Roberto’s father, Sandy Alomar, spent 15 years as a major-league infielder, and Roberto and his brother, also Sandy, spent most summers in major-league locker rooms. It was during these times that the brothers learned the intricacies of the game from the best players in the world – Nolan Ryan taught 4-year-old Roberto how to pitch while Ryan was a teammate of Sandy, Sr.’s on the Angels.1 Perhaps just as important, they also learned how to handle themselves like major-league ballplayers. The offseason brought with it the Puerto Rican Winter League (in which his father and three of his uncles all starred) and the annual Caribbean World Series.2 Roberto frequently made the trek to games with his father, sometimes completing his homework in the dugout.3

Roberto Alomar was born on February 5, 1968, in Ponce, on Puerto Rico’s south coast, to Santos (Sandy) and Maria (Velasquez) Alomar. He had an older brother, Santos Jr. (Sandy), and a sister, Sandia. They grew up in Salinas, 20 miles from Ponce. Roberto’s baseball ability and instincts were evident even as a boy. When he was 6 a scout reportedly saw him playing pepper and inquired of his father (presumably tongue in cheek) if he could sign him.4 By the age of 7, Roberto was selected as an all-star for the Salinas little league, but was declared ineligible when it was discovered that he was too young to play in the league.5 The time for Roberto to sign his first professional contract came soon enough. When he was 16 he signed with Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he was managed by Felipe Alou.6 Alou later said that Roberto “was the best I had ever seen. He was a natural and definitely had the instincts that you just don’t teach.”7

On February 16, 1985, shortly after he turned 17, Roberto signed with the San Diego Padres – the same club for which his father was a coach and with which Sandy Jr. had signed two years earlier. While other teams (most notably Toronto) had expressed interest in the middle infielder and made higher offers than the approximately $50,000 Roberto received, Sandy Sr. had given his word to family friend and Padres scout Luis Rosa that Roberto would sign with the Padres.8

Unlike many newly signed minor leaguers, Roberto did not have to adjust to living on his own for the first time. He was assigned to the same team, Class-A Charleston in the South Atlantic League, for which his father was a coach and to which Sandy Jr. was also assigned. His mother also made the trip and the family lived together and provided a stable foundation as Roberto’s professional career began to flourish.9 Roberto hit .293 and stole 36 bases for Charleston, and his manager Jim Skaalen recalled that “He was tearing up the league against older college players.”10

Skaalen moved up along with Roberto the next season to Reno in the Class-A California League.11 His brother and father, however, did not. Sandy Jr. was ticketed for Double-A Wichita (Texas League) and Sandy Sr. was promoted to coach with the Padres. Roberto later recounted the challenges of his time in Reno: “In the minor leagues everything is different. I was making $700 a month. I had to pay for rent, utilities, food, clubhouse dues. All I had in the house I rented was a mattress on the floor, not even a table. I had no car and had to walk everywhere.”12

Skaalen, though, saw him maturing on and off the field: “He seemed more relaxed away from his dad and brother. He got stronger and seemed to be enjoying every day. He was far ahead of the rest of the talent at that level, and I began to see the good, solid major-league player he was going to become.”13 Whatever the challenges off the field, Alomar’s play certainly did not suffer. He led the league after 90 games with a .346 average and 123 hits, earning him a promotion to Double-A Wichita (and a reunion with Sandy Jr.).14 Sharing a one-bedroom apartment with his brother, Roberto continued his torrid pace and finished the season hitting .319 with 12 home runs and 43 stolen bases.15

Roberto’s minor-league success provided real hope going into the spring of 1988 that he could break camp with the Padres. His performance did nothing to dampen that enthusiasm, as he hit .360 and put together a 10-game hitting streak.16 Padres manager Larry Bowa noted that “this kid is a finished product. All he has to do is go out there and play. He has all the tools; just turn him loose.”17 The Padres, though, had been burned each of the prior two seasons when they tried to promote second basemen (Bip Roberts and Joey Cora) from Double A to the big leagues, and Bowa was directed to give Roberto the bad news that his season would begin at Triple-A Las Vegas, not San Diego.18 The 20-year-old Roberto took the news hard, tearfully retreating to the training room, where he was consoled by his father along with several teammates.

For his part, Bowa had no explanation for the sentence he was ordered to deliver: “I told him he did everything I asked,” said Bowa. “I just told him to keep his head up, that it’s a long season. The chances of Robbie coming to the big leagues in 1988 are pretty good.”19 They were pretty good indeed, as Roberto made quick work of the Pacific Coast League and was leading the league with 14 runs batted in when he was called up to San Diego 2½ weeks into the season.20

On April 22, 1988, Roberto stepped into the batter’s box as a major leaguer for the first time. On the mound was none other than Nolan Ryan – the same Nolan Ryan who had helped teach him to pitch as a toddler. Unfazed, he beat out an infield single in his first major league at-bat.21 Roberto finished the season with 145 hits, a .266 batting average, and 24 stolen bases, finishing fifth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. He was even stronger the next season, his first full year in the big leagues, batting .295 with 42 stolen bases in 158 games.

Continuing his ascent onto the national radar, Roberto was selected for his first All-Star Game in 1990. What made the honor even more special was that Sandy Jr. (who had been traded to Cleveland), was also selected. The two became the first pair of brothers to be selected for an All-Star Game since Jim and Gaylord Perry in 1970.22 Sandy Sr. reflected on the accomplishments of his two sons: “People have to realize I’m very proud of my kids for the way they act as persons. And they have talent and know how to display that talent.”23

While it appeared that Roberto had established himself as a core piece of the Padres’ future, the Padres had other ideas. After the 1990 season the Padres and Blue Jays struck a blockbuster deal that sent Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter to Toronto in exchange for Fred McGriff and Gold Glove shortstop Tony Fernandez.24 Along with Alomar and Carter, Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick had also added center fielder Devon White days earlier as Toronto worked to position itself in the competitive American League East.25 Padres’ general manager Joe McIlvaine said, “We just felt it was something we wanted to give a shot to. It was kind of a gutsy trade on both ends.”26 Roberto was shocked: “I didn’t expect it; I didn’t understand it,” he later recalled.27

Surprised or not, Roberto joined a collection of talented players in Toronto and paid immediate dividends north of the border, putting together an early six-game hitting streak as the Blue Jays streaked to the top of the American League East.28 In May, however, Roberto once again ran into the task of facing Nolan Ryan – now pitching for the Texas Rangers. With two outs in the top of the ninth, the 44-year-old Ryan was one out away from his seventh no-hitter when Roberto strode to the plate. As the Fort Worth Star Telegram put it 25 years later, “[T]he kid he’d once coached stood between Ryan and history.”29 Ryan had the last laugh; he struck out Alomar on a 2-and-2 fastball to end the game.30

Later in the season, Roberto was once again elected to the All-Star Game, this time as an American League teammate of Sandy Jr. The long ovation he received from the Toronto crowd served as confirmation of how the city had taken to him: “When I was introduced they gave me such a long, loud ovation, I never expected it,” Roberto said.31

As the season wore on, Alomar kept hitting and the Blue Jays kept winning, clinching the American League East. In his first postseason, Alomar’s.474 batting average could not keep Toronto from being eliminated in five games by the Minnesota Twins. Alomar won his first Gold Glove, and it was clear that the Blue Jays were set to contend in the years to come. The offseason brought with it new riches as well: a three-year, $14 million contract that was the highest at the time on three fronts – for a second baseman, for a player 24 or younger, and for a player with four years or less in the major leagues.32 The average annual value of $4,666,667 made Alomar the ninth-highest paid player in the game.33

Bolstered by the acquisition of Dave Winfield in the offseason and David Cone in August, the Blue Jays again clinched the American League East in 1992. At midseason Alomar returned to San Diego for the first time since being traded and participated in the All-Star Game – once again with Sandy Jr. as a teammate.34

Alomar was named the most valuable player in the ALCS, with the most memorable moment being his game-tying two run home run off A’s closer Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning of Game Four. He relished the opportunity to be part of the first Blue Jays team to reach the World Series: “I wasn’t here when they didn’t win in the past. … I just want to be here in the present when we win the big one, so we won’t have to hear anymore about the past.35 Alomar continued his clutch hitting and superb defense in the World Series, and helped the Blue Jays defeat Atlanta for their first championship. Alomar’s contributions led Dave Winfield to comment that “You’re one of the best players I’ve ever seen.”36 Manager Cito Gaston agreed: “I could talk about Robbie for an hour,” he said.37

After a slow start in 1993, the Blue Jays took off yet again and Alomar had career highs in numerous categories, including 55 stolen bases and 17 home runs. In the ALCS against the Chicago White Sox, he stole four bases as the Blue Jays won, four games to two. In the World Series, against the Philadelphia Phillies, Alomar hit .480 and drove in six runs as the Blue Jays, on Joe Carter’s game-winning home run in Game Six, won the World Series for the second year in a row.38

With two World Series titles in his back pocket, it was hard to imagine things ever going wrong for Alomar in Toronto. But go wrong they did. After a strike-shortened 1994 season, the Blue Jays began to take a step back in 1995 and look toward the future. This included trading veteran David Cone in July – a move that Alomar protested by sitting out the next game.39 Alomar was also removed from a game in early July when a fan, Tricia Miller, walked into the Skydome hotel where he lived and told employees that she planned to kill him.40 Alomar said, “I wasn’t shaken by it. I never knew that person. I never really knew what was happening. Cito told me in the dugout. They took me out of the game, but they had caught her by then, so I don’t know why.”41

By the end of the season, with rumors swirling about his future, Alomar was unhappy with what he felt was unfair treatment by the Toronto front office and local media:

“I never said that I want to be traded. … They made it sound like I said, ‘Trade me now, I want out of here.’ And the fans believed what they read in the papers. When I stood out on the field in Toronto and heard them booing me, I knew they didn’t understand or know what the truth was. I hadn’t said anything like what the writers wrote. But I could do nothing about it, and I learned how the media is.”42

With no offer from the Blue Jays, Alomar was ready to hit free agency: “If [the Blue Jays] had offered me something before the All-Star break, then maybe I would’ve thought about it and gone for it. Now you’re in the last week of the season. … Now maybe it’s time for me to try the market.”43

At 27 years old and already a six-time All-Star, Alomar inked a three-year, $18 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles in December 1995.44 He was thrilled to team up with fellow All-Star Cal Ripken Jr.: “I never expected to play alongside one of the legends of baseball. … It’s going to be like a dream come true for me.”45

Alomar carried his winter-ball success (he led the league in hitting) over to Baltimore, going on a tear to begin the season, hitting .410 in the beginning part of June.46 Former teammate Tony Gwynn heaped praise on the player Alomar had become, saying, “He has the ability to hit a home run, or work the count and hit a double down the opposite line and do whatever he wants to do. He’s probably the best all-around player in the game.”47 Alomar went on to make his seventh consecutive All-Star Game, collect his sixth consecutive Gold Glove and set numerous career highs as the Orioles clinched the American League wild-card playoff spot.48

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the season, however, occurred during a late-September game in Toronto. After being called out on strikes in the top of the first, Alomar argued with home-plate umpire John Hirschbeck on his way back to the dugout. When Hirschbeck threw him out of the game, Alomar returned to the field. During the course of the argument, Alomar took offense to being called a derogatory name, and spit in Hirschbeck’s face.49

Alomar apologized and donated $50,000 toward research into Lou Gehrig’s disease, which Hirschbeck’s son had.50 This did nothing to prevent his being relentlessly booed for the remainder of the season and the playoffs, or from receiving a five-game suspension to be served at the start of the 1997 season.51

Alomar delivered a game-tying two-out single in the deciding Game Four of the Division Series against Cleveland, and then hit the game-winning home run in the 12th inning.52 Brother and Indians catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. said, “He’s my brother and with all the things that happened with this incident, I felt kind of sorry for him.”53 Roberto was ready to turn the page on the incident: “I’ve been going through a tough time. … Human beings make mistakes. I apologized to the umpire, his family, and all of baseball. It’s time to move on.”54 The Orioles did move on to the ALCS, but were eliminated in five games by the New York Yankees on their way to the World Series title.

The fact that Alomar was even allowed to play in the playoffs did not sit well with many, including major-league umpires. When it was announced that his suspension would be delayed until the next season, the umpires voted to not work the playoffs unless the suspension was changed to apply to the first round.55 The boycott was abandoned, however, when an agreement was worked out in a Philadelphia federal court.56

After he served his five-game suspension to start the 1997 season, Alomar helped the Orioles to 98 wins and the American League East crown. He also took the first step toward putting the spitting incident behind him, publicly shaking hands with Hirschbeck near first base in April before the first Orioles game Hirschbeck called since the incident.57 Several nagging injuries pestered Alomar throughout the season, including a nagging groin injury in late July that made him miss close to a month of playing time. Alomar said the injury “made me grow up. I now knew what it was like to be hurt and what you had to do to come back.”58 After defeating the Mariners in the Division Series, the Orioles came up short of the World Series yet again, this time losing to Sandy and the Cleveland Indians in six games.

The Orioles were nowhere near contention in 1998. The season was not without its highlights though, as Roberto collected three hits (one of them a home run) and the All-Star Game MVP award in Denver, making the Alomar brothers back-to-back winners of the award since Sandy had won the year before. As his three-year contract with the Orioles came to a close, Roberto once again found himself on the free-agent market.

It did not take long for Roberto to find a new home. He signed a four-year contract with the Indians, reuniting with Sandy.59 “It means a lot to be beside my brother, not only to me but to my family,” Roberto said.60 Indians general manager John Hart stated the obvious: “We are elated to have the Alomar brothers in the Indians family.”61 In addition to Sandy, the move to Cleveland also allowed Roberto to team with shortstop Omar Vizquel, who along with Roberto had also won six Gold Gloves. “It would be worth the price of a ticket just to watch Omar and Robbie turn a double play,” said Hart.62

Free from the injuries that plagued him in 1998, Alomar made an immediate impact on the Indians. “Robbie is one of the few players in the game that can make everybody around him better,” Indians manager Mike Hargrove said.63 The Indians had compiled an enviable offense that exploded out of the gates, and Alomar ended the year with what proved to be a career high 24 home runs. He finished third in the MVP voting (the highest he would ever finish). His hot hitting continued in the playoffs; he went 5-for-8 while the Indians surged to a 2-0 series lead over the Red Sox in the ALDS.64 The Tribe would not win again, however, and fell in five games.65

Although things did not turn out as hoped in October, a late-season meeting helped Alomar to finally turn the page on the spitting incident, which had continued to follow him through the jeers of fans around the country. On September 5, during a rain delay at Camden Yards, John Hirschbeck and family came knocking on the visitor’s clubhouse door, asking for Roberto. Hirschbeck’s 13-year-old son was a fan, and wanted to meet Roberto. The moment together allowed both families to heal. “I don’t see why he should be booed,” Hirschbeck said afterward. “If he and I can forgive and forget, why not everyone else?”66

The next two seasons also ended in disappointment for the Indians. In 2000 they missed the playoffs altogether despite winning 90 games. They charged back to the playoffs in 2001, but fell in five games in the ALDS to the Seattle Mariners. Alomar won Gold Gloves and was an All-Star in both seasons, and stole a combined 69 bases. He still looked to be in his prime with one year left on his contract. But another change of scenery was in store.

On December 11, 2001, the Indians traded Alomar, pitcher Mike Bacsik, and first baseman Danny Peoples to the New York Mets in exchange for outfielders Matt Lawton and Alex Escobar, relief pitcher Jerrod Riggan, and two players to be named later.67 While the move was designed to clear payroll and acquire younger talent, Indians general manager Mark Shapiro knew that the deal would not sit well with all fans. “I think I’ll need a flak jacket when I get off the plane [from the winter meetings], probably,” he said.68 Alomar said he was “kind of disappointed … I was real happy in Cleveland and thought I did a great job.”69 Mets General Manager Steve Phillips was elated: “We sit up in that room and all we do is dream all day about different scenarios,” he said, adding that “I have to admit that I thought this was a long shot.”70

But what had seemed like a dream scenario for Phillips at the Winter Meetings would soon turn into a nightmare. The Mets came nowhere near meeting expectations, finishing in last place in the National League East, 26½ games out of first place. Alomar also began to show the first sign of decline, hitting .266 and snapping his 12-year streak of appearances in the All-Star Game. The 2003 season began much the same way, with Alomar hitting.262 on July 1 when the Mets shipped him to the White Sox for three prospects.71

All told, Alomar played only 222 games for the Mets, and for his part understood that he did not perform at the high level that the Mets, and he himself, had expected. “Sometimes, you put too much pressure on yourself in New York, and maybe I did that,” he said.72 Along with providing a change of scenery, joining the White Sox allowed him to reunite again with Sandy.73 But Roberto hit only .253 down the stretch and the White Sox finished in second place in the American League Central, missing the playoffs.

A free agent once again, Alomar signed a one-year deal in the offseason with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the hopes of rejuvenating his career. “If I can get in good shape, I think I can play the way I used to play,” he said.74 Despite missing 56 games with a broken right hand suffered when he was hit by a pitch in late April, he did indeed experience a resurgence of sorts in his limited time on the field with Arizona, carrying a .309 batting average into early August.75 With the Diamondbacks hopelessly out of contention, Alomar was once again an attractive commodity for teams looking to add a veteran presence for the stretch run. So it was that the White Sox acquired him for the second consecutive season. Alomar struggled mightily in sporadic action, though, batting only .180 in 65 plate appearances as the White Sox once again missed the playoffs.

After multiple seasons of declining performance, Alomar made one last run at extending his career, this time with Tampa Bay, signing a one-year, $600,000 contract in January.76 When he committed multiple errors in one inning of a spring training game, however, he decided it was time to walk away. “I played a lot of games and I said I would never embarrass myself on the field,” he said, adding, “I had a long career, but I can’t play at the level I want to play, so it’s time to retire. I just can’t go anymore. My back, legs and eyes aren’t the same.”77 Alomar concluded his 17-year career with a .300 batting average, 2,724 hits, 210 home runs, and 474 stolen bases to go along with 12 All-Star Game selections and 10 Gold Glove awards.

There was no question that Cooperstown would be the final stop of Alomar’s career. With some Hall voters still holding the Hirschbeck incident against him, though, he came up eight votes short of admission in his first year of eligibility, in 2010. “I feel disappointed, but next year hopefully I make it in,” he said, adding that “at least I was close.”78 Some sportswriters were not as gracious in their assessment of the snub. The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers wrote, “If anybody didn’t vote for Robbie because of the spitting incident, then shame on them.”79

Whatever the concerns some Hall voters had in Alomar’s first year of eligibility, resistance to his election was all but nonexistent the next year. He was named on 90 percent of the ballots, far over the 75 percent needed for induction into the Hall of Fame.80 Even Alomar was surprised by the drastic increase in support from the previous year. “I didn’t expect to get that many votes,” he said.81

Alomar, who went into the Hall wearing a Blue Jays cap, opened his induction speech in Spanish and spoke fondly of his father’s and brother’s impact on his life and career.82 Sandy Jr. recounted the brothers’ year-long wager as teammates/roommates for Class-A Charleston: “We said whoever had the best game, would get the bed. I slept on the couch the whole year.”83 He added, “We didn’t win a championship together but we won this together. And this is a big one. In my heart, you are a Hall of Famer.”84

Statistics aside, it is the way Alomar’s former teammates describe him that truly tells the story of the player that he was. Toronto teammate Pat Hentgen, asked how he described Alomar to present-day players, said, “I tell them Robbie was a career .300 hitter, a clutch hitter, a guy who could hit for power, a great baserunner and basestealer … and (pause) his best asset of all was his glove.”85 The Orioles’ B.J. Surhoff perhaps best summed up Alomar’s baseball career: “Robbie could beat you with the bunt, with the extra base, with the homer. He could beat you with a stolen base. He could beat you by going from first to third, a baserunning move. He could beat you by making plays in the field. Robbie’s a baseball player. And a damn good one at that.”86

Alomar continued to be involved in baseball after his retirement. In January of 2016, he and his wife, Kim, launched Foundation 12, a Canadian charitable organization serving youth baseball players, though the organization does not appear to be currently active as of 2022. In 2021, Alomar was placed on the ineligible list by Major League Baseball following an investigation into a 2014 sexual assault allegation.87 Alomar stated that he was “disappointed, surprised, and upset” with the decision, and that he would “continue to spend my time helping kids pursue their baseball dreams.”88

Last revised: March 9, 2022

Notes

1 “25 Years Later, Nolan Ryan Remembers His Seventh No-Hitter,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 30, 2016, star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/article74925477.html.

2 Norman L. Macht, Roberto Alomar (Childs, Maryland: Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc., 1999), 9-11.

3 Macht, 3.

4 Macht, 10.

5 “Like Father Like Son?: Padres Think Roberto Alomar Is a Bit More Than a Chip Off the Old Block,” Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1988, articles.latimes.com/1988-04-22/sports/sp-2096_1_roberto-alomar.

6 Macht, 15.

7 Macht, 15.

8 Macht, 16.

9 Macht, 16.

10 Macht, 17.

11 Macht, 18.

12 Macht, 18.

13 Macht, 19.

14 Macht, 19

15 Macht, 21.

16 “Padre Notebook: Few Except Feeney Appear Satisfied as Roberto Alomar Is Sent Down,” Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1988, articles.latimes.com/1988-03-26/sports/sp-354_1_roberto-alomar.

17 Macht, 23.

18 “Padre Notebook.”

19 “Padre Notebook.”

20 “Like Father Like Son?”

21 Macht, 25-26.

22 “Alomars an All-Star Family: Padres: Roberto Alomar, Along With Teammate Tony Gywnn, Is Named an NL Reserve. Brother Sandy Had Already Been Selected as The Starting AL Catcher for Tuesday’s Game,” Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1990, articles.latimes.com/1990-07-06/sports/sp-113_1_sandy-alomar-jr.

23 “Alomars an All-Star Family.”

24 “Blue Jays Land Carter, Alomar From Padres San Diego Gets Fernandez and McGriff in Deal,” Baltimore Sun, December 5, 1990, articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-12-06/sports/1990340005_1_blue-jays-fred-mcgriff-tony-fernandez.

25 “Blue Jays Land Carter, Alomar From Padres San Diego Gets Fernandez and McGriff in Deal.”

26 “Blue Jays Land Carter, Alomar From Padres San Diego Gets Fernandez and McGriff in Deal.”

27 Macht, 31.

28 “Padres Winning December Deal Looks Like Tie With Blue Jays in April,” Baltimore Sun, April 21, 1991, articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-04-21/sports/1991111135_1_blue-jays-roberto-alomar-deal.

29 “25 Years Later.”

30 “25 Years Later.”

31 Macht, 33.

32 “Cadaret and 8 Others Settle Contract,” New York Times, February 8, 1992, nytimes.com/1992/02/08/sports/baseball-cadaret-and-8-others-settle-contracts.html.

33 “Cadaret and 8 Others Settle Contract,”

34 Macht, 35.

35 “Blue Jays Eck Out a 7-6 Victory in 11: AL Game 4: Alomar’s Two-Run Homer Off Eckersley Ties It in Ninth as A’s Blow 6-1 Lead,” Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1992, articles.latimes.com/1992-10-12/sports/sp-138_1_blue-jays.

36 Macht, 37.

37 “Alomar’s MVP Play Points to New Star,” Baltimore Sun, October 15, 1992, articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-10-15/sports/1992289072_1_alomar-blue-jays-toronto.

