,” Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1987: 4.

39 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, December 22, 1986: 49.

40 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, December 22, 1986: 46.

41 Tracy Ringolsby, “Give and Take,” Orlando Sentinel, December 14, 1986: C9.

42 Ross Newhan, “Baseball Miscellany Name Game,” Los Angeles Times, May 17, 1987: 10.

43 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, December 22, 1986: 49.

44 Bill Madden, “2 Weak Hits,” Daily News (New York, New York), April 29, 1987: 42.

45 “Rangers’ Correa Finds Cause of Arm Trouble,” Gazette (Montreal), July 10, 1987: C3.

46 Shaughnessy, “Whose Deal is It? Not Lou Gorman’s.”

47 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, June 8, 1987: 18.

48 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, June 22, 1987: 23.

49 Reeves, “Rangers’ Correa Gives In –This Time.”

50 Jim Reeves, “Correa Pitched with Broken Arm,” The Sporting News, July 20, 1987: 24.

51 “Correa Suffers Fracture,” New York Times, July 10, 1987: B12.

52 Reeves, “Correa Pitched with Broken Arm.”

53 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, December 21, 1987: 50.

54 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, March 28, 1988: 28.

55 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, April 11, 1988: 34.

56 “Rangers Pitcher Correa May Face Career-Ending Surgery,” Boston Globe, May 1, 1988: 64.

57 Marty Noble, “Inside Baseball,” Newsday (New York, New York), May 15, 1988: 6.

58 Jayson Stark, “…And Will Morrison Ever Manage a Walk,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 31, 1988: E3.

59 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, June 6, 1988: 23.

60 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, June 13, 1988: 41.

61 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, March 13, 1989: 30.

62 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, March 13, 1989: 30.

63 “Around the Minors,” The Sporting News, July 24, 1989: 43.

64 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, June 5, 1989: 15.

65 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, May 22, 1989: 19.

66 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, June 19, 1989: 55.

67 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, August 14, 1989: 17.

68 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, November 6, 1989: 64.

69 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, November 13, 1989: 54.

70 “Rangers,” The Sporting News, February 12, 1990: 38.

71 Juan C. Rodriguez, “Puerto Rico Return,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, September 7, 2003, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2003-09-07-0309060400-story.html (last accessed March 16, 2021).

72 According to Baseball-Reference, between Correa’s birth and his signing with the White Sox (April 29, 1966 to July 11, 1982), 65 new Puerto Rican-born major leaguers debuted, vs. 58 born in the Dominican Republic. Mexico produced 28 players to rank third.

73 According to Baseball-Reference, between 1980-1989, 64 major leaguers from the Dominican Republic debuted, vs. 46 from Puerto Rico and 28 from Venezuela. From 1990-1999, the figures were 156 Dominicans, 62 Venezuelans and 59 Puerto Ricans. Then, from 2000-2009, there were 213 Dominicans, 130 Venezuelans and 42 Puerto Ricans.

74 Christian Red, “Boys of Summer School,” Daily News (New York, New York), February 19, 2006: 98.

75 Joséph Duarte, “Correa’s No. 1 Selection, Academy Give Puerto Rico Baseball a Shot in the Arm,” Houston Chronicle, June 6, 2012, https://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2012/06/06/correas-no-1-selection-academy-give-puerto-rico-baseball-a-shot-in-the-arm/ (last accessed March 16, 2021).

76 Rodriguez, “Puerto Rico Return.”

77 Red, “Boys of Summer School.”

78 Red

79 Hermoso, “Baseball and Books.”

80 Bruce Wald, “Puerto Rico Wins PONY League Series,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 9, 2007.

81 Rey Colon, “Milonaria Demanda de Edwin Correa,” November 8, 2010, http://thesportpress.blogspot.com/2010/11/millnaria-demanda-de-edwin-correa-la.html (last accessed March 16, 2021).

82 Rodriguez, “Puerto Rico Return.”

83 “The Home of Champions,” https://www.carlosbeltranacademy.org/ (last accessed March 16, 2021). See also Carlos González, “Inaugura Academia Pública de Béisbol,” El Nuevo Dia (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), August 26, 2016, https://www.elnuevodia.com/deportes/beisbol/notas/inaugura-academia-publica-de-beisbol/ (last accessed March 16, 2021).

84 Edwin Correa, electronic correspondence with Malcolm Allen, February 18, 2021.