38 Macht, 42.

39 Macht, 43-44.

40 “Orioles’ Multitalented Alomar Is Second to None,” Washington Post, March 31, 1996, washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1996/03/31/orioles-multitalented-alomar-is-second-to-none/b8cd697d-9630-464e-bcd9-84d6ba8db8cf/?utm_term=.9d34bd1c1107.

41 “Orioles’ Multitalented Alomar Is Second to None.”

42 Macht, 44.

43 “Jays’ Alomar in No Rush to Decide ’96 Destination He, Molitor Express Interest in Joining Ripken,” Baltimore Sun, September 27, 1995, articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-09-27/sports/1995270116_1_alomar-blue-jays-second-baseman.

44 “O’s Wave Money Wand Building Winner: Signing Six-Time All-Star Roberto Alomar Adds Exclamation Mark to New General Manager’s Swift Revamping of Orioles,” Baltimore Sun, December 22, 1995, articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-12-22/news/1995356066_1_gillick-orioles-roberto-alomar. New manager Davey Johnson was informed of the signing in the dentist’s chair when he answered a call from General Manager Pat Gillick who said, “Well, you’ve got yourself an All-Star second baseman.” Johnson claimed to not feel any pain for the remainder of the day. “Alomar finds O’s 2nd to none Six-time All-Star signs, three-year, $18 million deal,” Baltimore Sun, December 22, 1995, articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-12-22/sports/1995356093_1_roberto-alomar-cone-orioles.

45 Macht, 47.

46 Macht, 46, 51-52.

47 “Alomar Hitting His Prime at Plate,” Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1996, articles.latimes.com/1996-05-28/sports/sp-9201_1_alomar-hitting.

48 Macht, 51-52.

49 Macht, 52-53.

50 Macht, 54.

51 Macht, 54.

52 “Alomar Shows Some Spit and Polish,” Los Angeles Times, October 6, 1996, articles.latimes.com/1996-10-06/sports/sp-51279_1_sandy-alomar.

53 “Alomar Shows Some Spit and Polish.”

54 “Alomar Shows Some Spit and Polish.”

55 “Umpires Vote to Boycott Over Alomar,” New York Times, October 1, 1996, nytimes.com/1996/10/01/sports/umpires-vote-to-boycott-over-alomar.html.

56 “Umpires Abandon Boycott,” Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1996, articles.latimes.com/1996-10-02/sports/sp-49681_1_umpires-working-game.

57 Macht, 57.

58 Macht, 59.

59 Macht, 62.

60 “Cleveland Lures Roberto Alomar,” CBS News, November 23, 1998, cbsnews.com/news/cleveland-lures-roberto-alomar/.

61 “Cleveland Lures Roberto Alomar.”

62 “Cleveland Lures Roberto Alomar.”

63 “Alomar: Villain Turned Hero in Cleveland,” Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1999, articles.latimes.com/1999/jun/27/sports/sp-50609.

64 “Baines Goes Deep as Indians Move One Game From Sweep,” Baltimore Sun, October 8, 1999, articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-10-08/sports/9910080129_1_roberto-alomar-baines-cleveland.

65 “Red Sox Ace Out Indians,” Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1999, articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/12/sports/sp-22770/2.

66 “Score One for Friendship,” Baltimore Sun, October 27, 1999, articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-10-27/news/9910270108_1_roberto-alomar-john-hirschbeck-holy-water/3.

67 “Indians Trade Alomar to Mets,” Southeast Missourian (Cape Girardeau, Missouri), December 12, 2001, semissourian.com/story/54375.html.

68 “Indians Trade Alomar to Mets,” CBC Sports, December 11, 2001, cbc.ca/sports/baseball/indians-trade-alomar-to-mets-1.257404.

69 “Indians Trade Alomar to Mets,” CBC Sports.

70 “Indians trade Alomar to Mets,” Southeast Missourian, December 12, 2001, www.semissourian.com/story/54375.html.

71 “Mets Trade Roberto Alomar to White Sox,” New York Times, July 1, 2003, nytimes.com/2003/07/01/sports/baseball/mets-trade-roberto-alomar-to-white-sox.html.

72 “Mets Trade Roberto Alomar to White Sox.”

73 Sandy Alomar signed with Chicago prior to the 2003 season.

74 “Alomar Jr. Joins Diamondbacks, CBC Sports, January 7, 2004, cbc.ca/sports/baseball/alomar-jr-joins-diamondbacks-1.516620.

75 “Diamondbacks Trade Alomar to White Sox,” Orlando Sentinel, August 6, 2004, articles.orlandosentinel.com/2004-08-06/sports/0408060185_1_dominican-republic-clemens-white-sox.

76 “Notebook: Roberto Alomar: “It’s Time to Retire,” Seattle Times, March 20, 2005, seattletimes.com/sports/notebook-roberto-alomar-its-time-to-retire/.

77 “Notebook: Roberto Alomar: “It’s Time to Retire.”

78 “Hall Passes: Alomar 8 Short,” Baltimore Sun, January 7, 2010, articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-01-07/sports/1001060140_1_hall-s-veterans-committee-john-hirschbeck-roberto-alomar.

79 “Hall Passes: Alomar 8 Short.”

80 “Alomar, Blyleven Elected to Hall of Fame,” Baltimore Sun, January 5, 2011, articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-01-05/sports/bs-sp-hallofame-01-20110105_1_sandy-alomar-sr-pitcher-bert-blyleven-induction.

81 “Alomar, Blyleven Elected to Hall of Fame.”

82 “Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick Enter Baseball Hall of Fame,” USA Today, July 24, 2011, usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/hallfame/2011-07-24-hall-of-fame-alomar-blyleven_n.htm.

83 “Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick Enter Baseball Hall of Fame.”

84 “Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick Enter Baseball Hall of Fame.”

85 “Robbie Was Best of the Best,” Toronto Sun, July 16, 2011, torontosun.com/2011/07/16/robbie-was-best-of-the-best.

86 “Alomar Falls Just Short in First Bid for Hall of Fame,” Baltimore Sun, January 7, 2010, articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-01-07/sports/bal-sp.alomar07jan07_1_roberto-alomar-greatest-second-basemen-ballot/2.

87 Keegan Matheson, “MLB Puts Roberto Alomar on Ineligible List,” MLB.com, April 30, 2021. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-puts-roberto-alomar-on-ineligible-list

88 “MLB puts Roberto Alomar on Ineligible List.”

Santos Alomar Conde was born in Salinas, Puerto Rico on October 19, 1943. His parents were Demetrio Alomar Palmieri, a sugar-mill machine operator, and Rosa Conde Santiago. There were eight children overall in the family.1 Small in stature at 5’9” and 140 to 155 pounds, Sandy was the only one of the family’s four ballplaying brothers to make it to the major leagues. Antonio (Tony) and Rafael got as high as Triple-A; Demetrio played Class C and D ball. All played in the Puerto Rican Winter League (PRWL).

The Alomar baseball heritage was also visible on the maternal side. Rosa’s cousin, Ceferino “Cefo” Conde, pitched 14 seasons in the PRWL, from 1938-39 through 1952-53. Infielder Ramón “Wito” Conde, Cefo’s son, played pro ball from the early 1950s through the early 1970s – including 14 games with the Chicago White Sox in 1962.

Santos starred for both Luis Muñoz Rivera High School in his hometown and for the local American Legion team. He signed as an amateur free agent with the Milwaukee Braves before the 1960 season, receiving a bonus of about $12,000. The scout was Luis Olmo, the second Puerto Rican to play in the majors. Olmo had seen Alomar ever since he was a youth in Little League and Pony ball.2 Sandy was just 16 when he signed at the same time with brother Demetrio, who was then 21. He was supposed to report to Eau Claire, Wisconsin in the Class C Northern League after the school year ended.3 As it developed, though, he did not play in the U.S. in 1960. He was on the restricted list (perhaps because of his age).4

Still only 17 in 1961, Alomar began his ride on the minor league whirlwind still familiar to young players. To his delight, when he landed in the Midwest League, he found himself teamed with Demetrio in the Davenport, Iowa infield. He later admitted that this fortuitous situation helped make his transition to American baseball more comfortable.5 He made stops in (among other places) Austin, Boise – where he hit a lofty .329 in 1962 – and Denver. Alomar began his PRWL career in the winter of 1961-62 with the Arecibo Lobos. He spent six seasons with the Wolves, followed by six with the Ponce Leones.

Alomar was called up from Milwaukee’s Triple-A Denver club in September 1964. He made his major league debut on September 15, a little over a month shy of his 21st birthday. He started at shortstop in the first game of a doubleheader at County Stadium and batted eighth, singling in a run in his first at-bat off St. Louis left-hander Ray Sadecki. A popup and groundout followed, before a pinch-hitter replaced him leading off the eighth. Besides batting 1-for-3, Alomar also made an error in the 11-6 loss. He started at short again in the second game, but had the misfortune of facing ace Bob Gibson, who struck Alomar out twice.

In 53 at-bats over 19 games in his first big-league stint, Alomar hit .245 with a double and 6 RBIs. He played the bulk of the following year for the Atlanta Crackers, which had become the Braves’ AAA team that season. He did appear in 67 more games for the big club, however, batting .241 with 8 RBIs while playing second base as well as shortstop. He also stole 12 bases.

The Braves’ major league franchise made its heralded move to Atlanta to start the 1966 season, but Alomar’s opportunities to make an impression were growing fewer. Spending most of that season in Richmond (the Braves’ new AAA home), Sandy – now playing mainly second base – got only 44 at-bats with the major league club, collecting merely a double and three singles for an .091 average. In 117 total games for the Braves over parts of three seasons, Alomar hit just .210 with four extra base hits, 16 runs batted in, and only 13 steals. He had made nine errors in the infield. Alomar’s days with the team that brought him to the United States were quickly coming to an end.

Before the 1967 season, the Braves sent Sandy to Houston as the player to be named later in a deal that had brought future Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews to the Astros. A month later, however, Houston moved him along to New York for utilityman Derrell Griffith. The Mets, entering only their sixth season as a major league franchise, were looking for a versatile infielder – shortstop Bud Harrelson was not yet ready and veteran second baseman Chuck Hiller was considered a weak glove man. “It was a case of trading a good bat for a good glove and speed,” explained Mets GM Bing Devine.6

Looking for a way to expand his value at the plate, Alomar came to camp determined to become a switch-hitter, something he had tried in his rookie season with the Braves with limited success. Unfortunately, the results didn’t change. He spent most of the year with the Mets’ International League team in Jacksonville, playing all four infield positions and the outfield but hitting only .209. When the Mets did recall him, Sandy got just 22 at-bats without a hit (this 0-for-22 streak stood for a time as a Met record for hitless futility.) And before the season was over, he was gone.

On August 15th, Alomar was once again a player named later. He was shipped to the White Sox to complete an earlier deal that had also sent third-base great Ken Boyer to Chicago. It was at this point that Alomar became disillusioned. “It was a nightmare,” he told a reporter in an interview three years later when asked about the season in which he was on the roster of four different major league teams. “Like a piece of garbage…They treat me like I was something they could throw away when they want to…They brainwash me. They tell me I cannot hit, that I good glove man…they say I am too little to not wear down. They make me believe these things myself…almost.” However, he had a backer in the White Sox organization: coach Grover Resinger, who knew him from his days with the Braves and from the minor leagues.7

When he had been sent back to the minors in June 1967, Alomar admitted he had thought of quitting and going back to Puerto Rico. “And then I look at my four mouths to feed and one on the way…and I think that for one last chance Sandy will go to the minors.”8 Santos Jr. had been born during the 1966 season while his dad was playing in Atlanta; Roberto was the “one on the way.” The first Alomar child was a daughter named Sandia. Sandy and María Angelita Velázquez had gotten married on December 23, 1963.9

In the Second City, however, Alomar’s prospects began to brighten. He appeared in only 12 games during the remainder of the 1967 season, but in 1968, Sox manager Eddie Stanky finally made Sandy a regular. Under the tutelage of scout and hitting instructor Deacon Jones, Alomar upped his average to .253, at one point in the season reaching .274. Infield mate Luis Aparicio was impressed: “That fellow has improved 150%,” remarked the future Hall of Famer.10

That winter, Ponce won the first of back to-back PRWL championships. Rocky Bridges, then a coach for the California Angels, managed the 1968-69 squad. Unfortunately, Alomar had a slow start to the ’69 big-league season. He was traded again, to the Angels on May 14th, in a package for infielder Bobby Knoop. Though Knoop was coming off three consecutive Gold Glove awards, the Angels thought Alomar could do everything except make the pivot as well as or better than Knoop.11

Angels’ manager Bill Rigney thought he saw in Alomar a chance to kick-start his lineup from the top. “We’ve never had a leadoff hitter,” said Rigney. “If we’re going to do it with singles, we might as well do it with speed, too.” Rocky Bridges was also excited: “Sandy can run,” he remarked. “He’ll create excitement. The fans will be looking for him to go every time he’s on first.”12

It was in Anaheim that Sandy Alomar finally settled down. Installed as the everyday second baseman, Alomar had almost 600 plate appearances in 1969, hitting a passable .250 with 30 RBIs, though he stole only 18 bases. With Ponce that winter, the Leones repeated as PRWL champs. The skipper was Alomar’s double-play partner with the Angels, Jim Fregosi, in his first job as manager.

If Angel fans were truly looking for Alomar to run every time he got on first, they felt much more confident in 1970. Playing the full 162-game schedule for the first time, Alomar hit .251 in 672 at-bats, driving in 36 runs and swiping 35 bases. He also walked 49 times with only 65 strikeouts, helping make him the leadoff hitter the Angels had been hoping for.

Alomar’s season was impressive enough for him to be named as an AL reserve in the All-Star Game after Rod Carew was injured. He took great pride in having his hard work recognized.13 At Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium, he went hitless in his one at-bat, flying out against Claude Osteen in the top of the 12th in what’s remembered as the “Pete Rose-Ray Fosse” game.

Alomar’s professional peak was the 1970-71 winter season. He hit a league-leading .343 in 251 at-bats for Ponce and was named the PRWL’s Most Valuable Player. The Leones finished in fourth among the league’s six teams that season, however, and were knocked out in the semi-finals.

The next season with the Angels proved to be Alomar’s most successful in the majors. Now 27 years old, he collected close to 700 at-bats for the second year in a row and hit a new high, batting .260. He also set personal career bests with 179 hits, 42 RBIs, and 39 stolen bases. In addition, he set a major-league record by coming to the plate 739 times without being hit by a pitch (Alomar was struck by a pitched ball only three times in 15 seasons).

Overall, Alomar enjoyed the most productive stretch of his career in Southern California – in a period covering four full seasons and parts of two others, Sandy appeared in close to 800 games, hitting .248 with 162 RBIs; he stole 139 bases in 186 attempts. At 30 years old, the veteran infielder felt he had finally made his mark. Alomar played in a remarkable 648 consecutive games in one stretch from 1969 through September 1973, until he suffered a broken leg when Jerry Hairston Sr. slammed into him while breaking up a double play. This streak – which earned Alomar the nickname “The Iron Pony” – is still 19th-longest in big-league history.

Alomar sat out the 1973-74 winter season in Puerto Rico while he recovered from his broken leg. Meanwhile, in December 1973, the Angels acquired second baseman Denny Doyle from the Philadelphia Phillies. Doyle won the starting job in California that spring, and in July 1974, after playing in just 54 games as a reserve, Alomar was on the move again. His contract was sold to the New York Yankees, who had parted ways with their second baseman since 1967, Horace Clarke, that May.

The change of scenery helped – Alomar batted .269 in 76 games while playing second base in the Bronx. When he came back for the 1974-75 season in Puerto Rico, he was a member of the Santurce Cangrejeros. He played in five seasons for the Crabbers.

The whole Yankee team got off to a slow start in the 1975 season. Sandy was hitting a meager .205 and even floundering in the field. He began to question himself. “When I’m in my room by myself, that’s when I think about the way I am going,” he mused. “I think, ‘Why do you do this when you could have done that? Why do you miss that pitch…why do you miss that ball?’…There are times when I ask myself whether I can hit or not.

“Sometimes I go to a restaurant and I order and I don’t feel like eating…I know, myself, that I’m a better hitter than what I’m doing now. A baseball player – you have to accept the ups and the downs.”14

Still, the Yankees, meandering to an 83-win, third-place finish in the AL East, kept Alomar in the lineup almost every day. He ended the season hitting .239 in 151 games with 28 steals. His .975 fielding percentage led all major leaguers at the keystone base.

In the Yankees’ pennant-winning year of 1976, Alomar, now a utilityman with the emergence of young second baseman Willie Randolph, did everything on the field except pitch and catch. He appeared in 67 games and mirrored his previous season, hitting .239.

More importantly, for the first time in his major league career, Alomar found himself in the post-season, as the Yankees won the AL East and then their first pennant since 1964. In the AL Championship Series against Kansas City, Sandy went 0-for-1 in his single plate appearance, flying out as a pinch-hitter to end New York’s 7-4 defeat in Game Four. He was also called on to pinch-run, but was caught stealing second base to end the sixth, in what ultimately turned out to be a Yankee win when Chris Chambliss homered in the bottom of the ninth to win the series. Alomar did not appear in the World Series in that or any other year.

His value as a utility player made him attractive to other teams, however, and the Texas Rangers traded for him in February 1977, in a deal that sent infielder Brian Doyle to the Bronx. Over parts of the next two seasons, Alomar continued in his role as utilityman, hitting .265, mostly as a DH. In 1978, his U.S. career came to a close; he got only 29 at-bats and collected only six hits. He was released by the Rangers at the end of the year.

The final numbers in the majors for Santos Alomar Sr. are not imposing. Over a 15-year major league career and over 4,700 at-bats, he hit just .245 with 13 homers, 282 RBIs, and 227 stolen bases (he was caught 80 times). His on-base percentage was a lowly .290, but his fielding percentage was a solid .976.

Alomar did not play in Puerto Rico in the winter of 1978-79 after the Rangers released him. However, he appeared for Santurce in 25 games in 1979-80. He closed out his playing career the following winter with six appearances as player-manager for Ponce. Overall, Alomar hit .270 in over 1,000 games in the PRWL during 18 seasons (the exact number of total games is not certain because the figure is missing for 1963-64). He hit 25 homers and stole 168 bases, leading the league in steals an unequaled six times.

But Sandy Alomar’s contribution to the game he loved would not end with his retirement. Back in Puerto Rico, he bought a gas station in Salinas, while his two sons learned the game their father had made his livelihood. While Sandy Jr. and Roberto honed their baseball skills, Sandy Sr. continued working in baseball, coaching the Puerto Rican national team from 1979-1984. In the 1980s, he coached and managed with Santurce and again with Ponce.

Roberto, who grew to 6 feet, and Sandy Jr., at 6-feet-5, were both much bigger than their father. When asked about the physical differences in 1997, Sandy Jr. remarked that his mother was relatively tall at 5-feet-7, while his uncles were all tall as well. “My father is the only midget,” he concluded.15

Luis Rosa, a San Diego Padres scout working throughout Latin America, came to see both Alomar offspring. He also approached their father about a position in the organization. The Padres’ director of minor league scouting was looking for an infield instructor and Alomar had played for San Diego manager Dick Williams when they were both with the Angels. Thus, the Padres hired him, but made it clear that it was not to encourage his talented sons to sign with their team.16 Eventually, however, they both did.

Their father claims he never pressured either of them to pursue a baseball career. Though Roberto always wanted to be a big-leaguer, Santos Jr. stopped playing ball for a couple of his teenage years to ride dirt bikes. “My dad gave me a speech,” Sandy Jr. said years later. “He said that riding bikes was a hobby and not a job … you spend money in that. You don’t get money.”17

The senior Alomar tried not to give his sons too much baseball advice either, but Sandy Jr. believed that being the son of a major-leaguer had its advantages and disadvantages. “You have a name that helps you,” he said. “But some people do expect you to be the same as your father. That’s not right. We’re different people.”18

As his progeny made their way through pro ball, their father’s coaching odyssey continued: He served as a coach for the Padres’ affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina in its inaugural season – both of his sons were on the team. Sandy Sr. then became a major-league coach for the Padres from 1986 through1990, so he was on hand when his sons reached The Show in 1988.

Sandy Sr. then joined the Chicago Cubs organization, working as a roving minor league instructor during the 1990s. He also managed their Williamsport team in the NY-Penn League for part of the 1994 season, as well as their Gulf Coast Rookie League team in 1995 and 1996.

Alomar joined the Cubs’ major league staff in 2000 and remained there for three seasons, as bullpen coach and (in 2002) as first-base coach. He then moved to the Colorado Rockies’ third-base coaching box for two seasons. Alomar remained connected to the Puerto Rican baseball scene too. He served as general manager of the San Juan Senadores in 1999-2000. He also managed the national team in regional tournaments in 2003.

Alomar returned to the Mets in 2005, serving as first-base coach for two seasons, third-base coach for two more, and then finally becoming bench coach. He actually managed a game on May 9, 2009, after Jerry Manuel was suspended for an altercation with umpire Bill Welke. When the Mets beat Pittsburgh 10-1 and the Phillies lost to the Braves, the Mets moved into first place in the NL East under Alomar’s one-game stewardship.

That season, however, was his last in a big-league uniform, though he managed again in the Gulf Coast Rookie League for the Mets in 2010.

The website Champions of Faith notes that Alomar is a lifelong Catholic and that he calls his wife María “the spiritual leader of the family”.19 They had six grandchildren.

Alomar died at the age of 81 on October 13, 2025, just days before his 82nd birthday.

In stature, Sandy Alomar Sr. was not a giant. But on the diamond, though he had his share of struggles in the game, his pride and perseverance made him a useful asset. His defensive versatility helped, as did an obvious passion to play as well as he was capable in every game. As Grover Resinger put it in 1970, Alomar had value “defensively, offensively and inspirationally.”20

In 2014, Alomar himself expressed it this way as he passed on lessons from his decades of wisdom at the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball in Canada. “Size really doesn’t matter if you have faith in yourself and you know you can do it. If you sacrifice, and you put the effort in, you will become what you feel it is you should become.” 21

He repeated a different dictum later that year at another baseball camp in Canada. “When you have pride, you have a will. When you have a will, you have respect. When you have respect, you create discipline. Discipline gives you knowledge. Knowledge gives you awareness. And awareness gives you anticipation.”22

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Rory Costello for his input.

Photo credit: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

Sources

Internet resources

Ancestry.com

Myheritage.com

Books

José A. Crescion Benítez, El Béisbol Profesional Boricua, San Juan, Puerto Rico: Aurora Comunicación Integral, Inc., 1997.

Newspaper articles

In addition to those cited in the notes, I also used several articles from the below.

Chicago Tribune

New York Times

Chicago Daily Defender

Notes

Arroyo also spent 19 seasons in the Puerto Rican Winter League (PRWL) from 1946-47 to 1964-65. As of 2012, he ranked third in league’s history in wins (110), innings pitched, and games pitched.2

Luis Enrique Arroyo Lugo was born in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico on February 18, 1927. Over the years, various stories hinted at an earlier birthdate, but census records support 1927. His parents were Felipe Arroyo González, a laborer on a sugarcane plantation, and Modesta Lugo de Arrazo. Luis was the third of five children in the family. Before him were sister Felícita and brother Ramón; after him came two more brothers, Miguel and Américo.

“Tite” (as Arroyo is known in his homeland) is a common Spanish nickname for Enrique. Another of Arroyo’s nicknames at home was El Zurdo de Tallaboa, or The Tallaboa Lefty. That was a reference to the section of Peñuelas where his family lived. Starting in 1944, Arroyo pitched in Double A (as Puerto Rico’s top local amateur level was known) for the Tallaboa Athletics.3 His brother Ramón was his catcher.4 Arroyo led the league in ERA in 1946 and earned a spot on the Puerto Rican roster at the Central American Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.5

Peñuelas is on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, just a little bit west of one of the island’s leading cities, Ponce. When Arroyo turned pro in the winter of 1946-47, it was with the Ponce Leones. Because his family needed the money, he left high school in 1947 for a bonus of $500 — reportedly only the second bonus given to a player in the PRWL.6

The team Arroyo joined became league champions for the fifth time in six winters. The manager was George Scales, a tough, smart Negro Leaguer. The staff included one of the league’s most successful pitchers, Tomás “Planchardón” Quiñones. A fellow rookie on the mound was José “Pantalones” Santiago (no relation to another future major-leaguer, José “Palillo” Santiago). Arroyo lost in both of his appearances that season. He also went just 1-4 in the winter of 1947-48, though his ERA improved from 4.19 to 2.46 (he pitched 44 innings in 10 games).

Arroyo first played in the U.S. minors in 1948. In 1955, after the pitcher had broken into the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg described how it came about. “In the spring of 1948 Ponce financed a trip to George Stirnweiss’ Baseball School in Florida and there he was spotted by President Bob Doty of the Greenville (S.C.) club of the Class D Coastal Plain League. In mid-season, Doty transferred to Greensboro, N.C. of the Carolina League and took Arroyo with him.”7 Arroyo posted a 14-16 record overall, with a 3.90 ERA in 249 innings. The subsequent winter in Ponce was fairly similar (2-2, 3.66 in 15 games).

In 1949, however, the 22-year-old’s performance took a big step up. He remained with Greensboro, going 21-10 with a 3.67 ERA (the Carolina League had gone from Class C to Class B). Arroyo also got a new nickname: Yo-Yo. As Bob Broeg wrote, “It seems that it was as close as the drawling Carolinians could get to pronouncing his last name.”8 The highlight of his season was a no-hitter against Burlington on July 25.9

That December, the Cardinals selected Arroyo in the minor league draft. He then went on to record the first of his six seasons with double-digit wins in the PRWL. He was 11-5 with a sparkling 1.82 ERA for the Leones. The league champion Caguas Criollos added him to their roster as a reinforcement for the 1950 Caribbean Series, held at old Sixto Escobar Stadium in San Juan. Although Carta Vieja of Panama was the upset winner of the tournament, Arroyo got two of Puerto Rico’s four victories. On February 23, he beat Negro Leaguer Terris McDuffie (representing Venezuela) in an exciting duel. Caguas won 2-1, as pinch-hitter Wilmer Fields — called in from the coaching lines — hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.10 Just three days later, Arroyo beat McDuffie again, 3-2.

The Cardinals moved Arroyo all the way up to Triple A for 1950, but he pitched mainly out of the bullpen. In 33 games (eight starts) for Columbus (Ohio) of the American Association, he was 4-4, 4.11. During the winter of 1950-51, though, he set a personal high in Puerto Rico with 13 wins. He lost eight and his ERA remained sharp at 2.48. He was runner-up in the All-Star voting among Puerto Rican fans, who gave the most ballots to scrappy American catcher Clint Courtney.11

The summer of 1951 was lackluster for Arroyo: 3-2, 5.52 in 24 games split between Columbus and Rochester, another Triple-A club in the St. Louis chain. His Puerto Rican season was good, but not great (10-10, 3.09). He got into another Caribbean Series, though, this time reinforcing the San Juan Senadores in Panama City.

Arroyo did not play in the U.S. in either 1952 or 1953. In the spring of 1952, he developed a sore arm. According to another 1955 feature in The Sporting News, “after a succession of rainouts, and fearing that his pitching staff would go stale, [Columbus manager Harry] Walker arranged to use a high school gym where his battery men could warm up. Arroyo bore down for about 20 minutes one afternoon, then took a hot shower and, without putting on a jacket, walked out into the cool mist and rain. Next day, he found that he couldn’t raise his arm.”12

He was not entirely idle during those two years, though — he played in the Dominican Republic. Professional baseball had resumed there in 1951, after a hiatus of 14 years, but the new Dominican League’s first four seasons took place in the summer before it switched to the winter. In two seasons with the Escogido Leones, Arroyo was 14-14, with ERAs of 1.61 and 2.84.

Meanwhile, he remained active at home. The 1952-53 winter was one of Arroyo’s worst (4-8, 4.77), but he rebounded to 7-7, 2.52 in 1953-54. He later spun a tall tale for the benefit of a New York sportswriter that he had visited an old man in the mountains of Puerto Rico who practiced natural medicine, and that a hot poultice made of leaves from a certain tree brought his shoulder back to life.13 “I threw the bull good,” Arroyo said with a smile in 1962 as he rolled a fat perfecto cigar between his fingers.14

When Arroyo returned to the U.S. in 1954, he did a big favor for Pedrín Zorrilla, owner of the Santurce Cangrejeros. As recounted in Thomas Van Hyning’s book The Puerto Rican Winter League, the Crabbers had a 19-year-old outfielder named Roberto Clemente, who was then under contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. “At Zorrilla’s request, Arroyo accompanied Clemente on the latter’s first stateside spring training trip. According to Arroyo, he flew with Clemente to Miami, purchased two bus tickets for the trip to the Dodgers’ camp and checked Roberto into a hotel before leaving the next morning for the St. Louis training camp in Daytona. Arroyo then sent the bill to Pedrín Zorrilla.”15 A little over a year later, by which time Clemente had become a Pittsburgh Pirate, Arroyo correctly predicted, “He’s going to help the Pirates win some games.”16

Meanwhile, perhaps because he’d been away from the U.S. for so long, the Cardinals assigned Arroyo only to Class A. With Columbus (Georgia) of the South Atlantic League, he went 8-6, 2.49. He earned promotion to the Double-A Texas League, going 8-3, 2.35 for Houston. Again the peak moment of his season was a no-hitter; this one came on August 11 in Dallas. The Associated Press account of this game was notable because it mentioned that Arroyo featured a screwball, which he had learned from Rubén Gómez. Later accounts when Arroyo was with the Yankees made it sound like he came up with the screwball at that point, but the trail of evidence shows that it had long been part of his repertoire.

The winter of 1954-55 was Arroyo’s last of nine with Ponce. It was also his nadir at home: 3-11, 4.95. He had a poor spring too, but nonetheless, he made the big club with St. Louis in the spring of 1955. The Cardinals wanted another lefty on their staff besides Harvey Haddix and Paul LaPalme.17

Arroyo was a winner in his major-league debut, a start on April 20 at Cincinnati’s old Crosley Field. Johnny Temple greeted him with a leadoff single, then Arroyo threw a wild pitch, walked Wally Post, and ran a 3-0 count on Gus Bell. But after coach Dixie Walker paid a visit to the mound and settled him down, Arroyo got out of the inning unscathed. He walked six and allowed five hits — but no runs — in 7 2/3 innings, and Herb Moford got the last four outs. “I’m going on 29 and have a big family,” said Arroyo. “I was worried about failing all spring. All of sudden, Dixie make me realize that no use worrying. I either do or I don’t.”18

Arroyo won his first six decisions, and his record stood at 10-3, 2.44 at the All-Star break. NL manager Leo Durocher named Tite to his pitching staff; that year Arroyo and Vic Power became the first Puerto Ricans to make it to the All-Star Game. Arroyo did not appear in the Midsummer Classic, though — the only player on Durocher’s roster who got no action.19 Fifty years later, he recalled, “The game went to extra innings and I was ordered to warm up [in the bottom of the 12th], but somebody [Stan Musial] hit a homer and the game was over. I was left longing to pitch.”20

Arroyo’s second half was also a letdown; he went just 1-5 the rest of the way, and by season’s end, his ERA was 4.19. Even when he was going well, he was prone to the long ball; he gave up 22 in 159 innings.

For the 1955-56 winter ball season, Arroyo joined San Juan. He bounced back to 9-5, 3.64 with the Senadores. Spring training 1956 brought word of a “new” addition to his arsenal. Arroyo was talking about the screwball, which Al Hollingsworth — a Cardinals scout and San Juan’s manager — had helped him develop in Puerto Rico. Arroyo expressed a lot of confidence in the pitch.21 He was ineffective in spring training, though, so the Cardinals sent him down to Triple-A Omaha.

After five appearances there, Arroyo was traded to Pittsburgh in early May for another pitcher, veteran righty Max Surkont. He was “acquired to add balance to a Pirate mound staff top-heavy with righthanders.”22 During the rest of 1956, Arroyo was up and down between Pittsburgh (3-3, 4.71 in 18 games) and Hollywood of the Pacific Coast League (7-5, 2.81 in 16 games). One oddity came on August 10, when he was charged with a loss for Pittsburgh — and he wasn’t even on the roster. The game had actually begun on July 1, but the Sunday afternoon contest had been suspended after eight innings because of Pennsylvania curfew laws. A few days later, Pittsburgh optioned Arroyo to Hollywood, and he didn’t return until September, over a month after the suspended game had been completed.

Arroyo had a good winter in 1956-57 with San Juan (11-9, 3.20). His manager was Ralph Houk, who was later his skipper with the 1961 Yankees. He made a very strong impression on Houk, as discussed in Puerto Rico’s Winter League. Houk said after the 1961 big-league season, “That man showed me five years ago he could pitch. . . he wants to pitch and that’s why he’s having some success in the big leagues.”23

Arroyo then spent all of the ’57 season with the Pirates. He worked often — 54 games, including 10 starts — but the results were forgettable (3-11, 4.68). Even one of the highlights, a win at Wrigley Field on May 14, showed what kind of a year it was. After Ron Kline got knocked out in the fourth inning, Arroyo came on to pitch five innings in long relief, striking out nine. But he gave up two-run homers in both the eighth and ninth innings, so Elroy Face had to get the last out.

At home in 1957-58, Arroyo again performed respectably for San Juan (8-8, 2.64), but Pittsburgh kept him at Triple A for all of 1958. By then, Columbus, Ohio was affiliated with the Pirates — and Arroyo was almost strictly a reliever in the U.S. He started only four more games in his Stateside career. In 61 games for Columbus, he went 10-3, though his ERA was on the high side at 4.01.

In December 1958, the Pirates traded Arroyo to the Cincinnati Redlegs for a fellow Puerto Rican, Nino Escalera. At the time, he was in the middle of another typical workmanlike winter for San Juan (9-6, 3.17). After the Puerto Rican season ended, he served as a playoff reinforcement for Águilas Cibaeñas in the Dominican League.

In those years, Cincinnati’s top farm club was the Havana Sugar Kings. Arroyo found the warm Spanish-speaking atmosphere conducive, and he pitched very well. The Reds called him up for about a month, and he got into 10 games from early June through early July (1-0, 3.95). Then Fred Hutchinson replaced Mayo Smith as manager in Cincinnati. Arroyo later said, “[Hutchinson] let me go without even a look.”24

He picked up where he left off with Havana. Though his record was 8-9 for the year with the Sugar Kings, he posted a minuscule 1.15 ERA in 117 innings across 41 games. He also was part of the team’s exciting run through the minor-league playoffs, capped with a victory in the Little World Series, played mostly in Havana because of a cold snap in Minneapolis.

Arroyo had one of his best winters at home in 1959-60: 11-4, 2.36. He returned to Havana to begin the 1960 season, but the club was forced to relocate to Jersey City, New Jersey that July. The veteran lefty continued to pitch well (9-7, 2.27 in 39 games) — and scouts for the Yankees were watching. On July 20, 1960, New York purchased Arroyo’s contract from Jersey City. He thus became the first Puerto Rican to play for the Yankees in the majors.25

As a Newspaper Enterprise Association feature put it that August, “the Yankees. . .were hurting for pitching, especially in relief since Ryne Duren lost control of his hard one. . .Yankee pitching had struck rock bottom when Bill Skiff, chief of scouts, watched the Bronx club’s Richmond branch play across the river. Skiff had his eye on Arroyo for two years, or since the Reds sent him to the International League.”26

Arroyo described how greater command of his best pitch got him back to the top level. “I grip the ball with the first two fingers between the seams and twist the wrist so it rotates and breaks away from a right-hand and into a left-hand batter. At first I had trouble getting a piece of the plate with the screwball, but now I get it over any time I want to.”27

Right around the same time, Arroyo also told the Associated Press about a variant of the pitch — “I call it a back-up scroogie,” he said. “That’s a screwball that breaks the other way, which is the way an ordinary curve breaks. I keep it away from right-handed batters and inside to left-handed batters.” Manager Casey Stengel, in a typical phrase, called it “a whoosh-whish pitch.”28

That feature opened by saying, “He’s fat. He’s old. He’s little. But Luis Arroyo is a big man in the New York Yankee scheme of things when he answers Stengel’s call for a relief pitcher.”29 Arroyo worked often and well for the Yankees during the rest of the 1960 season. He went 5-1, 2.88 with seven saves in 29 games.

In the fall of 1960, Arroyo also appeared for the first time in the U.S. postseason. He pitched two-thirds of an inning in Game Five of the World Series against one of his old clubs, Pittsburgh. The Pirates knocked Art Ditmar out of the box in the second inning that day, and though Arroyo prevented any further scoring in the second, he allowed a run in the third inning before Stengel removed him for Bill Stafford. Bob Turley, who started Game Seven, thought that Casey should have summoned Arroyo to face Hal Smith in the pivotal eighth inning.30 Instead, Jim Coates stayed in and Smith hit a three-run homer.

Arroyo had his last full season at home with San Juan in 1960-61, and it was one of his best: 10-2, 1.64 in 71 1/3 innings across 29 games. He was named league MVP. San Juan won the championship and went on to represent Puerto Rico in the Inter-American Series in Caracas. (The Caribbean Series went on hiatus after 1960 because Cuba withdrew.) Arroyo reported late to spring training for a most unusual reason — Puerto Rico imposed a 10-day quarantine after a bubonic plague threat in the Venezuelan capital.

About a month into camp, Jesse Gonder (then a rookie catcher for the Yankees) lined a ball off Arroyo’s pitching wrist. The result was a fractured ulna.31 It kept Arroyo out of game action for a little over a month; the enforced rest was something he later viewed as a blessing in disguise. As the 1961 season developed, Arroyo became the main man in the Yankees’ bullpen, which had been a big question mark.32 He appeared in 65 games — then a club record — finishing 54 games and saving 29, which led the American League. He made the All-Star team for a second time (though again he did not pitch in the game) and was named AL Fireman of the Year.

Arroyo was very good at getting batters to hit ground balls — he gave up just five homers in 119 innings in 1961. Catcher Yogi Berra said, “The screwball works two ways for Luis. For one thing, it’s a difficult pitch to hit. And, for another, the hitter seems to be always looking for it, enabling Luis to fool ’em with his fast one or his other curve.” Arroyo concurred. “I keep the hitters guessing and I can usually get my stuff over the plate. There’s not much more to pitching than that.”33

That August, he added more about his belief that he had become a true pitcher, not just a thrower. He said, “I believe I have finally become a big-leaguer. . .Now I feel I belong. A fellow is not a big leaguer just because he is in the big leagues. He must make contributions and I think I have made these contributions.”34

Whitey Ford especially appreciated Arroyo’s support. A Sports Illustrated article that July quoted the staff ace: “If I win 25, I’m going to hold out for $100,000 and split it with Luis.” Arroyo said he’d settle for 60:40.35 When Ford got his 20th victory of the season — for the first time in his superb career — he merrily proclaimed in the clubhouse, “Beer for everybody on me. . . and make it two for my boy, Luis.”36 That was the tenth of 13 saves Arroyo picked up for Ford, who indeed went on to win 25 that season. In addition to inviting Arroyo to finish his 1961 Cy Young Award acceptance speech, Whitey kept his word, giving the closer a financial boost. Many years later, Arroyo recalled, “I must have made six trips [to the States] to do commercials with Whitey and I made around $30,000.”37

The Yankees won the 1961 World Series in five games over the Cincinnati Reds. Arroyo finished up in Game Two, which was Cincinnati’s only victory. He was the winning pitcher in Game Three, throwing scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth while New York came back behind solo homers from Johnny Blanchard (an old batterymate in San Juan) and Roger Maris.

After the Series concluded, as Arroyo discussed in Puerto Rico’s Winter League, Yankees general manager Roy Hamey gave the pitcher $10,000 not to play winter ball — double what Arroyo indicated he would earn with San Juan. Along with his World Series share, a bonus that was reported at $5,000,38 and the pay from the ads with Whitey Ford, Tite made more than he ever had in his life. Yet in retrospect, he thought it was a mistake.

“I’m almost 35 at the time, had a few drinks, ate a little too much. . .[though I did] do some throwing, running. Before you know it, I’m overweight, and I know I made a mistake by not playing that winter. I asked them [New York] to let me pitch 40 innings. I tell you that decision — I have myself to blame too — cost me my ten years in the big leagues. I only got six years and two months. But I can’t say that Hamey was trying to hurt me, maybe protect me. I followed a routine for 14 years and never had a sore arm.”39 (This last sentence is at odds with accounts of what happened in 1952-53.)

Arroyo actually did wind up getting into five games for San Juan, pitching 11 innings. He also appeared in the Inter-American Series again with one of two Puerto Rican entries, Mayagüez. But after his superb performance in 1961 — which earned him a salary raise from $8,500 to $20,000 — he fell off in 1962. He was able to pitch just 33 2/3 innings in 27 games for the Yankees. He was 1-3, 4.81 with seven saves. He was out of action with a strained elbow from late April. According to Yankee historian Alan Blumkin, Arroyo sustained this injury at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium on April 13. That game was played in a windy and wet 36 degrees.40

Arroyo finally went on the 30-day disabled list on May 21. He returned in late June but barely pitched in September. The Yankees kept him on the World Series roster, and gave him a full winners’ share — but the closest he got to entering a game was when he warmed up in the ninth inning of Game Six with New York trailing, 5-2.41

In spring training 1963, Arroyo issued remarks consistent with his recollection for Puerto Rico’s Winter League. He was a firm believer that winter ball made him strong and ready for the big-league season. Of the previous year, he said, “I rest in the winter and then my arm has no life in it. I could tell from the start. Those bone chips were nothing. I’ve been pitching with them for ten years. . I went to the Yankees and asked for their permission to pitch winter ball again. I explained my feelings to them. They agreed it was worth a try.”42

Arroyo was effective in limited duty for San Juan in 1962-63 (0-1, 2.87 in 28 1/3 innings pitched). He got into only six games for the Yankees in April and May 1963, though, and was sent down to Triple-A Richmond in June. New York recalled Al Downing, who pitched very well in the majors for the remainder of the season. Arroyo pitched in 35 games for Richmond, and his marks (2-2, 4.60) did not warrant a recall. The Yankees announced the veteran’s retirement on September 27, 1963, with one game still to go in the regular season. Arroyo’s lifetime record in the majors was 40-32 with a 3.93 ERA and 45 saves in 244 games.

As part of the announcement, the Yankees made Arroyo a scout, assigning him to cover Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. His contract took effect in February 1964.43 Tite played on in the winter, though — he got into 17 games with San Juan in 1963-64. The Senadores — starring Roberto Clemente — won the league championship. After that, Arroyo also pitched again for San Juan in the Inter-American Series. This edition was hosted in Nicaragua.44

Arroyo then had bone chips removed from his elbow in March 1964, and he went about his scouting duties. But as he told Frank Eck of the Associated Press later that year, he had a comeback in mind. In September he threw pain-free with some high-school kids in Ponce, and he hoped to be in good enough shape to try to go to spring training and join Pedro Ramos in the Yankees’ bullpen.45

Arroyo issued a word of caution, though — despite saying he’d still be using his bread and butter pitch. “When you throw the screwball you must throw the ball with an unnatural motion. It’s no good for youngsters to use the screwball. It puts too much of a strain on the arm.”46

Arroyo’s last mound action was three games for San Juan in the winter of 1964-65 (he also served the club as a coach). His final totals in the PRWL were 110-93 with a 3.04 ERA in 364 games. In 1722 1/3 innings, he struck out 942 batters.

Nothing further came of the comeback; in early 1965, Arroyo was part of a crew of instructors that went to Mexico in a three-week clinic sponsored by Major League Baseball. In addition to his scouting duties for the Yankees, he also became a manager in Puerto Rico. He was Ponce’s skipper for three straight winters starting in 1965-66. The Leones featured players from the Yankees (Roy White and Horace Clarke) and the Cardinals (Steve Carlton and Nelson Briles). According to Puerto Rico’s Winter League, the St. Louis front office was leery of sending Carlton to winter ball for fear of injury, but Arroyo convinced them. It was an important step in the prize prospect’s development.47

Arroyo led Caguas for two seasons (1968-69 and 1969-70) — missing out on the back-to-back championships that Ponce won. After that, he rejoined Ponce as a coach in 1970-71. Arroyo also served as general manager for the Leones during at least two seasons, in 1975-76 and again in 1993-94, after Pantalones Santiago became owner of the club.

In addition, Arroyo was a manager during three summers in Mexico. In 1967 and 1968, he was with Reynosa. In 1978, he started the season with Poza Rica, but the team went through three managers that year (which is not uncommon in the Mexican League).

Over the years, Arroyo was willing to teach other pitchers about the screwball. One example was another lefty reliever named Terry Enyart, who got into two games in the majors with the Montreal Expos in 1974. Enyart had relied on the scroogie previously but got Arroyo’s advice while in Triple-A in 1977. Arroyo also taught southpaw Chuck Cary the screwball when Cary was pitching in Puerto Rico in the winter of 1988-89. It helped Cary make it back to the majors with the Yankees from 1989 through 1991.

Plus, Arroyo was responsible for the comeback of another lefty screwballer, Guillermo Hernández, in 1995. Hernández had been out of the majors since 1989 and had not pitched in the minors since 1991. Arroyo contacted the 40-year-old reliever, who was pitching coach for a semi-pro team in Puerto Rico. Hernández got into 22 games for the Yankees’ Triple-A team, Columbus (though it did not go well).48

Arroyo was still scouting for the Yankees at that time, but he retired shortly thereafter. By one local account, he brought some notable Puerto Rican talent to New York. 49 Before the amateur draft extended to U.S. territories in 1989, the Yankees signed major-leaguers such as Otto Vélez (1969) and Edwin Rodríguez (1980). They found a real plum in Bernie Williams (1985), and after the draft took effect, they selected another major star, Jorge Posada, and Ricky Ledée in 1990. Based on other published sources, however, SABR’s Scouts Committee gives direct credit to Arroyo only for Ledée.50

In July 2010, Arroyo returned to New York to take part in the Old-Timers’ weekend festivities. He was taken ill during the Friday night cruise that was part of the fun, and it turned out to be a mild heart attack. He went to the hospital and so missed the Old-Timers’ Game. He made a full recovery, however, and returned home to Peñuelas, where the municipal stadium is named for him. He made it back to Yankee Stadium for the 2012 edition of the Old-Timers’ Game.

In his mid-eighties, Arroyo remained a keen observer of the baseball scene. In January 2012, shortly after Jorge Posada announced his retirement, Arroyo commented on the diminished presence of Puerto Rican talent. “The Yankees haven’t invested not because they don’t have the money, but because there isn’t good talent in Puerto Rico. Good ballplayers aren’t coming out now. . .there isn’t the material, that’s how I see it. It’s always been said that the Yankees don’t like Latino ballplayers. But it’s not that way. The Yankees have always had good Latino prospects.”51

According to his obituary in the New York Times, Arroyo was married at least twice.52 As of 1960, he and his wife, Judith (who was a schoolteacher) had five children ranging in age from several weeks to 10 years. At least three of them were sons, but the names of only two were shown: Luis Jr. and Harold.53 Another son was named Paicky and a daughter was named Milagros.54

Arroyo remained one of Puerto Rico’s most celebrated and best-loved baseball players. He received various honors over the years.

• The Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame inducted him in 1992, as part of its second class.
• In 2002, the mayor of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico announced that El Museo del Deporte de Puerto Rico (The Puerto Rican Sports Museum) would open in the San Juan suburb in 2003. The announcement came at the Caribbean Series in Caracas, and though Arroyo could not make it because of passport trouble, hundreds of people honored him at a ceremony.55
• The Puerto Rican Winter League dedicated its 2006-07 season to Arroyo.
• In January 2008, the Puerto Rican Sports Museum held the first Puerto Rican Yankees Festival. Arroyo called the honor one of the greatest he had received and talked about how the quality of the Yankees organization impressed him from the moment he joined.56
• More recently, another Latino Baseball Hall of Fame was established in the Dominican Republic. In 2012, Arroyo was one of eight inductees in the third class, joining Bernie Williams in representing Puerto Rico.

As late as 2013, Arroyo returned to Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers’ Day. He died on January 13, 2016, aged 88, after being diagnosed with cancer the previous month.57 His passing prompted many fond memories from Yankee teammates.58 Luis “Tite” Arroyo was buried in Cementerio Municipal de Peñuelas, a day after many of his fellow Puerto Rican ballplayers joined his family in his hometown’s Municipal Theatre to honor his memory.59

This biography is included in “Puerto Rico and Baseball: 60 Biographies” (SABR, 2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Edwin Fernández.

Sources

Internet resources

www.ancestry.com (1930 and 1940 census records)

Edwin Vázquez, “Luis Tite Arroyo de Puerto Rico,” 1-800-Béisbol website (http://www.1800beisbol.com/baseball/deportes/historia_del_beisbol/luis_tite_arroyo_de_puerto_rico)

www.paperofrecord.com (various small items from The Sporting News)

Books

Thomas Van Hyning, Puerto Rico’s Winter League, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1995.

José A. Crescioni Benítez, El Béisbol Profesional Boricua. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Aurora Comunicación Integral, Inc., 1997.

José Antero Núñez, Series del Caribe. Caracas, Venezuela: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987.

Notes

Benigno Ayala lives up to his given name, which means “kind” or “friendly.” Following a productive career as a role player, he has bestowed greater gifts on the baseball world, through his work with the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT). Quite a few of his fellow Puerto Rican pros have fallen on hard times since they left the game. “There are really sad stories,” said Ayala in 2009. “And most of them are unknown, because ballplayers are proud. They don’t like to ask.”1 Ayala played five full seasons in the majors and parts of five others from 1974 to 1985. He qualified for a good pension and does not have to worry about life’s necessities – now he is a voice for those in need.

In his playing days, the outfielder wasn’t known for his defense, but he was a pretty fair batting threat in platoon. In its glory years, the Baltimore organization understood the importance of “deep depth,” as manager Earl Weaver called it in 1979. Pitcher Steve Stone detailed the concept in Tales from the Orioles Dugout.

“They were a team that pretty much understood that the spare parts of a baseball team determine whether you win or lose. It’s going and getting . . . [a] Benny Ayala. And then it’s up to the manager after you get Benny Ayala to realize that . . . when they put soft-tossing lefthanders in the game, Benny was good for two hits. Earl put him in a situation where he could be successful. So Hank Peters went and got him, and Earl used him correctly.”2

Ayala came to the plate 951 times in his big-league career, and 86 percent of those appearances were against lefties. It’s no surprise that 35 of his 38 regular-season homers came off southpaws – as did his crowning blow as a pro, his two-run shot off John Candelaria in Game Three of the 1979 World Series.

Benigno Ayala Félix was born on February 7, 1951, in Yauco, a town in southwestern Puerto Rico. He was the first of two sons born to Benigno Ayala and Lillian Félix (there was also a half-brother). The island has sent over 300 men to the majors over the years, yet only three others have hailed from Yauco. The first was pitcher Tomás “Planchardón” Quiñones, a longtime local star who pitched briefly in the Negro Leagues in the 1940s. After Ayala came Mario Ramírez (1980-85) and Mike Pérez (1990-1997).

Ayala himself did not start playing baseball until the age of 11, but in retrospect, he saw some benefits from it. In 2010, he said, “If you start late, you don’t get bored. And when you grow, you have to go through a process of adjustment. I asked guys like Tom Seaver and Rusty Staub about it.”

On January 28, 1971, the New York Mets signed Ayala as a free agent (the amateur draft did not include Puerto Rico until 1990). The scout was Nino Escalera, who covered Latin America for the Mets. “I was in my first year at Rio Piedras Junior College. Whitey Herzog came to Puerto Rico. He was with the Mets at the time. Many years later, Nino told me and Angel Cantres that Whitey said, ‘Go as high as $125,000.’ He didn’t give us the money – he gave us $7,000!”

Escalera, who died in 2021 aged 91, was 80 when Ayala was originally interviewed. Ayala observed, “You know what else he told me? ‘Benny, out of all the guys I signed, you’re the only one who has helped me.’”

Ayala’s first pro team in the US was Pompano Beach in the Florida State League. He hit .279 with 8 homers and 34 RBIs in 63 games, which won him promotion to Visalia in the California League (high A). In the winter of 1971-72, he played in the Puerto Rican Winter League for the first time. “Nino Escalera was a coach for the San Juan Senadores, Roberto Clemente’s team. Angel Cantres went to San Juan after he signed with the Mets, but I didn’t. I said, I’ll see what I can do in the US, then I’ll see who’s interested. I’ll go to a club where I can develop. Arecibo was in the cellar. Cantres had more competition with San Juan.”

Returning to Visalia in 1972, Ayala hit 19 homers, second on the club behind Ike Hampton’s 21. He also had 66 runs batted in, one fewer than Greg Harts (who, like Hampton, appeared very briefly with the Mets). Visalia is an agricultural town with a large Hispanic population, but there were plenty of times when Ayala didn’t feel welcome. “We lived in a bad neighborhood called ‘Sin City’ but it was the only thing we could afford. People threw rocks at us. I remember waiting in a barbershop, and when my turn came, they said, ‘We don’t cut that kind of hair.’ The team owners were good people, though. I remember they owned a chain of hot-dog stands.”

Ayala continued to climb the ladder steadily. In 1973 he was with Memphis (Double A). Serving frequently as a designated hitter, he led the team in home runs (17) and was second in RBIs (68). That winter he led the Puerto Rican league in homers for the first time, as his 14 tied with Jerry Morales. He also tied Jay Johnstone for the league lead in RBIs with 46 and hit .340. To emphasize how strong that circuit was then, the four men who finished ahead of him in the batting race were George Hendrick, Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers, and José Cruz, Sr. Yet Ayala won the MVP award.

Ayala did well in spring training 1974, hitting homers off veterans like Woodie Fryman and Bob Gibson. He wasn’t quite ready, though, and Cleon Jones did not take well to an experiment in center field. Near the end of camp the Mets sent Ayala down to their top affiliate, Tidewater. Here too he was the club leader in homers (11) and RBIs (40). The big club called him up in August after Jones got hurt; to make room, pitcher Jack Aker went on the disabled list. Ayala still has the bat he borrowed from Joe Nolan, his teammate with the Tides and later the Orioles.

With that bat, on August 27, Ayala made a memorable big-league debut at Shea Stadium. Batting sixth in the lineup, he stepped in against Houston’s Tom Griffin (a righty!) with one out and nobody on in the second inning. He pulled a high fastball – as he kept repeating on Ralph Kiner’s postgame show, Kiner’s Korner – down the line in left field. The ball stayed inside the foul pole, and Ayala became the first National Leaguer to homer in his first big-league at-bat since Cuno Barragan in 1961. Of course, that made him the first Met to do so too (not to mention, the first Puerto Rican).

A contributor to the Ultimate Mets fan website provided some extra detail. “We were sitting in the left field mezzanine at Shea among this group of 10 or 12 of Benny Ayala’s cousins and extended family who were thrilled to see him in his first major-league game. When he homered in his first at-bat they went BERSERK, hugging and kissing everyone around, including me and my father of course. It was a great memory that I was able to recount with my dad that always drew a smile.”

The rookie did not live with family, however, and although fellow Puerto Rican Félix Millán was present, he remembers that his most helpful teammates were John Milner and Jones. Manager Yogi Berra also did not stack up well against Weaver in Ayala’s estimation. “He was always laughing, he didn’t pay too much attention to the game.”

Ayala did not see any big-league action in 1975. The Mets acquired Dave Kingman in February, which severely impaired his chances of making the big club. In fact, he played just 65 games for Tidewater, missing a big chunk of the early season after Rochester’s Bob Galasso broke his hand with a pitch.

In the winter of 1975-76, Ayala led the Puerto Rican league in homers once again with 14 in 60 games. He finished in a four-way tie for second in RBIs with 39. Coming off this very strong effort, he made the Mets roster in spring training 1976. The team’s new manager was Joe Frazier, his skipper at Visalia, Memphis, and Tidewater. Ayala was not in the lineup on Opening Day but started the next two games. He would get just two more starts over the remainder of April and May, however, and he got only three hits in 26 at-bats (including a pinch-hit homer off Jack Billingham, his last off a righty in the majors). New York then called up Jack Heidemann and sent Ayala back to Tidewater, where he hit just .225 with 12 homers and 48 RBIs.

On March 30, 1977, New York traded Ayala to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for second baseman Doug Clarey, whose big-league career comprised nine games scattered across the ’76 season. Ayala spent the bulk of 1977 with New Orleans in the American Association, where he had a good year (.298/18/73). The Cardinals called him up in September, but he got into just one game, singling in three at-bats.

The Cardinals had a new Triple-A affiliate in 1978, Springfield, but Ayala spent only part of the season there – he went to Columbus in the Pittsburgh organization on loan. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that August, “Columbus was so short of talent that it borrowed players from other minor-league clubs. Players like Hector Torres, an infielder, and Benny Ayala, an outfielder who has a problem. He can’t catch a fly ball.”3 Ayala hit .340 for the Clippers in 59 games, though, lifting his overall mark for the year to .299. He totaled 11 homers and 56 RBIs.

On January 16, 1979, Ayala got the best break of his career. The Cardinals traded him to Baltimore for Mike Dimmel, another player whose big-league career was quite limited (39 games from 1977 to 1979). Ayala had considered going to play in Japan with the Taiyo Whales, but Doc Edwards, his manager in Puerto Rico, was also the manager at Baltimore’s Triple-A team, Rochester.4 Edwards persuaded Ayala to stay, farm director Clyde Kluttz liked what he saw too, and the Orioles called him up at the end of April after Doug DeCinces got hurt.

Earl Weaver used Ayala sparingly in ’79, but he benefited from the AL’s designated-hitter rule. In 86 at-bats across 42 games, he hit 6 homers, drove in 13, and hit .256. He had his only two-homer game in the majors on June 10 at Memorial Stadium. Both were solo shots off his former Mets teammate, Texas Rangers lefty Jon Matlack.

Weaver did not use Ayala in the American League Championship Series, but he got six at-bats in four games during the World Series. He singled off John Candelaria in his first at-bat in Game Three before reaching the Nuyorican for his homer. That blow brought the Orioles within a run at 3-2, and they proceeded to knock out Candelaria in the fourth inning. During that rally, righty Enrique Romo came out of the bullpen, and so Al Bumbry hit for Ayala.

The Associated Press write-up said, “Ayala also didn’t know he was starting until he saw the lineup posted in the clubhouse. Ayala admitted that he never knows when Weaver is going to use him. ‘He doesn’t play me against certain lefthanders,’ Ayala said. ‘It’s mostly if I can hit a certain lefthander.’” Many observers thought the lineup was unconventional, but Earl said, “It was one that helped us get here in the first place. . . . Benny has done that for us a number of times.”5

Ayala enjoyed his best season in the majors in 1980 (.265/10/33 in a career-high 76 games). Always thinking positively, he said, “I don’t mind my role here. I always have a chance to swing the bat with the Orioles and the way Earl uses me is decent.” Frank Robinson, then a Baltimore coach, said, “Benny uses his time wisely, watching and studying the pitchers. He’s not afraid to ask somebody about a certain pitcher either.”6

Ayala’s most dramatic hit that year may have come on September 5 at Memorial Stadium. This could have been the game described in a 1996 article in the Los Angeles Times about Earl Weaver’s golden hunches. “One day, Weaver walked up to [pitching coach Ray] Miller and said, ‘Ray, Benny Ayala. Don’t forget that, Benny Ayala.’ That night, Ayala hit an eighth-inning pinch homer. ‘It just made sense to me in those days . . . to know if I had a hitter sitting on the bench in a situation that was hitting that pitcher good,’ Weaver said. ‘So I made up my lineups accordingly.’ ”7 The three-run blow off Oakland lefty Bob Lacey brought the Orioles within a run at 6-5, and they won it 8-7 with another three runs in the bottom of the ninth.

In the strike season of 1981, Ayala served mostly as a platoon DH with Terry Crowley. During 1982 he was part of a three-man contingent in left field with John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke. In his book Weaver on Strategy, Earl said, “By matching your bench-players’ strengths to your starters’ weaknesses, you can create a ‘player’ of All-Star caliber.” He likened the trio’s total output to having a Reggie Jackson in the lineup.8

That July Ayala told Steve Wulf of Sports Illustrated, “I try to think ahead of time. Say, we are playing Chicago in two weeks. I think how the lefthander pitched me the last time. Sitting on the bench I have a lot of time to think. I try not to be surprised.” Another line in the same article showed his Zen-like calm. On May 19 he hit a three-run homer after a rain delay of an hour and 21 minutes. “When asked if he thought he was in a tough spot, having to face a two-strike count after sitting for so long, Ayala replied, ‘Not really. I just felt like I was pinch-hitting for myself.’” 9

Wulf’s piece was strewn with juicy quotes on Ayala. Earl Weaver said, “He’s so good he knocks himself out of games. I’ll start him against a lefthander, and he’ll hit a three-run homer off him. Then they’ll bring in a righty, and Benny’s back on the bench.” According to Lowenstein, Ayala was “the most profound player on the Orioles. ‘He will sit there, arms folded, for eight innings. If he’s going to hit, I’ll ask him what he’s looking for. He’ll say, ‘Something white. Coming through.’”10 Indeed, Ayala (like many Caribbean players) didn’t walk or strike out much – he got his hacks.

“I always try to take three swings,” Ayala said that summer. “I don’t think the hitter should give the pitcher a strike by taking.” With the arrival of Dan Ford, Ken Singleton had moved from right field to full-time DH, leaving Ayala with spot duty. Yet as always, he stayed positive. “Sure I would like to play more. But the important thing is to stay ready and then do your job when you’re called on.”11

In 2010 Ayala said, “I suffered a lot in the big leagues. It was hard for me to accept my role, but I accepted it quietly. If I don’t play every day, I have it in my mind that I have to work harder. Rod Carew asked me one time, ‘Benny, why are you over there by yourself? Don’t you want to talk?’ I told him I don’t have time. I worked. I studied, so when I get that opportunity against Ron Guidry, I can say, ‘I’m ahead of you.’” Ayala did far better than most against “Louisiana Lightning” – 9-for-28. Changeup artist Geoff Zahn was just his meat (11-for-30 with two homers), but the lefty whom Ayala owned was Mike Caldwell (11-for-21 with three HRs).

Ayala remained in his reserve role with the O’s in 1983, but his effectiveness diminished, as he hit just .221. “I was a little disappointed with Joe Altobelli [who succeeded Weaver], he didn’t give me a chance. Then when he knows he needs me for the postseason, he put me up against John Montefusco, a righty with that overhand curve.”

Ayala hit a sacrifice fly in his only at-bat in the ALCS against the White Sox, capping the three-run 10th-inning rally that won Game Four and the series for Baltimore. He also made his lone at-bat in the 1983 World Series count. In the seventh inning of Game Three, pinch-hitting for Jim Palmer, he lined a single to left off Steve Carlton, past a diving Mike Schmidt. Rick Dempsey scored the tying run. Ayala then scored the go-ahead run, which would stand up as the margin of victory.

When asked about having a World Series ring, Ayala said, “Juan González turned down $150 million from Detroit because he thought there wasn’t a chance for a ring. He should be in the Guinness Book of Records for that!

“You’re on top. You’re a champion. Even now, I’m signing autographs, and people request that I put ‘1983 World Series Champ’ after my name. I’m lucky that I played with legends – six Hall of Famers.”

In 1984 Ayala joked about his infrequent playing time. After getting just four at-bats in the month of June, he said, “I’m an eclipse player. You don’t see me very often.”12 He hit just .212 for the year, and the Orioles announced in late September that they would not offer him a contract for 1985. Bumbry and Singleton were also part of the housecleaning.

Spring training also came and went without any offers. Even Ayala thought it might be the end of the line. “So what’s left?” he said. “Mexico. And I don’t look at myself as a Mexican League player.13 Looking back, he thought he should have paid his own way to camp, as he remembers players like Rob Picciolo and Kurt Bevacqua did.

On April 19, 1985, though, the Cleveland Indians signed the veteran to a minor-league deal. Although he went just 7-for-46 with the Maine Guides (Portland), the Indians called him up in May. Just days after he made it back, he missed a fly ball against the Boston Red Sox – but then drove in the game-winning run. Manager Pat Corrales said, “Benny looked a little ugly in left field, but he was Robert Redford at the plate.”

Ayala spent the rest of the season with Cleveland, hitting .250 (19-for-76) in 46 games. “When I learned to hit to right field, I was 34 years old. I was a low-ball hitter. I liked to uppercut, even in street fights!” His last big-league homer came off Jimmy Key at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium on September 4. The Indians made him a free agent in November 1985, and Ayala’s big-league career ended.

In December 2009, Ayala responded to blogger Bo Rosny’s request for stories about his baseball cards. One anecdote captured a key part of his approach to the game. “In one of them the picture was taken in Chicago that I like a lot; Brooks Robinson [then an Orioles announcer] told me that I was looking good. That was a perfect day to take the picture. He said, ‘Looking good, Benny, in case you have a bad game today.’

“After that I always shave before the game, good haircut, shine shoes, complete clean uniform, brand-new hat. In case I have a bad game, always looking good.”14

In the winter of 1985-86, Ayala returned to the Puerto Rican Winter League after several seasons away. He regretted the hiatus. “After I established myself with the Orioles, I didn’t go back. Relatives told me I was a little bored with the game. It was foolish. I should have played. I could have gone over 100 homers, I’d be one of the few there.” He finished with 68 homers in his PRWL career.

In 1989 Ayala came back to play with the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. One of his teammates was Tim Stoddard., whose career had overlapped with Ayala’s in Baltimore from 1979 through 1983. Ayala recalled, “I went there, I’m a low-mileage player. How can a player like me be injured? I hit very good, but one day I chased a fly ball and didn’t get it. [Manager] Dick Williams said, ‘We aren’t going to stick with you.’”

After his playing days finally ended, Ayala got an interview with Doug Melvin about a job in the Orioles chain but went back home to Puerto Rico. For a couple of years he was batting coach with Arecibo, “but there was not much money, $1,200 a month, and I was nearly killing myself driving.” After that, “I managed a couple of amateur teams, but they were not easy to handle.”

Ayala was married in 1971 to Esperanza “Eppie” Martínez. “I was always visiting her when I was in college. I was in love. I didn’t like school much!” The Ayalas had four children: sons Benigno III, Luis Mario, and Melvin, plus daughter Jesica.

In subsequent years, Ayala’s main endeavor became his professional network. His goal: to help retired Puerto Rican players in such areas as pensions, health insurance, celebrity baseball clinics, training clinics for children, and more. In November 2007 Ayala (in tandem with the Calero & Sullivan Baseball Management firm) held a groundbreaking meeting with 118 former pros from the island and the Major League Baseball Players’ Alumni Association. As a result, the Baseball Assistance Team was able to offer financial and medical support to various men who needed it. Ayala also got involved with setting up memorabilia signings to bring the players some additional money. His network came to include around 250 pros.

Ayala’s role as BAT’s liaison to the Puerto Rican community brings him and his fellow boricuas much joy. He helped his old teammate Angel Cantres after Angel lost a leg following a work-related accident in 2001. After former minor-league pitcher Jacinto Camacho received a new artificial leg to replace his homemade prosthesis, he walked off the plane home to greet his family and completely forgot about his wheelchair. “Times like these are when I know that the work I do with BAT really makes my life worthwhile,” Ayala said.15

In the summer of 2009 Ayala also reached out to former big-league outfielder Ricky Otero. Otero, who had fallen into alcohol and drug addiction, was living homeless in Cancún, Mexico. Though Otero subsequently denied the report, Ayala was able to get him into a rehab program in New York.16 As of 2024, Otero was doing well in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.

Ayala, who turned 73 in 2024, remains actively involved in his professional network and on social media. He dresses with the same attention that he did to looking sharp in uniform. He is a cheerful and chatty man, but his baseball memories feature a serious undercurrent. He said, “Earl Weaver respected you as a major-leaguer. Some people had to be on the field first, but still I feel, ‘Here they treat everyone the same.’ I was very proud to wear that big-league uniform, with that Orioles name up front.”

This biography was originally published in 2010. It was subsequently updated for Puerto Rico and Baseball (SABR, 2017) and again in 2024.

Acknowledgments

Grateful acknowledgment to Benny Ayala for his memories (telephone interview, May 2, 2010). All quotations that are not otherwise attributed come from this interview.

Continued thanks to SABR member Jorge Colón Delgado (Puerto Rican statistics).

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted retrosheet.org, ultimatemets.com, and caleroandsullivan.com, as well as Crescioni Benítez, José A., El Béisbol Profesional Boricua (San Juan, Puerto Rico: Aurora Comunicación Integral, Inc., 1997).

Photo Credit

Benny Ayala with Ricky Otero, courtesy of Benny Ayala.

Notes

1 Carlos Rosa Rosa, “Benigno con el prójimo,” El Nuevo Día (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), October 16, 2009.

2 Louis Berney, Tales from the Orioles Dugout (Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing LLC, 2004), 147.

3 Charley Feeney, “Columbus Turmoil Might Spell Peterson’s Demise,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 8, 1978: 13.

4 Steve Wulf, “It’s the Right Idea for Left,” Sports Illustrated, July 12, 1982.

5 Associated Press, “Baltimore Offense Is Ignited,” October 12, 1979.

6 Ken Nigro, “Hitting Or Sitting, Ayala Happy,” The Sporting News, August 2, 1980: 37.

7 Jason LaCanfora, “Beyond tantrums, was hidden Weaver,” Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1996.

8 Earl Weaver and Terry Pluto. Weaver on Strategy (New York: Collier Books, 1984), 26.

9 Wulf, “It’s the Right Idea for Left.”

10 Wulf, “It’s the Right Idea for Left.”

11 Ken Nigro, “Benny Always Fit as Bird in Pinch,” The Sporting News, August 9, 1982: 27.

12 Robert W. Creamer, “They Said It,” Sports Illustrated, August 27, 1984.

13 Associated Press, “Indians won’t be sending Ayala to Mexico,” May 19, 1985.

14 http://borosny.blogspot.com/2009/12/one-more-card-story-from-benny-ayala.html

15 Baseball Assistance Team, Winter 2008 newsletter (mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2009/bat/bat_winter_2008_newsletter.pdf)

16 “Ricky Otero: de Grandes Ligas a indigente en Cancún,” El Universal (Mexico City, Mexico), September 4, 2009. “Madeja de Contradicciones,” Primera Hora (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), March 22, 2010.

But on March 23, 1993, Baerga stepped outside the white lines to become a leader of the club off the field. The day before, the Indians were given a day off by manager Mike Hargrove. Their spring training was held in Winter Haven, Florida. The players took advantage of the free day. Some groups took their families to Disney World, others went to Universal Studios. Others stayed closer to the spring-training complex.

Tim Crews came over to the Indians via free agency from Los Angeles to Cleveland. He owned a ranch close to Winter Haven, and invited the team to his home for a picnic. Steve Olin and Bob Ojeda took Crews up on his offer. Toward the end of the day, Crews, Ojeda, and Olin climbed into Crews’ 18-foot bass boat, and circled around Little Lake Nellie. Indians trainer Fernando Montes observed the trio from where the boat departed. A neighbor’s dock, which extended more than 50 yards, sat on the far side of the lake. As Crews accelerated, the front of the boat rose up, blocking their vision. As soon as the boat planed out, it was now the under the dock. It was too late. The accident occurred in three feet of water. “We heard this loud thump and a crash,” said Montes. “And it was silence, utter silence. I knew without any hesitation that Steve Olin had passed.”1 Crews was also dead and Ojeda was badly injured.

The next day, Cleveland’s vice president of public relations, Bob DiBiasio, was looking for a player who would talk to the media about the boating tragedy. “Everybody on the team was in tears,” said DiBiasio. “Nobody wanted to step forward and discuss what happened.”2 Carlos Baerga stepped forward, volunteering to be the team spokesman. “I was brokenhearted,” he said, “but I had a responsibility to the two good people we had lost. They were part of my life. I told God, ‘Give me words, because I know it’s going to be hard for me.’”3

Carlos Obed Baerga was born on November 4, 1968, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was the oldest of four children born to José and Baldry Baerga. José worked in the credit office of Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper, El Nuevo Dia. José managed Carlos’s little league teams. At 8, Carlos was holding his own against boys 10 to 12 years old. When he reached 14, Baerga was mixing it up on the diamond with adult amateurs in their 20s and 30s in the Puerto Rican Double A League. When Baerga reached 16, he was playing in the winter leagues against major leaguers.

“I remember my father saying, ‘Don’t come back home if you don’t have your uniform dirty,’ Baerga once recalled. “Ever since, I have put it in my mind to play hard. He always pushed me. My father always watches me, he’s always behind me.”4

Longtime Indians bullpen coach Luis Isaac (1987-2008) watched Baerga grow in his native Puerto Rico. “I knew right away he’d be a big-league player,” said Isaac. “Even when he was little, he was the type of kid who wanted to play two games a day. He’d be telling the other kids on the field what to do. He always played with that kind of intensity.”5

José worked with his son on becoming a switch-hitter so that he could play every day no matter who the pitcher was. Carlos, a natural left-handed hitter, worked hard to sharpen his skill from the right side of the plate. “I’ve still got to practice it every day,” he said in 1995. “But it has helped me. I see a guy like Randy Johnson pitching and I can’t imagine having to face him left-handed. The same goes for David Cone and facing him right-handed.”6

Word of Baerga’s ability spread around the island, and soon professional scouts arrived to get a look at the 14-year-old. Luis Rosa, a scout for the San Diego Padres, got Baerga to sign for a $65,000 bonus in 1985, when he turned 17 years old. (Rosa had a keen eye for talent. At the time Baerga signed, 32 of Rosa’s players had made their way to the big leagues.

Although Baerga seemed destined for big-league stardom, there was one problem. The Padres already had a second baseman in-waiting, Roberto Alomar. Baerga started his playing career at Class-A Charleston in the South Atlantic League. “They asked me to take him with me and when (rookie level) Spokane opened up (in mid-June) he’d go there,” said Charleston manager Pat Kelly.7 Baerga, who did not speak English that well, would ask Kelly, “Coach, why me no play?” Kelly would explain to Baerga that he had to play his more experienced players. Baerga would nod, as if he understood, but he returned the next day, asking the same question. This went on for about a week. “Finally, I put him in as a pinch-hitter, and he got a hit, of course,” said Kelly. “So I started him the next day, and he went like 4-for-4, and they were all (line drives). So he stayed with us the whole year.”8

Baerga showed that he could handle the bat on the minor-league level. He was still somewhat raw, but he was still just a teenager in his first three years in the minors. Because Alomar was the second baseman of the future for the Padres, it became evident that a new position would have to be found for Baerga, even though he felt the most comfortable at second base.

When Baerga reported to Double-A Wichita in 1988, he was switched to shortstop. In 1989 he was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas and was placed at third base. Although he made 32 errors while manning the hot corner for Las Vegas, Baerga was in the lineup to hit. He hit .275 with 28 doubles, 10 homers, and 74 RBIs. He was somewhat of a free swinger, and his strikeouts easily tripled his walks.

The Cleveland Indians were shopping outfielder Joe Carter at the 1989 winter meetings. Carter’s contract was up in 1990, and the Indians knew they would not be able to re-sign him. Carter made no secret of his desire to leave the Indians, preferably to a contender, and a lucrative contract would also be nice.

The Indians found a suitor in the Padres. The teams dickered over whom the Padres would send the Indians’ way for the star slugger. The Indians insisted that Baerga be included in the deal. The Padres viewed Baerga as their third baseman of the future. But the Indians’ persistence won out, and they received Baerga, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. (Roberto’s brother), and outfielder Chris James for Carter. “I managed against Carlos in the Pacific Coast League in 1989,” said Mike Hargrove. “On my report at the end of the year, I recommended that we should try to acquire him. So did my coaches, Rich Dauer and Rick Adair.”9

The Indians hired John McNamara to manage in 1990. Cleveland was putting together a solid nucleus of young talent, and it began with Baerga and Alomar. The two newcomers were blended with Albert Belle, Cory Snyder, Jerry Browne, and Brook Jacoby. Tom Candiotti, Greg Swindell, and Buddy Black anchored the starting rotation.

Alomar was a star right away. He was named the starting catcher on the 1990 AL All-Star team, won the Gold Glove, and was voted Rookie of the Year. Baerga would have to wait a bit for his time to come. Browne was entrenched at second base and Jacoby manned third. The Indians had signed Keith Hernandez to play first base. But Hernandez suffered through various injuries and played in only 42 games. His injuries offered the break that benefited Baerga; Jacoby moved to first base and Baerga became the new third baseman. “From the time he got to Cleveland, Carlos was the heart and soul of the Indians,” said batting coach José Morales. “We sent him down to Triple A for two weeks in his rookie year, and team spirit just sank. When he came back, it was like a kid returning to his family. He brings an energy, a unity to the team.”10

Baerga hit .266 his rookie season. On September 20 at Yankee Stadium, the 5-foot-11, 165-pound infielder went 4-for-5 with three doubles (a career high) and a triple with three runs scored and three RBIs. The barrage came the day after his first child, a daughter, was born. “Baerga is a hitting machine and maybe his wife should have a baby every night,” said McNamara.11 Although the Indians finished with a 77-85 record, they found themselves in fourth place in the AL East. It was something to build on for the young Tribe.

Indeed, Baerga’s enthusiasm for the game was unbridled and was contagious. He was a fan favorite for his all-out hustle. But in his second season, the Indians proved unable to build on the success from 1990. McNamara was fired (Hargrove replaced him) and the team topped 100 losses.

But the pieces were beginning to come together. Charles Nagy became the leader of the pitching staff. Kenny Lofton was acquired from Houston to solidify center field and bat leadoff. Paul Sorrento was acquired from Minnesota to provide a left-handed bat and he was an above-average first baseman. The Indians worked to sign Belle, Alomar, Nagy, Belle, Lofton, and Baerga to long-term deals, selling them on the talent of the core team.

Baerga made their investment pay off. In back-to-back seasons (1992 and ’93) he hit more than 20 home runs, drove in more than 100 runs, and batted over .300. He was the first second baseman to achieve these numbers in consecutive seasons since Rogers Hornsby turned the trick in 1921 and 1922.

Baerga entered the record books on April 8, 1993. He hit two home runs in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees, one from each side of the plate. He connected off Steve Howe for a two run-shot, then hit a solo home run off Steve Farr. The Indians scored nine runs in the inning on their way to a 15-5 victory. “It’s exciting,” said Baerga. “They told me I set a record when I got back to the dugout after the second homer, but I didn’t believe them. When I got to the clubhouse after the game, Bobby DiBiasio, our public-relations man, told me I’d set a record.”12 Baerga’s record night did not surprise Hargrove. “The beauty about him is that there’s no way to pitch him. He hits to all fields,” the manager said.13

Baerga made the All-Star Game for the first time in 1992 and repeated in 1993. The Indians finished with identical 76-86 records in both seasons.

In 1994 the Indians said goodbye to Cleveland Stadium and relocated to the new Jacobs Field, across downtown. The baseball-only venue was a boon for the Tribe. The Indians had brought in veteran leadership in the offseason, signing Eddie Murray and Dennis Martinez. They traded for shortstop Omar Vizquel. Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome arrived through the farm system. The results were favorable. The Indians were one game behind Chicago in the new AL Central when the season ended on August 12 because of the players strike. Although the development was a big disappointment to Tribe fans, baseball fever had indeed returned to the North Coast.

The strike wiped out the 1994 postseason and bled over into the 1995 season. Baerga finished the 1994 season with 19 home runs, 80 RBIs, and a .314 batting average.

After play resumed in late April of 1995, Cleveland broke through its 41-year stretch of not appearing in a postseason game. The Indians won 100 games and Baerga, batting third in the potent Cleveland lineup, was third on the team with 90 RBIs. He batted .314. Cleveland swept Boston in the ALDS and topped Seattle in six games in the ALCS. The Indians met the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. The old adage that good pitching will defeat good hitting proved accurate, as the Braves captured the world championship in six games.

Baerga hit .400 in the ALCS and drove in four runs in both the ALCS and the World Series. He knocked in the first two runs in the Indians’ 5-2 victory in Game Two of the ALDS and three runs in their 7-6, 11-inning Game Three win in the World Series. All told, he hit .292 in the 1995 postseason.

The one constant in Baerga’s career to this point was his desire to play winter ball in his native Puerto Rico. He was lauded by Puerto Rican fans for his work in the community as well as his work on the diamond. He often held clinics and his enthusiasm for the game was infectious. “They won’t even let you take batting practice,” Baerga said, referring to the young fans. “They come right onto the field for autographs.”14

Baerga was also a fan favorite in Cleveland. His all-out effort between the lines and his effervescent personality off it endeared him to hard-working, blue-collar town. Thus the backlash the Indians front office received when they traded Baerga on July 29, 1996, was not unexpected. The Indians swapped Baerga and utility infielder Alvaro Espinoza to the New York Mets in a trade-deadline swap for infielders Jeff Kent and José Vizcaino. Baerga’s numbers were on the downside (10 home runs, 55 RBIs, .267 batting average) through 100 games. The Indians cited Baerga’s weight gain. (He was said to have been 20 to 25 pounds overweight in spring training.) His work ethic and priorities were also questioned by the Indians brass. Baerga suffered a slight fracture in his right ankle and played in only about 10 games in the winter league. He used the winter league to stay in shape, hence the weight gain. He was also battling a badly sprained left wrist and a strained groin.

“When you get close to the trading deadline, you never know what’s going to happen,” said New York GM Joe McIlvaine. “To be honest, when they dropped Baerga’s name, I was a little surprised. I thought, ‘Here’s a chance to get a good, quality player.’ And we did it. I don’t think a year ago we could’ve acquired Carlos Baerga.”15

The presence of second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo on the Mets created a question of where Baerga would be stationed. As it turned out, an abdominal strain limited Baerga to 26 Mets games, mostly at first base, and a.193 batting average.

Bobby Valentine took over for Dallas Green as the Mets manager with a month to go in the 1996 season. Over the next two seasons, Baerga recaptured his second-base spot. Alfonzo was moved to third. Manager Valentine, who at times could be as subtle as a sledgehammer, would comment about Baerga’s approach to hitting as “an embarrassment.”16 Baerga felt the pressure to produce, feeling that he needed to prove his worth every day. But he did not have a strong lineup like the one in Cleveland to back him up. His batting average was .274 over the 1997 and 1998 seasons, but his power numbers were dismal. The ball was not jumping off his bat as it once had.

One longtime major-league executive explained Baerga’s decline this way: “Carlos is a God-given good hitter, and sometimes a player like that takes a lot for granted, doesn’t stay on top of his physical conditioning and mental preparation. And there’s no doubt in my mind that is what happened to him. I mean, he’s always had a thick body, but last year, well, he just got plain heavy. I think it’s all related (to his weight and conditioning). I was really surprised the Mets took him. No … I was shocked.”17

The Mets did not pick up Baerga’s option year in 1999. The rest of his career was a composite of being signed, being waived, and riding the bench. St. Louis signed him for the 1999 season, but waived him at the end of spring training. Cincinnati signed Baerga, but sent him to Triple-A Indianapolis before the season, and released him after two months. In a bit of déjà vu, San Diego signed Baerga, and then traded him back to the Indians for the balance of the 1999 season.

Baerga signed on with Tampa Bay for 2000, but his contract was voided before the season began. He signed with Seattle for 2001, but was released before the start of the season. He bided his time in independent leagues and for Samsung in the Korean League. Baerga eventually made his way back to the big leagues as a role player with Boston (2002), Arizona (2003-2004), and Washington (2005). After the 2005 season Baerga retired with a lifetime batting average of .291, 1,583 hits, 134 home runs, and 774 RBIs.

Baerga worked for ESPN as a Spanish-language broadcaster. He also helped coach the Puerto Rican National Baseball team. He also became the owner of the Bayamon Cowboys in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

Baerga married the former Miriam Cruz. They had two children, Karla and Carlos. In 2013 Baerga was inducted along with former Indians GM John Hart into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. As of 2016 he was an ambassador for the Indians, making community appearances and spreading good will.

In 2016 Baerga threw out the first pitch in Game Two of the World Series at Progressive Field. He was, of course, cheered enthusiastically as he threw a perfect pitch to home plate.

Last revised: June 1, 2018

This biography appeared in “Puerto Rico and Baseball: 60 Biographies” (SABR, 2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Edwin Fernández. It also appears in “1995 Cleveland Indians: The Sleeping Giant Awakes” (SABR, 2019), edited by Joseph Wancho.

Notes   

1 ESPN, Outside the Lines, “Indians Boating Tragedy,” March 18, 2003. espn.com/page2/tvlistings/show155_transcript.html.

2 Frank Lidz, “Slick With the Stick,” Sports Illustrated, April 5, 1994: 66.

3 Ibid.

4 Rick Lawes, “Baerga Has Big Talent,” USA Today Baseball Weekly, January 13-26, 1993: 4.

5 Paul Hoynes, “Rock Solid: Carlos Baerga Is Part of the Foundation on Which the Indians Built a Winning Club,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 3, 1995: 8-D.

6 Ibid.

7 Lawes.

8 Ibid.

9 Hoynes, July 3, 1995: 9-D.

10 Lidz.

11 Russell Schneider, “Tribe Rolls to Victory,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 21, 1990: 1-E.

12 Paul Hoynes, “Baerga’s Blasts Rip Yankees: Two-HR Inning Sets Mark,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 9, 1993: 1C.

13 Ibid.

14 Lidz, 64.

15 Ray McNulty, “Net Heist Brings Baerga,” New York Post, July 30, 1996.

16 Buster Olney, “Benching Doesn’t Sit Well With Baerga,” New York Times, April 23, 1997: B11.

17 Michael P. Geffner, “The Sound and the Fury,” The Sporting News, May 5, 1997: 18.

Juan Jose Beniquez Torres was born on May 13, 1950 in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico and signed with the Red Sox at the tender age of 18. He made his major league debut as a shortstop only three years later, on September 4, 1971, coming in to play in the eighth inning and grounding out in the ninth. But he had a great game the next day, in his first major league start, batting 3-for-4 with two doubles and driving in two runs as the Red Sox beat the Indians, 8-1.

Beniquez played a lot of shortstop for the rest of 1971, alternating with incumbent Luis Aparicio, but he didn’t make the team out of spring training in 1972. He was called up in June when Aparicio was disabled due to a broken finger, and played daily until he set a modern major league record with six errors in two consecutive games in July of 1972 (making it a total of seven for three consecutive games). Aparicio returned in August, and Beniquez rode the bench for the rest of the season. He did play in the 1972 season finale that the Red Sox won, leaving them a scant 1/2 game behind the division winning Detroit Tigers.

Beniquez was slated as the Sox utilityman for 1973, but Mario Guerrero’s strong spring training won him the slot, and Beniquez was assigned to Pawtucket where he started off at shortstop but was ultimately moved to the outfield. He spent the entire 1973 season at Pawtucket refining his outfield play. Though hitting only .298, he led the International League in batting.

In 1974 Beniquez was the Red Sox center fielder on Opening Day, and ended up sharing the position with Rick Miller, playing 106 games (91 in center field), and batting .267. He normally hit first or second in the batting order, though he did not get on base very often for a player with such a role.

The 1975 Red Sox outfield was a logjam from the start. To incumbents Beniquez, Miller, Dwight Evans, and Bernie Carbo were added rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice. Despite this, Beniquez won a job in the spring, starting the first four games of the season (two in left field, two in center field) as the team’s leadoff hitter. With the emergence of Rice and Lynn early in the season, Juan soon found himself in a reserve role. Manager Darrell Johnson used his entire roster, so Beniquez played a total of 78 games, mostly in the outfield (44 games), but he also filled in at third base (14 games) and at designated hitter (20 games). Despite his limited playing time, Juan had a solid .291 batting average, but a mediocre .760 OPS, reflecting his meager two home runs on the year.

With Rice hurt and inactive, Beniquez batted leadoff in all three games of the 1975 ALCS sweep against the Oakland Athletics, as the DH. He went 2-for-4, scoring one run and driving in another in Game One. He singled in Rick Burleson in the seventh, then proceeded to steal second, then third base; he scored after Billy North muffed Denny Doyle’s sacrifice fly. He ended up hitting .250 for the series.

In the World Series, without the designated hitter in effect, he appeared in just three of the games. He was a surprise starter for Game Four, leading off and playing leftfield, as Yaz moved to first and Cecil Cooper was benched. He managed one single in that game, but was held hitless in three at-bats in Game Five. His final appearance was as a pinch-hitter for Rick Miller, leading off the bottom of the ninth in Game Seven, where he flied out to right field as the Sox failed to overtake the Reds for the final loss.

After the 1975 season, it was clear that Beniquez would not have a big role in the future of the team. Right or wrong, he had also acquired the tag of having an “attitude problem.” In November he was dealt, along with Steve Barr and a player to be named later (which proved to be Craig Skok), to the Texas Rangers for future Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins. For Texas, he was the biggest part of the deal, and he became the regular center fielder in 1976. He was a prototypical “all glove, no hit” player, as he was rewarded with the Gold Glove for his center field play in 1977, but he hit only .269 with ten home runs and 26 stolen bases.

After three years starting with Texas, in the winter of 1978 he was part of a huge multi-player deal, in which Texas sent him, Mike Griffin, Greg Jemison, Paul Mirabella, and hot minor league lefthander Dave Righetti to the New York Yankees in exchange for Domingo Ramos, Mike Heath, Sparky Lyle, Larry McCall, Dave Rajsich, and cash. After appearing in only 62 games for the Yankees, he was dealt the following winter to the Seattle Mariners. After one year and 70 games for the Mariners, he was granted free agency and signed with the Angels.

After a couple of tough years in California (including hitting a mere .181 in 1981), Juan finally found the hitting stroke he had shown as a minor leaguer, hitting over .300 every year between 1983 and 1986, the last of which was for the Orioles. During that single year in Baltimore, he had one of the more unlikely three-home run games, as he hit fully half of his six home runs on June 12, in a losing cause against the Yankees.

Dealt to Kansas City in December 1986, and then to Toronto in July 1987, Beniquez hit just .251 combined for the season.

In January 1988 Beniquez (and six other players) were granted free agency by a judge who ruled that the owners had conspired to hold down players salaries after the 1985 season. He elected to remain with the Blue Jays, but was released after just 58 at bats in 1988. His career over, he held the record for having played for eight American League teams.

After parts of 17 years in the big leagues, an American League championship ring, a Gold Glove, and experiences all over the country, Juan Beniquez could retire with a lot to be proud of. But he was not through. In 1989 he hit .359 for the St. Lucie Legends of the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association. With that league’s demise the following season, he was finally through.

Last revised: July 1, 2017 

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, BaseballLibrary.com.

Carlos Bernier Rodriguez was born in Juana Diaz, on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, a few miles east of Ponce. At the time of Bernier’s birth, the area produced rum from locally grown sugar cane. During Bernier’s childhood, however, the Puerto Rican sugar cane industry suffered a sharp decline. Juana Diaz became known as La Ciudad del Mabi, in honor of a fermented beverage made from the bark of the mabi tree.

Little is known of Carlos’s childhood. There is no record of his having played high-school baseball. He probably learned the game on the sandlots of his native area. Early in his professional career he played in the Manitoba-Dakota League. He claimed to be a teenager when his pro career started. Like so many players of his era, he lied about his age, thinking his chances of making it in the pros were greater if he appeared younger than his real age. He told baseball scouts that he was born in 1929, not 1927. As an independent circuit, the Mandak League was not recognized by Organized Baseball. Standard baseball references carry very little data on its teams or players.

The Sporting News did not cover the Mandak League. The first mention of Bernier in the self-proclaimed “Baseball Bible” came in a report of the 1948 Puerto Rico League championship series.2 With the score tied in the 10th inning of the seventh and deciding game, Mayaguez left fielder Bernier committed an error that led to his team’s defeat. Bernier played 19 years in Puerto Rico, mostly for Mayaguez in the winter league after spending the summers playing minor-league baseball in the United States

In 1948, 21-year-old Bernier got his start in Organized Baseball with the Port Chester (New York) Clippers in the Class-B Colonial League. Although the Clippers were affiliated with the St. Louis Browns, Bernier was the property of the local club rather than the parent organization.3 According to Joe Guzzardi, in 1948 Bernier was, along with Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, and Hank Thompson, one of Organized Baseball’s four black players.4 Evidently, Guzzardi overlooked Dan Bankhead and Roy Campanella, both of whom played in O.B. in 1948. (Willard Brown had played in the majors in 1947, but he was back in the Negro Leagues in 1948.)

Bernier did not have an outstanding season with Port Chester. A switch-hitter, he hit for neither average nor power, but he walked 54 times and stole 24 bases, enabling him to score 72 runs in only 104 games. Far more important than his statistics was an incident that occurred that season: He was struck by a pitch, which fractured his skull and caused him to suffer from chronic headaches the rest of his life.5 The headaches were sometimes blamed for the quick temper that kept him in hot water much of the time. It was not just headaches that got him in trouble. Jackie Robinson was able to endure the slurs and indignities that came with being a racial pioneer. Bernier was different. He was not one to take racial taunts lying down, whether from opponents, teammates, fans, or umpires. He was competitive and aggressive on the ballfield, and was suspended many times throughout his career. 

Ron Samford, a longtime teammate of Bernier’s, both in Puerto Rico and the Pacific Coast League, was quoted as saying, “Bernier had the ability to be a ten-to-fifteen-year major league career. His temper got the best of him.”6 Sportswriter John Schulian wrote, “Carlos Bernier had a temper as big as his chaw of tobacco.”7

Bernier’s son, Dr. N. Bernier-Collazo, explained his father’s behavior:

He lived in an era when it was fashionable to discriminate; in fact, many states upheld laws that discriminated against people of color. My father’s only shortfall was that he did not handle the injustices of society with the same grace as a Jackie Robinson or a Roberto Clemente. He was quite angry at the injustices and faced them head on, even if it meant challenging a white minor league umpire who made a racial slur. I have often wondered how different life would have been for him with all his talents if he had played now (2004), instead of then. His career would have been spent primarily in the majors, rather than in the minors. … Despite his extremely competitive demeanor on the field, he was a gentle soul off the field with the greatest qualities; kindness, compassionate, generous, responsible, and loving. … Many people don’t know what a wonderful person he was because they only witnessed his exploits and his aggressive style of play on the field.8

During Bernier’s first season in the Colonial League, he drew his first suspension. League President John A. Scalzi meted out a six-day suspension and fined Bernier $25 for his part in a rhubarb with an umpire.9 Many more suspensions were to follow during Bernier’s career. Port Chester won the 1948 regular-season title in 1948 and followed up by taking the final playoff series. One highlight of the playoffs was an inside-the-park home run by Bernier at Poughkeepsie on September 19. He then returned to his native land to play for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rico League. He made his presence known, hitting two home runs in a game against Aguadilla on November 4. Mayaguez won the league championship, giving Bernier the distinction of having played for championship clubs in both the summer of 1948 and the winter of 1948-49.

After the 1948 season, the Port Chester Clippers disbanded, but Bernier remained in the Colonial League, the property of the Bristol (Connecticut) Owls. At the beginning of the 1949 season, the Owls sent him to Indianapolis of the Triple-A American Association. He didn’t stay in Indiana long. After two pinch-running appearances, the Indians returned him to Bristol. Bernier gave up on switch-hitting and infield play and became a full-time right-handed batter and outfielder. He had a terrific season, leading Bristol to the pennant, hitting .336, leading the league with 136 runs scored and setting a league record for stolen bases with 89. But not all was sweetness and light. On July 25 Bristol manager Al Barillari fined Bernier $50 for what he called “two stupid plays that cost us the game with Bridgeport.”10 According to the manager, Bernier missed a bunt sign in the previous night’s game and then was thrown out attempting to steal. In the winter Bernier again played for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rico League and tied the circuit’s record for stolen bases in one season with 33.

In 1950 Bernier was back with Bristol and got off to a great start. On May 4 he established a league record by stealing six bases in one game. He stole second base four times and third twice, but was foiled in his attempt for seven thefts when he was thrown out trying to steal home in the ninth inning of the game against Bridgeport.11 In 52 games for Bristol Bernier stole 53 bases and scored 67 runs. On July 14 the financially struggling Colonial League disbanded. Before the league collapsed, however, the Owls sold Bernier to St. Jean (Quebec) of the Class-C Provincial League. At the time of the sale, Bernier was leading the Colonial League in both stolen bases and home runs. He found the Canadian league to his liking. In 64 games for St. Jean he hit .335 with 15 home runs, scored 69 runs, and stole 41 bases, giving him a total of 94 steals for the two clubs.

In 1951 Bernier played for the independent Tampa Smokers in the Class-B Florida International League. He led the league in steals, triples, and runs scored. As frequently happened wherever he played, Bernier led his club to the pennant. His performance in Florida earned Bernier a big promotion. In 1952 he leaped all the way up to the top of the minor-league hierarchy with the Hollywood Stars of the Open Classification Pacific Coast League. Already known as “The Comet” for his speed on the basepaths, Bernier lit up the Southern California landscape. He hit .301 (third best in the league) and led the PCL in runs scored with 105 and stolen bases with 65. Once again he led his team to the league championship. He was named the PCL’s rookie of the year.

Pittsburgh promoted Bernier to the majors in 1953. He became the first black player to join the Pirates. (Some sources credit Curt Roberts with being Pittsburgh’s first black player, classifying Bernier as neither black nor white, but as Puerto Rican, as though Puerto Ricans were a separate race. Of course, biologically nobody really is black or white. Race is a sociological concept, not a biological one. Bernier considered himself black and deserves the distinction of being designated Pittsburgh’s first black player.)

Bernier made his major-league debut at Forbes Field on April 22, 1953, at the age of 26. He entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Paul La Palme, with the Pirates trailing Jim Hearn and the New York Giants 4-0. In his first at-bat he was hit by a pitch, advanced to third base on two consecutive singles, and scored the Pirates’ first run of the game on an outfield lineout by Ralph Kiner. Bernier made his first major-league hit three days later at Connie Mack Stadium. In the seventh inning he hit a single off Curt Simmons in Pittsburgh’s 7-6 loss to the Phillies.

On May 2 Bernier made headlines in the sports pages by hitting three triples in one game, tying a major-league record that has been frequently tied but never broken. In the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field, Bernier hit a triple off Bud Podbielan in the fourth inning, followed by triples off Herm Wehmeier in the sixth and seventh. His line for the game read 4-for-5, with three runs scored and three runs batted in. Of course, he couldn’t keep up that pace and slipped badly, losing his starting position later in the season. His final major-league appearance came at Ebbets Field on September 22, 1953. With the Pirates trailing the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-4 in the ninth inning, he entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Dick Smith. Brooklyn pitcher Clem Labine retired him on a grounder to shortstop. Bernier’s major-league career was over at the age of 26. He finished with a batting average of only .213. Although he stole 15 bases, he was caught stealing 14 times.

During the winter of 1953-54, The Sporting News asked baseball writers to rate players on various characteristics. The scribes named Carlos Bernier Pittsburgh’s most temperamental player.12 Events of 1954 served to strengthen that impression.

Bernier was on the Pirates’ spring-training roster in 1954, but was optioned conditionally to Hollywood shortly before Opening Day. He hadn’t been long on the Coast before his temper flared. On April 30 he “staged a stormy scene at San Francisco after being picked off second base and was banished by umpire Cece Carlucci.”13 A more serious incident occurred on June 13 in a game between the Stars and the Los Angeles Angels. While trying to steal second base, Bernier was tagged out by shortstop Bud Hardin, who claimed that Bernier deliberately kicked him in the shins. Bernier accused Hardin of tagging him with more force than necessary. Players from both clubs rushed to the aid of their teammates. With the help of police, the umpires restored order. However, when Bernier returned to the dugout he said something that caused the Angels first baseman to charge him. The melee threatened to escalate until cooler heads prevailed. Numerous fights broke out in the grandstand with participants being ejected. After hearing a report from the umpires, PCL President Pants Rowland fined Bernier $50 and suspended him indefinitely.14

In the first day after his suspension was lifted, Bernier stole three bases. He was back to his own fiery self again. On August 11 in the eighth inning of a game against San Diego, Bernier was called out on strikes by umpire Chris Valenti. Bernier’s temper flared. He bumped the umpire, who ordered him off the field. Bernier then slapped Valenti in the face with his left hand. The arbiter did not retaliate. Jack Phillips rushed over from the on-deck circle and restrained his angry teammate. After the game Bernier sought out Valenti, and with tears streaming down his face apologized for his actions. The two men shook hands.15

The next day Rowland suspended Bernier for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. Hollywood president Rob Cobb expressed his disappointment over Bernier’s conduct: “I hope Bernier, whom all of us in the front office have repeatedly urged to control his temper, realizes the seriousness of the suspension and that he profits by his mistake. A player of his ability will be mighty hard to replace.”16

A few weeks later it was reported that Bernier had signed a contract to play with the Licey club in the Dominican Republic League, a circuit not affiliated with Organized Baseball. George M. Trautman, president of the National Association, the governing body of the minor leagues, reportedly wired Bernier that he would be placed on the disqualified list, barring him from winter league ball, unless he quit the Licey team immediately.17

Despite Trautman’s warning, Bernier played for Licey. He participated in all five games of the league playoffs. He was tossed out of Game Four after a dispute over a decision by the second-base umpire.18 Bernier appealed to Trautman to lift the ban so he might play ball in his native Puerto Rico this winter. He assured the president that he would behave himself and never again get into arguments with umpires.19 The ban was lifted. In a nonbaseball note, on October 2 Bernier remarried his ex-wife, Emma Betances.

Bernier played winter ball in Puerto Rico, went to spring training with the Pirates, and became a member of perhaps the first black, all-Caribbean outfield on a major-league club when he joined Román Mejías and Roberto Clemente in the Pittsburgh outer garden for a game against the Phillies at Clearwater on March 13, 1955.

Bernier was back in Hollywood for the opening of the 1955 season. In early June Carlos’s mother, 65-year-old Rosario Bernier, came to California from Puerto Rico for a visit with her son. It was her first trip to the United States mainland. Inexplicably, The Sporting News account of her visit focused on Ms. Bernier’s smoking habits rather than on any of the other aspects of her visit that would seem more pertinent.20 Carlos claimed to have turned over a new leaf. He said, “I learn my lesson. I’m a good boy now. I cause nobody no trouble no more.”21 He kept his promise during the 1955 PCL season and led the league in stolen bases. However, he got involved in fisticuffs in a game between Mayaguez and Caguas in Puerto Rico that winter. In a play at the plate Bernier was nearly hit in the head by a throw from Caguas first baseman Vic Power. Bernier claimed Power had deliberately thrown at him. The two got into a fist fight, which escalated into a brawl involving most players from both clubs, as well as many fans, who swarmed the field to join in the melee. Puerto Rico League President Ernesto Juan Fonfrias fined Bernier $100 for his part in the scuffle.22

The 1955 Puerto Rico League All-Star game was played in San Juan’s Estadio Sixto Escobar on December 12. Proceeds from the annual game go to a special fund to buy toys for the poor children of the island. A series of track and field events preceded the 1955 game. Not surprisingly, Carlos Bernier won the 100-meter dash.

Bernier continued to star in the Pacific Coast League for several years, but never made it back to the majors. Perhaps his reputation as a troublemaker deterred the big-league clubs from taking a chance on him. Bernier led the PCL in batting average in 1961, in on-base percentage in 1961 and 1963, in runs scored in 1958, in triples in 1956 and 1958, in walks in 1959 and 1963, in hits in 1958, and in stolen bases in 1955 and 1956. Some of these accomplishments occurred while he was playing for Hollywood, but most came after the club moved to Salt Lake City in 1958. He got off to the best start of his career that first season in Utah, hitting over .400 throughout the spring. He had a streak of hitting safely in 35 consecutive games in April and May. Bernier was selected to play in the Pacific Coast League All-Star game. After the season, the National Association of Baseball Writers named him to their all-Triple-A All-Star team.

Bernier’s numbers declined slightly in 1959, so he was demoted to the Columbus Jets, Pittsburgh’s affiliate in the Triple-A International League. After 35 games in Ohio he was acquired by the Indianapolis Indians, a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate in the same circuit. In May 1961 he was sold to Hawaii, and he was back in the Pacific Coast League. Bernier still couldn’t keep out of trouble. He was fined $100 for threatening and abusive language directed toward umpire Cece Carlucci in a game at Portland on July 3. Otherwise he had a terrific season. He won the PCL batting championship by hitting .351 for the Islanders, the highest batting average of his career. He was selected by National Association of Baseball Writers to the 1961 Class-AAA All-Star team. He followed this up with three more good seasons in the islands, hitting .313, .300, and .294 in 1962, 1963, and 1964, respectively.

In 1965 Bernier plied his trade south of the border, playing for the Reynosa Broncs in the Class-AA Mexican League. In his final season he hit .281 in 87games. He then retired at the age of 38, having played 17 years in the minors, one year in the majors, and probably 19 seasons of winter ball in his native Puerto Rico.

After Bernier retired, he was plagued by financial insecurity and medical and emotional problems.23 He was homeless near the end, and hanged himself in a garage in his hometown of Juana Diaz on April 6, 1989.

Carlos Bernier has not been forgotten. In 2004 he was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. In 2012 the Orlando Cepeda Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research commemorated Bernier’s 85th anniversary with a celebration of his life at Los Autenticos Club in Juana Diaz. More than 130 people attended the event, which featured an exhibition of Bernier memorabilia and photos.24

This biography appeared in “Puerto Rico and Baseball: 60 Biographies” (SABR, 2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Edwin Fernández.

Notes

1 Steve Treder, “Carlos Bernier,” hardballtimes.com/carlos/bernier, August 25, 2004.

2 Santiago Llorens, “Puerto Rican Playoffs Won by Caguas Club,” The Sporting News, March 17, 1948.

3 Treder.

4 Joe Guzzardi, “Carlos Bernier, More Than a Footnote,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 14, 2013.

5 “Obituaries: Carlos Bernier,” The Sporting News, May 29, 1989.

6 baseball-reference/bullpen/Carlos_Bernier.

7 Ibid.

8 Treder.

9 “First Colonial Suspension,” The Sporting News, August 11, 1948.

10 The Sporting News, August 10, 1949

11 The Sporting News, May 17, 1950.

12 C.C. Johnson Spink, “The Low Down on Majors’ Big Shots,” The Sporting News, January 6, 1954.

13 The Sporting News, May 12, 1954.

14 The Sporting News, June 23, 1954.

15 John B. Old, “Bernier Slaps Ump, Banned for Rest of ’64,” The Sporting News, August 18, 1954.

16 Ibid.

17 “Suspended Bernier Warned Not to Play in Dominican,” The Sporting News, September 1, 1954.

18 Albert Mlagon, “Bernier in New Ump Clash; Heaved in Dominican Game,” The Sporting News, September 8, 1954.

19 Santiago Llorens, “Bernier Asks Lift of Ban; Seeks to Play Winter Ball,” The Sporting News, October 13, 1954.

20 Jeane Hoffman, “Hollywood’s Fiery Bernier Had Cigar-Smoking Mamma,” The Sporting News, June 15, 1955.

21 “Bernier Back as Good Boy,” The Sporting News, April 6, 1955.

22 “Power, Bernier Fined $100 After Puerto Rican Scrap,” The Sporting News, November 23, 1955.

23 Guzzardi

24 Edwin Fernandez-Cruz, “SABR Day 2012 — Puerto Rico,” sabr.org/sabrday/2012/puertorico.

He was a talented athlete. Standing 6 foot 1 inch and weighing about 200 pounds, Bithorn commanded attention when he took the mound, began his distinctive windup, raised his long left leg high in the air and followed through with a powerful right-hand pitch over home plate, striking out one batter after another. He had remarkable control and delivery of a straight-line 90- to 95-mile-per-hour fastball that at least one time resulted in a hand injury that required a change of catchers.2 But, it would take more than technical skill and brawn for this Latino baseball player to make it to the big leagues in the 1940s.

Historically, Latinos had been playing in the major leagues since the early 1900s,3 and while earlier Puerto Rican players may have had the right stuff for the big leagues, until Bithorn came along, the color of their skin was deemed too dark for the all-white clubs of that time. Born March 18, 1916, in an area of San Juan called Santurce, Bithorn came from a family of Danish-German-Scottish and Spanish descent.4 He had light olive skin, spoke English, and his name did not sound Latino. Besides, he had a mean pitch.

Hiram’s father, Waldemar G. Bithorn, was a municipal employee while his mother, Maria Sosa, was a public school teacher. Hiram, the fourth of five Bithorn children, had three brothers, Waldemar, Fernando, and Rafael, and a younger sister, Maria Angelica.

According to Jorge Colon Delgado, baseball historian of Puerto Rico, the Bithorns were an exceptional family that traveled frequently to the United States.5 His mother taught her children English, and at one time produced a radio program called “Abuelita Borinqueña” (“Puerto Rican Grandmother”)6. Hiram attended Central High School in Santurce. His brothers Waldemar and Fernando, 11 and 10 years his senior, encouraged and assisted in training him to become an athlete. Even though during his childhood Hiram lost the big toe on his right foot in some kind of railway accident, the absent digit did not stop him from excelling in sports.7

In 1935, he played in the Third Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador, helping his island teammates bring home a silver medal in volleyball and a bronze in basketball. By this time, however, he had already begun making a name for himself in baseball. One game in particular occurred in the town of Guayama in 1932. Bithorn was on a team of nativos playing against Richmond, a team of white players, including first baseman, batting phenomenon, and future Hall of Famer Johnny Mize. That day 16-year-old Bithorn pitched a 10-1 game for the nativos.8

In Bithorn’s day, attending baseball games in Puerto Rico and rooting for the home team was as much a social event as a sporting event. This is where people gathered to pass the time, catch up with the latest news and gossip as well as support the young athletes of their island. But it was a time when Puerto Ricans did not have a good self-image, believing that anything of value must come from outside. Bithorn’s success would help change that perception.9

Most games in San Juan were played in Sixto Escobar in El Escambron, where local fans filled the benches and even climbed into the trees outside the ballpark to secure a good vantage point to watch Bithorn at work.10 It was just a matter of time before he’d get a chance to play in the United States, and eventually in the major leagues. The opportunity came in 1936 when two individuals saw something special in him.

That year the Newark Eagles (created with the 1936 union of Brooklyn Eagles and Newark Dodgers) of the Negro National League had gone to San Juan ahead of an exhibition series against the Cincinnati Reds. While warming up with some practice games against the local Puerto Rican teams, the Eagles were impressed with Bithorn’s performance on the mound. When one of their star pitchers, future Hall of Famer Leon Day, had an attack of appendicitis,11 the Eagles invited the Puerto Rican to join their short-handed pitching squad against the Reds, a team led by future Hall of Famer Kiki Cuyler.12

That is how it happened that on March 1, 1936, 20-year-old Bithorn pitched his first game against a major-league club. For seven innings, he allowed Cincinnati only one run, but when the Reds scored three runs in the eighth inning, the Eagles brought in a relief pitcher to save the game.13 The Eagles took the game, and Bithorn would get the break he needed to play in the United States.

Frank Duncan, catcher for the Eagles in that series, is credited with helping the Puerto Rican polish his pitching technique, while outfielder Ted Norbert recommended him for a contract with the Class B Norfolk Tars of the Piedmont League.14 Bithorn would spend six seasons in the minor leagues, moving up midseason 1937 to the New York Yankees’ Class A Binghamton Triplets. Midseason 1938 he continued to improve, advancing to the Newark Class AA team, also affiliated with the Yankees. In his first two seasons in the minor leagues, he pitched 16-9 and 17-9 respectively.

Author Nick C.Wilson shares an unusual story from Bithorn’s minor-league days with Norfolk. After winning the first game of a doubleheader on a Thursday evening, he took a seat in the stands to watch the second game, still wearing his uniform. As it turned out, the game dragged on inning after inning until the entire Norfolk pitching squad was depleted. Manager Johnny Neun looked into the grandstand and called Bithorn to pitch the rest of the game. Finally, at two a.m. on Friday, Norfolk drove in two runs in the 15th inning, and as Wilson reports, “Bithorn had won back-to-back games on two different days without removing his uniform.”15

After each season in the States he returned to Puerto Rico to play in the Winter League, wearing the San Juan Senators uniform. Initially, because of his minor-league record in the United States, the Puerto Rican Professional Winter League classified him as blanquito (white), and then briefly changed it to refuerzo (outsider) before finally allowing him to play as a nativo.16 When San Juan manager Juan Torruella resigned only two weeks into the 1938 winter season, the Senadores chose 22-year-old Bithorn as manager, making him the youngest manager in the history of the Puerto Rican Professional Winter League.17

Hiram moved to the Pacific Coast League in 1939 where he acquired the nickname “Tropical Hurricane” or just “Hurricane” Bithorn. He played three seasons in the Class AA clubs Oakland Oaks and Hollywood Stars, achieving win-loss percentages of .481 (1939), .370 (1940), and .531 (1941). He closed the 1941 season with a 17-15 record. Two of those games were shutouts.

The Hollywood Stars that Bithorn played with was the second club by that name to make its home in the movie industry community, the first having moved to San Diego in 1936 to become the future San Diego Padres. Owners of the second Hollywood Stars, formerly the San Francisco Missions, determined to make the team a popular civic venture. To do this they formed the Hollywood Baseball Association and sold small shares of stock to local civic leaders as well as movie stars and moguls, promoting the club as “the Hollywood Stars baseball team, owned by the Hollywood stars.”18

Baseball players and movie stars appeared together in print advertisements as well as social and promotional events. Fraternizing among baseball players and movie stars was all part of the Hollywood environment in which the Puerto Rican found himself. According to family members, Hiram did well socially in Hollywood, and in particular, befriended actress Ida Lupino. Although there is no evidence to support the story that the two were romantically involved, it is at least interesting to note that the Bithorn name appears in her 1943 movie, The Hard Way. In one of two shots of a newspaper page, the name of the character Laura Britton reads Laura Bithorn, doubtless a nod to Lupino’s baseball-player friend.19 By the time the movie came out, the Hurricane was already playing in the major leagues.

At the end of the 1941 season, the Chicago Cubs drafted Bithorn from the Hollywood Stars, along with Cuban-born Salvador “Chico” Hernández, from the Texas League’s Tulsa Oilers, thus forming the third Spanish-speaking pitcher-catcher battery in major-league history.20 Not only did Bithorn and Hernández speak the same language, photographs reveal a striking similarity of physical features. Former Cubs shortstop Lennie Merullo described the two as very popular “big handsome guys.”21 They were born within three months of each other (Hernández on January 3, 1916, in Cuba, and Bithorn on March 18, 1916, in Puerto Rico). The pitcher stood only one inch taller and weighed only five pounds more than the catcher. Bithorn made his major-league debut with the Cubs on April 15, 1942, at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. Hernández made his the following day, April 16, 1942, also in St. Louis. Bithorn pitched two innings and allowed no hits in his debut game, which the Cubs lost, 4-2.

When playing teams with no Spanish-speaking players, Bithorn and Hernández openly conversed in Spanish on the field, calling out signals in what The Sporting News once called “Castilian Signal Code.” Of course, the scheme worked only when no other Spanish-speaking players or coaches were in the game. New York Giants manager Mel Ott may not have had a player to translate what the pitcher and catcher said to each other, but he had a Spanish-speaking coach in the legendary Cuban-born Adolfo “Dolf” Luque who understood every word.22

Bithorn pitched 171 1/3 innings in 38 games in 1942 with 9 wins and 14 losses, achieving a 3.68 ERA. The next year he pitched his career high of 249 2/3 innings, allowing only 227 hits in 39 games, 19 of which were complete games. He ended the season with 18 wins and 12 losses, and a 2.60 ERA. With seven shutouts to his credit, he led the 1943 National League, making him the second Latino to do so, the first being none other than Adolfo Luque in 1921 (3), 1923 (6), and 1925 (4). Today Bithorn continues to hold the record for highest number of shutout games by a major-league pitcher from Puerto Rico.23

Merullo described Bithorn as a hard thrower with a great curveball. “He had a natural sinker that he would throw from a low three-quarter position. When he pitched, we knew as infielders we were going to get a lot of work. He was always good, but you knew you were going to be busy.”24

Noteworthy are Bithorn’s 1943 wins against the reigning world champion St. Louis Cardinals. Even though the Cardinals would go on to win the pennant, Bithorn allowed them only two runs in 32 innings.

Teammates and family members remember Bithorn as good-natured guy and even somewhat of a prankster. Prior to the 1943 season, columnist Ed Burns commented, “He has been full of fun and wisecracks all spring. . . .”25 Cubs first baseman Phil Cavaretta said he was a hard worker, very quiet and dedicated to the game.26 El Imparcial writer Eduardo Valero recalled the time Bithorn came out of the dugout sporting an umbrella in protest of the umpire’s delay in stopping play due to rain.27 Merullo remembered him as a happy guy with a playful nature who could take a ribbing from his teammates.28

Despite his success as a major-league baseball player, Bithorn lived under a cloud of rumors and gossip regarding his racial ancestry. Simply the fact that he was Latino was enough to raise doubts in some minds and fuel suspicion that he might be a mulatto. Ever since the early 1900s, when the first Latinos were recruited to play organized baseball in the United States those responsible for policing baseball’s color line during the Jim Crow era had sought evidence of a player’s “whiteness” or Castilian blood line as a qualification for admission to a major-league team.29 The Cubs were satisfied that Bithorn was white, and in fact, published his biographical information stating he was of Danish and Spanish heritage.30 Nonetheless, Bithorn endured ethnic stereotyping and harassment from opposing players, fans, and managers, including New York Giants manager Leo Durocher, who discovered the limit of taunting the pitcher would take.

Durocher was hurling derogatory names at Bithorn as fast as the Puerto Rican could pitch hardballs on July 15, 1943. In the scenario Cavaretta remembered, the pitcher called for a time-out in the sixth inning, but instead of conferring with the catcher as he would be expected to do, Bithorn remained on the mound, staring straight at the batter. In a slightly different account reported in New York Age, the Cubs manager pulled Bithorn from the game, which sent the pitcher into a “frenzy of indignation.” In both versions of the story, Durocher’s diatribe of dirty words and racial slurs stopped abruptly when Bithorn shot the ball straight at him into the dugout, sending his target to his knees to avoid getting hit. It may have brought smiles to the faces of many observers, but Durocher and the commissioner of baseball, Ford Frick, failed to see the humor in it.” Bithorn received a $25 fine and reprimand.31 Major league commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis subsequently issued a public statement denying any “ban in organized baseball against the use of colored players, either by rule or by agreement or by subterfuge.”32

The question of Bithorn’s racial heritage would emerge again more than 30 years later when Hall of Fame journalist Fred Lieb revealed in his 1977 autobiography Baseball as I Have Known It, an incident that occurred in St. Louis in late 1946 or early 1947. He said a man whom he did not know invited him to a performance of an all-black dance troupe and made a point of introducing him to one of the dancers, who claimed her mother and Hi Bithorn’s mother were sisters. Afterward Lieb speculated that this meeting had been intentionally arranged in order to “tell me something,” but he concluded, “… I have since been assured by a Puerto Rican baseball authority that Bithorn was not black, despite my curious experience.” 33

Author David Maraniss confirms, “That Bithorn had white skin meant very little to fans in San Juan . . . . But it meant everything to the men who ran organized baseball in the States. It was the only reason they let him play.”34

Unlike other Latino players from Central America and the Caribbean, as a Puerto Rican, Bithorn was a U.S. citizen (as per the Jones Act of 1917), and thus eligible for the draft during World War II. While his request for a draft deferment was denied, the War Department reclassified him to 1-A. Inducted November 26, 1943, Bithorn served most of two years at the San Juan Naval Air Station in Puerto Rico where he was player-manager of the post’s baseball team.35

After his discharge on September 1, 1945, he reported to Chicago Cubs for the final weeks of the season, but did not play.36 Four months later, on January 3, 1946, Bithorn and Chicago native Virginia Arford were married in Mexico. The next month he injured his hand while playing in the Puerto Rican championship games, delaying his return to the Chicago Cubs for the 1946 season.37 He appeared on the mound in only 26 games in 1946 to garner six wins and five losses, primarily as a reliever.

Clearly, Bithorn was no longer the promising player who had pitched over 249 innings and seven shutouts in 1943. He’d gained about 25 pounds, and according to some, emerged from the military a changed man, grumpy, argumentative, and no longer the baseball star he had been before his military stint.38 While some have speculated as to what may have happened, the real cause of his changed personality and lost skills remains something of a mystery (though arguably a nagging arm problem must have been a contributing factor). Reports that he suffered a “nervous breakdown” while in the Navy are flatly denied by family members today.39 With his baseball career clearly on a downslide, the Cubs traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he never played for them. He was then selected off waivers by the White Sox, but plagued by that sore arm, he played only two games with the club.

His major-league career ended with his final game, the first of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 4, 1947, at Comiskey Park. Bithorn pitched only one inning and allowed one hit, but got the 8-7 win over Philadelphia. Playing in 105 games during four seasons (1942, 1943, 1946, 1947), he accumulated a major-league win-loss record of 34-31 and a 3.16 ERA. He pitched 509 2/3 innings and allowed 517 hits while playing in the big leagues.

Sore arm or not, Bithorn was not ready to give up baseball. Returning briefly to the Class AAA Hollywood Stars, he managed to pitch four games, achieving one loss and no wins. He finally underwent arm surgery and missed all of the 1948 season. Back to the game in 1949, he pitched one game with the Class AA Oklahoma City team and 12 games with the Class AA Nashville club. He spent the final years of his baseball career playing and/or umpiring in Mexico and the Class C Pioneer League.40

Hiram and Virginia lived in Chicago when their only child, Hiram Jr., was born in May 1951. In the meantime, Bithorn’s mother, along with his sister and family had moved to Mexico City where Maria Angelica attended university. Plans were made for Hiram to sponsor the baptism of her one-year-old son, David Hiram Arechiga, during the year-end holidays. However, fearing the trip would be too difficult for her and the baby, Virginia and seven-month-old Hiram Jr. remained in Chicago while Bithorn headed out on the 1,685-mile journey alone.

Driving a 1947 Buick, he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and traveled to the extreme southern part of the state of Tamaulipas to the town of El Mante along Federal Highway 85. Here he met his untimely death by a policeman’s bullet to his stomach. Exactly what happened that night remains a mystery, but apparently he stopped in El Mante to get a hotel room. While some reports say he had no money to pay for the room, another says he had $2,000 in U.S. currency with him.41 The policeman, Corporal Ambrosio Castillo Cano, claimed Bithorn attempted to sell his car to raise money for the hotel room, but had no license or registration papers for it. How he could have made it all the way from Chicago to Mexico without a license, registration, or money remains another puzzling piece of the Bithorn mystery.

According to Castillo’s version, he got into the car with Bithorn and ordered him to drive to the local police station. A fight ensued, and fearing for his life, the policeman shot the Puerto Rican. Bithorn was then transported by ambulance to a hospital 84 miles away in Victoria, and within an hour of arrival, the 35-year-old was pronounced dead of internal hemorrhage. While various sources give his date of death anywhere from December 27, 1951, to January 1, 1952, the most generally accepted date of December 29, 1951, is the one documented by an Associated Press reporter in Mexico. In Chicago, Virginia learned of her husband’s demise in a radio report, which she confirmed with a phone call to the Chicago Tribune.42

Bithorn’s family never bought the policeman’s story, believing he actually wanted to steal Bithorn’s car and personal belongings. Castillo’s story grew more convoluted as he attempted to place blame on the Puerto Rican. He even told Mexican officials that Bithorn admitted to being a member of the Communist Party and that he was on an important mission. Strangely, Puerto Rico’s newspapers said very little about his death, and no Puerto Rican journalists went to Mexico to investigate.43 However, Bithorn’s family insisted on an FBI investigation. Castillo was indicted on January 11, 1952, convicted, and sentenced to eight years for the murder.44

Outraged over the death and crude burial of the baseball player in Mexico, Puerto Rican officials and Bithorn’s family demanded that his remains be returned to the island for a proper Christian burial. At the request of Governor Luis Muñoz Marin and San Juan Mayor Felisa Rinc?n de Gautier, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, William O’Dwyer, arranged with Mexican government officials for the transfer by air carrier. Bithorn’s decomposing body, covered with mud and still in the clothes in which he was killed, arrived in Puerto Rico on January 12, 1952. The next day, about 5,000 people filed past his casket on the field at Sixto Escobar Stadium prior to burial in Buxeda Cemetery, Isla Verde, only a short distance from his birthplace in Santurce, Puerto Rico.

As a symbol of respect for their former teammate and manager, the Senadores played the rest of the season wearing black patches on their sleeves. Ten years later, in 1962, the city of San Juan memorialized the island’s first major leaguer by naming its new 18,000-seat baseball park the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, a fitting tribute to the pioneer who opened the door for all the other Puerto Rican ballplayers who realized their dreams, and each in his own way contributed to the island’s legacy in major league baseball.

Bithorn’s wife, Virginia, who later remarried, died in 2011 in Arizona.45

A version of this biography is included in “Puerto Rico and Baseball: 60 Biographies” (SABR, 2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Edwin Fernández.

Notes

No word better describes Bobby Bonilla’s baseball career than “potential.” He was selected as an All-Star six times. Bonilla won three Silver Slugger Awards while a Pirate. Toward the end of his career, he helped lead the Florida Marlins to an improbable World Series triumph. In spite of all this success, Bonilla seemed trapped inside a bubble of bigger expectations.

Standing 6-feet-3 and weighing 210 to 240 pounds, Roberto Martin Antonio “Bobby” Bonilla was always a big man from the time he began playing professional baseball. He was similar in build to two former Auburn University football players, Frank Thomas and Bo Jackson, who like Bonilla tantalized Chicago White Sox fans with their potential to put a big hurt on every baseball. Bonilla was not a finesse hitter, or even a traditional home-run hitter. “He simply muscled the ball with the brute strength of an offensive tackle, which he resembled in appearance,” one writer explained.2

There is great irony in the pressure for Bonilla to achieve even more than he did. When Bobby was born on February 23, 1963, the area dominated by the Jackson Houses of the South Bronx was not a neighborhood full of high expectations. Puerto Rican families, mostly low income, were pouring into the Bronx in huge numbers. The Bronx has been the political bulwark of nationally ground-breaking Puerto Rican politicians including Herman Badillo, Fernando Ferrer, and Jose Serrano. The Bronx is the second largest population area of Puerto Ricans, behind only San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Bonilla is of Afro-Puerto Rican heritage, his parents having moved to the Bronx from Puerto Rico. Roberto Sr. was an electrician and Regina, his mother, was a psychologist. They divorced when Bobby was 8. He, his twin sisters, Socorro and Milagros, and his brother, Javier, grew up living with their mother. His father lived only five minutes away. Bonilla said that “he was always there if I needed him.”3 Both parents worked to instill values in him though actions and words. His father took Bobby on electrical jobs to demonstrate how hard he had to work as well as the dangers of his job, and then, according to Bonilla, would ask, “Is this what you want to do?” and Bobby would reply “No, Dad, I’ll work at my baseball a little harder.”4 

His home area was the infamous 40th Police Precinct, known for its homicides and robberies and not many success stories. Bonilla said that he “had my sports.” “It kept me away from the drugs, the gangs,” he told Ross Newhan of the Los Angeles Times.5 Amidst the chaos, Bobby focused on baseball. He told People magazine that he “played sports 24 hours a day. In a place like the South Bronx, you have to dream or else you’ll get caught up in the mess.”6 His life in the Bronx led to one of his oft-repeated phrases when people asked him if criticism, booing fans or batting slumps were “pressure.” He’d say: “This isn’t pressure. Pressure is growing up in the South Bronx.”7 

Not only did Bobby have his family to keep him focused, but he had an extraordinary high-school baseball coach, Joe Levine. Beyond just helping develop Bonilla as a high-school player, Levine put him in the position to launch an improbable and extraordinary major-league career. The coach attended a seminar at which a high-school all-star team was being assembled to play in Scandinavia in the summer of 1980. High-school senior Bonilla was selected for the team, but did not have the money needed to go. His coach started a “Bobby Fund” to assist Roberto Sr. in paying for the summer trip. It is no wonder that Bonilla considered Coach Levine a second father.8  

The coordinator and instructor for the trip was legendary baseball scout Syd Thrift. Thrift had spent nearly 20 years as the scouting coordinator of Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, and Oakland Athletics but had left baseball and was working during this nine-year stretch as a real estate agent. Here’s how Thrift described the trip: “It was the season of the midnight sun. We all slept in one big room. There were no shades on the windows and the sun never set. It was the most bizarre thing you ever saw.” 9 But it gave Thrift plenty of daylight to see Bobby Bonilla’s potential.

Upon returning, Thrift called one of his old bosses, Pirates minor-league director Branch Rickey Jr., and within weeks of returning, Bonilla was at the Pirates’ spring home in Bradenton, Florida for a tryout.10 Bonilla was not an instant success story in minor-league baseball. He spent his first two years with the Pirates’ rookie league team, hitting barely above the Mendoza line though occasionally flashing his potential power. At age 20, in 1983 at the Class-A level, Bonilla began to show improved skills so the Pirates advanced him to Nashua of the Double-A Eastern League in 1984. There he again slightly improved his power, average, and speed even though he had risen to a higher level in the minors.

In 1985 Bonilla was invited to spring training with the Pirates in Bradenton. He was getting his breakout chance, but Bonilla broke his leg in a collision with Bip Roberts while chasing a foul popup. He could have given up but did not. Bonilla credited his wife, Millie, his high-school sweetheart, with “keeping his head straight.” “I was a big baby in a lot of ways,” Bonilla said. “I had to learn to cope while wanting to be home. I earned $650 a month and spent $200 calling Millie. She picked up a lot of the slack. She kept my head straight.”11 The Pirates sent him back down to Class A with Prince William (Carolina League). There he met Barry Bonds, who was to become his closest friend in baseball.

In the winter of 1983-84, Bonilla had played his first baseball in his parents’ native home of Puerto Rico. He was still a raw minor-league player when he joined the Senadores de San Juan. Mako Oliveras had taken over as manager and immediately liked the personable Bonilla. Since Bonilla had nowhere to stay, Oliveras asked his mother if Bobby could stay with them. He did so for two winters, where he loved the food and became part of their family.12

 Bonilla played four additional seasons in the Puerto Rican Winter League. Before the 1984-85 season, the Indios de Mayaguez traded shortstop Adalberto Pena and pitcher Orlando Lind to San Juan for Bonilla. Assistant general manager Jorge Aranzamendi, based upon all the major-league scouting reports he had access to, supported going after prospect Bonilla because of his potential. While Pena helped lead San Juan to a championship, Bonilla was not a regular starter on Mayaguez until 1985-86.13 Bonilla credited the Puerto Rican Winter League with advancing his skills. He had short high-school baseball seasons in New York City, so he entered minor-league ball without much game experience. After his spring-training injury in 1985, and his demotion back to Class A, the winter of 1985-86 was of great importance to his major-league career. His solid statistics during the last 39 games of the season at Prince William reflected improving skills that resulted in his starting for Mayaguez.

Based upon his broken leg and partial season in Class A, the Pirates had left Bonilla off their 40-man roster in the fall. They presumed that no team would select him in the Rule 5 draft because it would require placing an inexperienced, possibly damaged player on the 25-player roster for the season or potentially losing him.  The Chicago White Sox had the advantage of being able to select the unprotected Bonilla after he had demonstrated recovery not only in a few months of minor-league baseball but also with the Indios in winter ball. For $50,000 the White Sox received a soon-to-be major-league star.

Bonilla astoundingly jumped from Class A to the majors without missing a beat. In 75 games for the White Sox,his .256 batting average slightly exceeded his best year in the minors and his on-base percentage and slugging average were roughly equal to his previous bests. No wonder Bonilla said that playing Puerto Rican Winter League baseball was particularly important to him because he skipped Triple A. Puerto Rico had been a critical training ground to maturing and developing his skills.

Bonilla had a friend who had never forgotten him: Syd Thrift. Thrift had been enticed back into baseball by the Pirates, who appointed him general manager. Thrift hired the White Sox third-base coach, Jim Leyland, to be the manager. In midseason the Pirates reacquired Bonilla for pitcher Jose DeLeon. In 2013 ESPN ranked each major-league team’s best deadline trade. For the Pirates, it was receiving Bonilla for DeLeon.14

Bonilla returned to Indios de Mayaguez for the 1986-87 winter season.  Post-season he was selected play for the Puerto Rican entry in the 1987 Caribbean Series held in Hermosillo, Mexico along with other major-league players Candy Maldonado and Juan Nieves, as were future stars Roberto Alomar and David Cone. Because of his Puerto Rican heritage, in the winter leagues and for the national team, Bobby Bonilla was classified as a Puerto Rican native player.15 In retirement Bonilla has continued to support baseball efforts in Puerto Rico, including the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy that produced Houston Astros star Carlos Correa.16

In 1987 for the Pirates, Bonilla showed the first signs of a major breakout. He hit .300 (his previous high had been .269), topped 10 home runs for the first time, and slugged .481. He played his last year of winter ball for Mayaguez in 1987-88. In 1988 Bonilla hit 24 home runs and had 100 RBIs. The Pirates excelled as well, as Thrift built a powerhouse upon the ruins of the cocaine-devastated Pirates. From 1988 to 1991, Bonilla averaged 24 home runs, 38 doubles, 102 RBIs, and a 4.4 WAR. While Bonds was the top star with a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) average of 7.9, Bonilla was among the best players in the majors. In 1988, at the start of Bonilla’s outburst, Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt said, “He’s the best all-around third baseman in the league.”17

The Pirates had become the dominant team in the majors, winning three straight division titles in 1990, 1991, and 1992. Bonilla finished second in the National League’s 1990 MVP voting (behind teammate Bonds) and third in 1991 (Bonds was second to Terry Pendleton of the NL Champion Atlanta Braves). The Spring 1991 issue of Topps Baseball Card magazine featured Bonilla and Bonds on the cover, calling them the “Killer B’s.”18 Topps correctly realized that the double B’s of Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla, combined with their first-second and second-third place MVP finishes, and the Pirates’ natural bee-colored black and gold uniforms, made the duo the perfect “Killer B’s” of all time.

Bonilla was not with the Pirates during the 1992 championship season. His life had started to take a bad turn during the 1991 season as his coming free agency began to raise dissatisfaction about money. Bonilla had always been known for having a “neon” smile. People magazine stated: “Perhaps not since Ernie (‘It’s a great day for a ballgame’) Banks retired from the Chicago Cubs 17 years ago has baseball seen a man with a sunnier disposition swing a meaner bat.” A teammate said it was nice to come to the ballpark and see his smiling face.19

Money had become a proxy for not only skill but respect. The Pirates had been a home to African American stars, and had fielded the first all-black lineup in 1971, anchored by Puerto Rican legend Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. However, Bonilla felt that teammate Andy Van Slyke and others were given large contract offers while the Pirates would not meet his request. The Yankees were interested in either Bonds or Bonilla but were rumored to prefer Bonilla because of his upbeat attitude.20

However, it was not the Yankees, but the New York Mets that brought Bobby Bonilla home to New York City. The Mets signed Bonilla to the highest dollar contract ever in the major leagues at the time, $5 million for five years. New York is considered a tough sports town, with many opinionated sports journalists competing for the attention of millions of opinionated and passionate sports fans. Bonilla, as the newly minted richest man in baseball, was going to have a bullseye on his head even if he performed well.

Barry Bonds accurately framed the difference between himself and his good friend. “I can handle New York because I don’t get my feelings hurt the way Bobby does. I don’t give a __ what people write about me or say. Bobby does. He’s too sensitive. I told him before he went there that he wasn’t going to be able to deal with it but he didn’t believe me. Now, he believes me.”21

Bonilla’s return home started like the dream he hoped it would be. On February 3, 1992, he and his wife established the Millie and Bobby Bonilla Public School Fund. Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer proclaimed the day Bobby Bonilla Day, stating what a great pleasure it was “to welcome back the four-star slugger of the South Bronx.” Surrounded by Mets officials and teacher union representatives, Bonilla pledged to donate $500 for each RBI he got for sports equipment and incentive programs to the Bronx schools he attended. It was expected to be around $50,000 because Bonilla had become a reliable 100 RBIs-a-year player. Lehman High School was not represented at the ceremony because the principal had fired Bonilla’s beloved former coach Levine. Instead, Levine spoke at the ceremony and the New York Times noted that he would be the “unofficial administrator of the fund.”22

From there, things went downhill. Bonilla sank back to the mediocre performance level of his first year — he was hitting only .130 in May — only now he was the highest paid player in baseball. He improved but still drove in only 70 runs, largely because the weak Mets lineup had 31 percent fewer runners for him to potentially drive in.23 Regardless of the reasons, fans were focused upon his underperformance compared with his record-breaking salary. He was scalded in New York, where he took to wearing earplugs, and his baseball homecoming to Pittsburgh was a disaster, including having a bottle thrown at him. The Mets imploded. Then it got worse.

The days of fawning sports reporters was over. The adoring public was no longer so adoring but more sarcastic. The title of the book The Worst Team Money Could Buy suggests the views of the author about the 1992 Mets.24 The generally ebullient Bonilla was already upset with the world and upset with himself. He said later that he perhaps should have handled the criticism better, but when he was called out for lying about his attempt to reverse an error call on what he thought was a hit, the festering wounds to his pride were picked open. The powerful Bonilla physically intimidated the less imposing author/New York Daily News baseball reporter Klapisch by threatening to “show him the Bronx.”25 It was ironic since Bonilla had specifically separated himself from the more violent part of the Bronx his entire life, but the image of sunny Bobby never quite recovered.  

After his poor performance in 1992, Bonilla recovered to have a solid season for the Mets in 1993, as well as in the strike-shortened seasons of 1994 and the first half of 1995. He was named to the NL All-Star team in 1993 and 1995. His statistics averaged over a full season were just shy of his annual performances in Pittsburgh. But now his personal image had been damaged, and his contract had raised expectations to levels he could not achieve.

 In late July of 1995 the Mets traded their All-Star slugger to the Baltimore Orioles for two minor-leaguers. Bonilla, clearly glad to escape, drove to Baltimore that night in order to be in the lineup against the White Sox.26 He hit extremely well for the Orioles in 1995, batting .333 with a slugging average of .544 and an RBI rate of 123 in a 162-game season. He followed that with another solid season in 1996. Bonilla was one of the reasons the Orioles made the 1996 American League playoffs as the wild-card team. He hit a game-sealing grand slam in the first game against the Cleveland Indians, and then homered again in the decisive fourth game. Baltimore defeated the Indians three games to one but was easily subdued by the Yankees in the ALCS.

When his season concluded, Bonilla was again a free agent. He signed with the Florida Marlins, where he was reunited with his former Pirates manager Jim Leyland. In 1997 he batted .297 with 39 doubles, 96 RBIs, and 17 homers. The Marlins’ owner, Wayne Huizenga, had decided to open his checkbook, not only for Bonilla but also for Moises Alou, Alex Fernandez, and Jim Eisenreich. The Marlins made the NL playoffs as the wild-card team. It was Bonilla’s fourth trip to the playoffs. This time the Marlins won the World Series, against Cleveland.

After the World Series victory, Huizenga, a trash magnate, trashed his team. He sold, failed to re-sign, or traded most of the key players. The Marlins went from first to worst, finishing 1998 with a 54-108 record. In May 1998 Bonilla was traded, along with Gary Sheffield and three others, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, who were then flipped as well. Bonilla’s glory days were gone. His hitting collapsed (.249 for the season) and he was bounced to the Mets for Mel Rojas after the season.

At this late stage of his career, Bonilla was not a hitting asset but was more like a good-luck charm. For the 2000 season, he signed with the Atlanta Braves. They won their ninth straight division title. He was not re-signed. For 2001, at age 38, he played in 93 games for the St. Louis Cardinals, who won the NL wild-card slot. They were eliminated by the eventual World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Bonilla’s stellar playing career ended much as it had begun.  It was an arc, beginning in 1981 with the Pirates Rookie League team, for which he hit .217, and finishing with a .213 batting with the Cardinals 20 years later.   

However, it did not end the baseball legend of Bobby Bonilla. In 1999, his last year with the Mets, Bonilla had agreed to have his contract bought out and accepted deferred payments that would begin in 2011 and continue until 2035. On July 1 of each year he receives a check for $1,193,248.20 from the Mets on what the media refers to as “Bobby Bonilla Day.” Some refer to him as the “Patron Saint of Bad Contracts,” and others refer to players who also are receiving deferred paychecks long after retirement as the “Bobby Bonilla All-Stars.”

Since Bonilla has not played for the Mets since the last century, the fact that his annuity exceeds the salary, for example, of any of the 2016 Mets’ top four pitching stars — Noah Syndergaard, Jacob DeGrom, Matt Harvey, and Steven Matz — causes lots of tsk-tsking by the media and fans. Of course, when Bonilla was slugging away as a youngster for the Pirates he was not earning the big money either. More importantly, even though the Mets will have paid Bonilla $29.8 million for the 2000 season in which he was not on the team, the deal was both logical at the time and worked out well for the Mets. The biggest problem was scam artist Bernie Madoff. Mets owner Fred Wilpon was one of the investors Madoff defrauded of $17 billion for which he was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Wilpon had been receiving 10-15 percent annual gains. Had he earned even 10 percent on the $5.9 million owed Bonilla in 2000, by 2035 Wilpon would have netted a $49 million profit. In attempts to recover losses, Wilpon was sued but found innocent of any crime. He was guilty only of a combination of misplaced trust and economic ignorance.27

The cash freed up by the Bonilla deferred deal resulted in the signing of Derek Bell, Todd Zeile, and Mike Hampton. They helped lead the Mets to the National League title in 2000. Hampton earned the MVP of the NL Championship Series by pitching 16 shutout innings. When Hampton then signed with the Colorado Rockies, the Mets received as compensation a young ballplayer named David Wright, who developed into one of the 10 best Mets players ever.28

Bonilla had one other unique side of his personality: He had some minor success as an actor. Bonilla, Bonds, and Pedro Guerrero all had bit parts in the 1993 baseball movie Rookie of the Year. The movie is the story of a 12-year-old boy who, after hurting his arm, finds that the surgically repaired arm enables him to throw a baseball over 100 miles per hour. This results in his being signed by the Chicago Cubs and sparking them to a World Series victory. He reinjures his arm and returns to Little League baseball, only sporting a World Series ring.

The brief appearance of Bonilla is in one of the scenes that adds the patina of authenticity to the movie. The first is the day at Wrigley Field, filmed at the ballpark, when young Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) returns an opposing team’s home run toward the field, only it goes to the catcher at home plate on the fly. Later, after his shaky early start, the “rookie” pitcher becomes a key part of the Cubs turnaround. Showing actual baseball players Bonilla, Guerrero, and Bonds swinging mightily, and late, on the alleged fastballs of the 12-year-old pitcher was a shortcut way to establish Henry’s importance to the Cubs success. The ballplayers in the scene were billed as “The Big Whiffers.”

The movie had mini-cult status among Cub fans desperate to win. Nicholas was invited to toss out the first pitch at a Cubs game in 2010, and to sing the National Anthem in 2015. After the Cubs won Game Seven of the 2016 World Series, he tweeted out the final shot from Rookie of the Year, when he held his World Series ring up to the camera.

The personable Bonilla was also interviewed on nontraditional baseball shows including the Late Night With David Letterman and Lauren Hutton and… He also appeared in three television series. In 1994 Bobby was “Ronnie Holland” in the episode “The Friendly Neighborhood Dealer” on the Fox series New York Undercover. The series ran from 1994 to 1998, starring Michael DeLorenzo and Malik Yoba as NYPD detectives. DeLorenzo, like Bonilla, was of Puerto Rican descent and from the Bronx.

In 1995 Bonilla appeared on Living Single in an episode titled “Play Ball.” The series was carried five years by Fox, ranking among the top five shows among African-Americans. Among its stars were Queen Latifah, Kim Fields, and Kim Coles. In 1998 Bonilla and Tony LaRussa appeared in the episode “The American Game” on the HBO television series Arli$$. While it was critically panned, Time magazine reported that so many viewers claimed Arli$$ was the sole reason they subscribed to HBO that it remained on the year for seven seasons.

By any standard, young Roberto Martin Antonio “Bobby” Bonilla of the South Bronx achieved his potential.

Last revised: June 1, 2017

This biography originally appeared in “Puerto Rico and Baseball: 60 Biographies” (SABR, 2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Edwin Fernández. It also appeared in “From Spring Training to Screen Test: Baseball Players Turned Actors“ (SABR, 2018), edited by Rob Edelman and Bill Nowlin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author utilized Baseball-Reference.com for all baseball statistics and the website IMDb.com for information on Bonilla’s movie and TV career.

Notes

1 Ross Newhan, “An Act of Piracy: Getting Bonilla Back Was a Steal,” Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1988.

2 Bob Klapisch and John Harper, The Worst Team Money Could Buy (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, Bison Books, 2005), 75.

3 Newhan.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

6 Eric Levin and Mary Huzinec, “Save That Ball, Boys — The Way Bobby Bonilla’s Going, It’ll Be Valuable,” People magazine, July 18, 1988.

7 Ken Rappoport, Bobby Bonilla (New York: Walker and Company, 1993), 91

8 Kenneth Shouler, “Swinging for the Fences,” Cigar Aficionado, July/August 1998; Newman, “Act of Piracy.”

10 Shouler.

11 Newhan.

12 Thomas E. Van Hyning, Puerto Rico’s Winter League: A History of Major League Baseball’s Launching Pad (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1995), 29.

13 Ibid. 

14 proxy.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/tag?name=bobby-bonilla.

16 “MLB to Start Puerto Rico Summer League for 14-17-Year-Olds,” Fox Sports, June 19, 2014.

17 Levin and Huzinec.

18 While some have included Sid Bream and Jay Bell among the Pirates’ “Killer B’s” and others later stretched the term to the powerful Houston “B’s” (Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, and Derek Bell), the term fit perfectly on Bonilla and Bonds.

19  Ibid.

20 Jon Heyman, “Yankees Are Targeting Bonds or Bonilla,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), January 13, 1991.

21 John Feinstein, Play Ball: The Life and Troubled Times of Major League Baseball (New York: Villard Books, 1993), 26.

22 Bruce Weber, “Bobby Bonilla Puts His Bat to Work,” New York Times, February 4, 1992.

23 Neil Paine, “Bobby Bonilla Was More Than the Patron Saint of Bad Contracts,” FiveThirtyEight.com, September 30, 2016.

24 Klapisch and Harper.

25 Rappoport, 286.

26 Buster Olney, “All-Star Slugger Acquired From Mets for Minor-Leaguers Ochoa and Buford Orioles Get Their Cleanup Man: Bonilla,” Baltimore Sun, July 29, 1995.

27 theundefeated.com/features/bobby-bonilla-was-more-than-just-that-mets-contracts-538/; Serge Kovaleski and David Waldstein, “Madoff Had Wide Role in Mets’ Finances,” New York Times, February 1, 2011; and Darren Royal, “Why the Mets Pay Bobby Bonilla $1.19 Million Every July 1,” ESPN; July 1, 2016.

28 Mel Antonen, “Deferred Payment: Mets Owe Bobby Bonilla Nearly $30 Million From 2011-2035,” USA Today; updated July 1, 2010; Ted Berg, “The Annual Deferred Payments to Bobby Bonilla Actually Worked Out Quite Well for the Mets,” USA Today; July 1, 2015.

At first, it was as a five-tool prospect for the Seattle Mariners; a can’t-miss kid with tremendous power and raw talent who tore through the minor leagues. A short-time after arriving in Seattle, Calderon got pegged as a slacker who didn’t hustle or work hard. It was a reputation he didn’t deserve, based more on ethnic stereotypes than actual events on the field. In truth, he was playing hurt, having severely injured his shoulder diving for a ball. Those who played with him say Calderon was extremely dedicated to his craft. White Sox batting coach Walt Hriniak went so far as to call him one of the hardest workers he’d ever had.1

Calderon was known as a flamboyant and flashy player, a big man with big gold chains and big smile. He wore thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry both on and off the field in a time when such a thing was frowned upon by much of baseball’s old-school establishment.

“I’m not worried about him on the field,” his manager at Montreal Buck Rodgers said of Calderon in 1991. “I just hope he doesn’t get mugged off the field.” 2

Eventually, Calderon became known as one of the best left fielders of his time, a clutch hitter with gap-to-gap power and a keen eye for the strike zone. The Montreal Expos thought so highly of his ability that they traded Tim Raines, arguably the best player in franchise history, to the Chicago White Sox to get him.

By the end of his career, Calderon had earned a far less desirable reputation, but one not uncommon to professional athletes. He was considered injury-prone. And unlike his previous reputation as a “lazy” player, the injury label was well-deserved. Calderon suffered several significant injuries over the course of his 10-year big league career, most notably that nagging shoulder injury from which he never fully recovered.

And Calderon will also be remembered for the grisly way in which he died. In December of 2003, at the age of 41 and nearly 10 years after retiring from baseball, Calderon was shot and killed execution-style in a bar near his home in Puerto Rico. Initial reports indicated he was killed by a man to whom he had loaned money as a bail-bondsman, but to this day, his murder remains unsolved.3

Iván Calderon Perez was born on March 19, 1962 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, a coastal city on the north-astern tip of the island. His father, Eliseo, worked in construction but struggled to support his family of six on just $120 a month.4 Iván Calderon excelled in both baseball and volleyball at Mediana Alta Intermediate School in nearby Loiza before dropping out at the age of 14 play baseball full time.5 He says he grew up idolizing Roberto Clemente and other Puerto Rican stars and recognized from an early age that baseball could be a good way to support himself and his family.

“I saw the players from Puerto Rico — Roberto Clemente, Vic Power, Orlando Cepeda — all leave the island to play baseball in America,” Calderon said. “They had lots of money, nice cars, good clothes and jewelry. A lot of people told me when I was 16 I played good.”6

One of those who most likely praised Calderon’s play was Seattle Mariners scout Luis Rosa, who is credited with signing the then 16-year-old as an undrafted free agent on July 30, 1979.7

Calderon began his professional career in 1980, with the talent-laden Bellingham Mariners in the Northwest League. The 18-year-old quickly proved he belonged, batting a whopping .370 in his first 31 games. He cooled off, but still finished with a .318 batting average and a league-leading nine triples. The slugging left fielder was one of eight future big leaguers on the Bellingham M’s that season, a squad that finished a league-best 45-25.    

Calderon’s success continued the following season with the Wausau Timbers, another talent-rich Mariners farm club that dominated its league. He was one of the Timbers most dangerous hitters, finishing second on the club with 20 home runs while batting .306, driving in 62 runs, and stealing 26 bases. It was the first of two seasons in Wausau for Calderon, who followed up his 1981 season with an even better 1982, slamming 24 home runs, driving in 89 runs and batting .286.

A promotion to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts in 1983 did little to slow Calderon’s progress. Just 21 years old, Calderon was one of the youngest players in Double A but still managed to make the Southern League All-Star squad. He earned high praise from his manager, Bill Haywood.

“He’s a potential superstar. He hits the ball as well as anybody in the big leagues,” Haywood told The Sporting News. “He’s got big league speed, a big league arm, a big league bat. I pray that nothing happens to him. If it doesn’t, he’ll be up there a long time.”8

Calderon finished the season tied for the lead in hits (170) and leading the league in triples (15), and in the top 10 in nearly every other offensive category including batting average (.311), runs (92), and RBIs (80).

By 1984, Calderon was one of the Mariners’ top prospects and among a young corps of players general manager Hal Keller wanted to retain.9 The 22-year-old opened that season with the Mariners’ Triple-A Salt Lake City Gulls, and quickly established himself as one of the best hitters in the Pacific Coast League. He was batting .365 when Seattle came calling, promoting him to the big leagues on August 10. Inserted as the Mariners’ starting center fielder, Calderon struggled at the plate over the next two weeks, managing just five hits in 24 at-bats before a wrist injury shut him down for the remainder of the season. It was the first of several significant injuries Calderon suffered over the course of his career.

Both Calderon and the Mariners were generating a lot of buzz during the spring of 1985. After all, the team had the top two rookies in the league in 1984 in first baseman Alvin Davis and pitcher Mark Langston along with several promising young Mariners who made their big-league debuts in 1984, including Jim Presley, Danny Tartabull, and Calderon. Add pitchers Mike Moore, Matt Young, Ed Vande Berg, and Edwin Nunez, and there was every reason to believe the Mariners might have a winning record for the first time in franchise history. It was not to be. The Mariners (74-88) finished sixth of the seven teams in the American League Western Division.

Despite winning six games of their first seven games, the Mariners once again proved incapable of sustaining any momentum, and finished the year a disappointing 74-88. For Calderon, 1985 was a microcosm of things to come. He made the opening day roster for the first time in his career, but the residual effects of his wrist injury limited him to mostly pinch-hitting duties. Calderon began getting regular playing time in mid-May, and by the middle of the summer, he was one of Seattle’s top hitters and a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year. That all ended during the two-day players’ strike in early August when it was discovered that Calderon had been playing with a broken wrist, ending his season.10 He finished the year batting .286 with eight home runs in 67 games.

After the season, Calderon’s wrist had improved enough to allow him to return to the Puerto Rican winter league where he was among the league’s best performers. His strong play continued into spring training in 1986, earning Calderon the starting job in right field. He hit safely in eight of Seattle’s first nine games, but it was the only highlight in what was to become another disappointing year for both Calderon and the Mariners.

The team struggled, and in early May, manager Chuck Cottier was fired and replaced by veteran skipper Dick Williams. The fiery Williams and his young right fielder clashed almost from the start. Things came to a head in mid-May, when a Kansas City scout was quoted as saying Calderon didn’t have “the heart to be a good big leaguer.”11 It was an all-too common criticism of Latin players of the time, a criticism many now feel had racist undertones. Mariners general manager Dick Balderson tried to use the quote as motivation for Calderon, sitting him and his agent down to discuss the issue.12 It didn’t work. The talk only soured the relationship between the club and its young right fielder and on May 26, Calderon was sent down to Triple A, ending his career in Seattle.

“I wasn’t wanted in Seattle,” Calderon said. “Dick Williams sent me down. He didn’t like me: I don’t know why. I asked if they could trade me, and they did.”13

That trade came in June of 1986, when the Mariners dealt Calderon to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Scott Bradley. Bradley had a solid career in Seattle, but by the end of the 1987 season it was clear that Chicago got the better part of the deal.

Calderon played briefly for the Sox in July, August, and September before returning home for another season in the Puerto Rican winter league. He led the league in home runs and was named MVP of the all-star game. White Sox GM Larry Himes visited Calderon in Puerto Rico, telling the young slugger the team was counting on him to provide much-needed punch in the lineup.

Chicago manager Jim Fregosi echoed that sentiment during spring training, saying he was eager to see what Calderon could do with 500 big league at-bats over the course of a season.14 For the first time in his big-league career, Calderon was receiving some very public positive reinforcement from his employers, and he rewarded them with what would be the best season of his big-league career.

By mid-May, he was one of the most productive hitters in the White Sox lineup before a severe ankle-sprain forced him onto the disabled list. Calderon was hitting .286 with four home runs at the time, apparently not good enough to endear himself to the old-school establishment that ran the game.

A column in The Sporting News on June 1 claimed that several front-office executives believed Calderon was getting the least out of his ability of any big-league player. One unnamed G.M. even went so far as to say that he was “…too-laid back, too lazy. He has the potential to be a star, but he’ll never make it big.”15

Calderon quickly proved his detractors wrong. On May 31, he returned from the DL in a big fashion, belting two home runs against the Boston Red Sox. By season’s end, Calderon wound up leading the White Sox in nearly every offensive category including batting average (.2933, to Harold Baines’ .2930), hits (159), doubles (38), home runs (28), and runs scored (93). His 1987 season also included one of the best catches ever caught on film, when he climbed the left-field wall in Tiger Stadium to rob Alan Trammell of a home run.16

One thing that wasn’t widely reported at the time was the fact that Calderon had been playing with a nagging left shoulder injury for the past few seasons, an injury he had suffered while making a diving catch several years earlier.17 The injury prompted countless cortisone shots and several surgeries, the first of which was performed in August of 1988. That surgery shut down what had already been a very frustrating season for the young slugger.

Things turned around for Calderon in 1989, although he was never the power threat he’d once been. Once again, he led the team in virtually every offensive category including average (.286), hits (178), doubles (34), home runs (14), RBIs (87), and runs scored (83).

It was much of the same for Calderon the following season, when he helped the surging. White Sox challenge the Oakland A’s for the division title. Calderon was a key component in the Chicago offense, finishing the year with 44 doubles (George Brett and Jody Reed each led the league with 45), batting .273 and knocking in 74 runs. He stole a career-high 32 bags, and improved tremendously as a fielder, a part of his game that didn’t go unnoticed by Sox manager Jeff Torborg.

“You don’t have to defend for Iván in late innings,” Torborg said. “If anything, you’d want to use him to defend for someone. He told me last September he didn’t like being a DH. I said, ‘Prove it to me next spring’. And he did.”18

Still, after the 1990 season, the White Sox dealt Calderon to the Expos for Raines. It was a difficult transition for Calderon, who was not only replacing a Montreal icon, but was also in the midst of a very public contract negotiation.

Still a year away from free-agency, the 29-year-old Calderon was looking to cash in on his recent success with a long-term contract. His agent, Jaime Torres, said they were looking for a contract in the neighborhood of four years and $9 million.19 “We have told (the Expos) that if we don’t have a multi-year contract signed before arbitration, then Iván will leave Montreal after the 1991 season,” Torres said.20

In the end, Calderon didn’t get his four-year deal, but he did get nearly $8 million spread out over three seasons. And while he didn’t exactly endear himself to Montreal fans or management before the season, Calderon gave them plenty to cheer about once games got underway, earning the team’s player of the month honors in April and May.21 Named to the All-Star team in July (his only All-Star appearance), Calderon wound up starting in place of injured Mets slugger Darryl Strawberry. He responded with a single and stolen base.

By season’s end, Calderon was again one of the more productive left fielders in baseball, hitting .300 with 19 homers, 75 RBIs, and 31 stolen bases. He was limited to pinch-hitting duties for the final month because of his nagging left shoulder. Calderon underwent surgery on the shoulder on September 27 to repair what was described as a “well-defined labrum tear and a partially torn bicep tendon.”22

The Expos had high hopes that Calderon’s shoulder would rebound in 1992, but it wasn’t to be. He received several cortisone shots beginning in spring training and hit fairly well when he was able to be on the field. But those days were not often enough. In mid-June, Calderon was placed on the disabled list for the third time that season.

“Right now there is no power there, no nothing,” he said in June23 In July, he said, “I know there is something wrong because every time I move my shoulder I can feel it clicking,”24

He had surgery on the shoulder again in late June and was able to return to the field in September, ending the year on a positive note. He batted .309 in 25 September games, serving mostly as the starting left fielder.

Those numbers were good enough to prompt the Boston Red Sox to trade for Calderon in the offseason, although the return the Expos got showed just how far his stock had fallen. Montreal received journeyman pitcher Mike Gardiner and minor-league starter Terry Powers.

The aging, injured slugger played regularly for the Red Sox over the first few months of the season, but batted in the low .200’s with almost no power. Boston released Calderon in mid-August. The White Sox signed him for the final month of the season, hoping he would help them down the stretch. Chicago did win the division, but Calderon didn’t contribute much in the nine games he played and was not included on the team’s postseason roster. He played in the big leagues again, although he did DH for Santurce in the Puerto Rico winter league after the season, and even made the all-star team.25

In Puerto Rico, he began raising roosters for cock-fighting (legal Puerto Rico.) He was also said to have worked as an informal bondsman, lending money to friends and acquaintances, a decision many believed contributed to his murder.26

Ruben Sierra and Bernie Williams were among those who attended Calderon’s memorial service in Puerto Rico.27 Sierra was described as a business partner of Calderon’s. Williams remembered Calderon for taking him under his wing as a teenager in the winter league.

“I’ll never forget the time Iván Calderon gave me one of his gloves during the 1985-86 season, when I practiced with Caguas,” Williams said.28

Calderon’s death was mourned in Chicago, where he had most of his big-league success. Ken Harrelson, who dealt for Calderon during his only season as a general manager, said the flamboyant outfielder was a competitive player and popular teammate in the White Sox clubhouse.

“I loved him from the first time I saw him,” Harrelson said.29

Calderon had lost touch with most of his teammates over the years, but was remembered in the way most ballplayers want to be.

“You’d look at Iván with all the jewelry and picture a guy who was flashy and wouldn’t work, but it was the complete opposite,” White Sox teammate Greg Walker said. “He was a tough out, a middle-of-the-lineup guy who played the game right.”30

Calderon was survived by his wife, Elisabeth Figueroa, and their two children. He had five other children from previous relationships.31

This biography appeared in “Puerto Rico and Baseball: 60 Biographies” (SABR, 2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Edwin Fernández.

Sources

In addition to the sources noted in this biography, the author also used baseball-reference.com, retrosheet.org, baseball-almanac.com, Topps baseball cards, Score baseball cards, and Donruss baseball cards. Thanks to Rod Nelson of SABR’s Scouts Committee.

Notes

1 Teddy Greenstein, “Sox’s Calderon Was a ‘Gamer,’” Chicago Tribune, December 29, 2003.

2 “N.L. East: Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, March 25, 1991: 44.

3 Associated Press, “Robbery Ruled Out in Death of Baseball Player,” Puerto Rico Herald, December 29, 2003.

4 Sharon Robb, “Calderon Looking to Rule the Roost with New Team,” Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), March 14, 1991.

5 White Sox Media Guide, 1987.

6 Sharon Robb, “Calderon Looking To Rule The Roost With New Team.”

7 Noel Piñeiro Planas, “Muere el ex Buscador de Talento de Béisbol Luis Rosa,” primerahora.com, August 6, 2014, at primerahora.com/deportes/beisbol/nota/muereelexbuscadordetalentodebeisbolluisrosa-1027086/

8 “Minor Leagues: Class AA Notes,” The Sporting News, August 1, 1983: 41-42.

9 Peter Gammons, “AL Notes,” The Sporting News, November 14, 1983: 48.

10 Bill Plaschke, “A.L. West: Seattle Mariners,” The Sporting News, August 19, 1985: 18.

11 “A.L. West: Seattle Mariners,” The Sporting News, May 19, 1986: 21.

12 Ibid.

13 Joe Goddard, “Calderon in the Picture,” The Sporting News, October 5, 1987: 21.

14 Ibid.

15 Moss Klein, “A.L. Beat,” The Sporting News, June 1, 1987: 24.

16 “A.L. West: Chicago White Sox,” The Sporting News, August 10, 1987: 21. See also “CWS@DET: Calderon Climbs Fence to Rob Trammell,” Youtube, youtube.com/watch?v=3j3KyTvnhv8

17 “A.L. West: Chicago White Sox,” The Sporting News, May 9, 1988: 17.

18 “A.L. West: Chicago White Sox,” The Sporting News, July 16, 1990: 14.

19 “N.L. East: Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, February 4, 1991: 38.

20 “N.L. East: Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, January 28, 1991: 36.

21 Montreal Expos Media Guide, 1992.

22  Ibid.

23 “N.L. East: Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, June 22, 1992: 17.

24 “N.L. East: Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, July 29, 1992: 16.

25 Thomas E. van Hyning, The Santurce Crabbers: Sixty Seasons of Puerto Rican Winter League Baseball (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. Inc., 1990), 170.

26 Toronto Star, December 30, 2003: C14.

27 Toronto Star, December 31, 2003: E07.

28 Van Hyning, 209.

29 Greenstein.

30 Ibid.

31 Toronto Star, December 30, 2003: C14.