Elvio Jiménez

Which New York Yankees player had the highest batting average in 1964? Mickey Mantle hit .303 and Elston Howard .313 – but nobody topped Elvio Jiménez’s .333 mark. “Look it up,” he said.1 Despite batting .309 over 13 seasons in the minors, however, Jiménez appeared in just one major-league game, going 2-for-6. Following a 17-year professional playing career, he became a scout in his native Dominican Republic. Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez was his most notable signing.

Félix Elvio Jiménez Rivera was born on January 6, 1940, in San Pedro de Macorís. His parents. Ventura Jiménez and Fidelina Rivera, had 10 children – five boys and five girls. Ventura worked at Ingenio Santa Fe, one of the sugar mills that were the city’s chief source of employment. He expected his sons to follow in his footsteps, and Elvio’s older brother Manny used to suffer beatings at the hands of their father for sneaking off to play baseball.2 But that didn’t deter Elvio from doing the same.

Jiménez honed his skills with future big leaguers Pedro González and Amado Samuel on a neighborhood team called Fraternidad Dominicana de Hayti, which was operated by the Haitian vice-consul.3 At Liceo José Joaquín Pérez, he also played basketball.4 In his late teens, Jiménez was drafted by Aviación Militar, the Dominican Air Force team based in San Isidro. The players were handpicked by Ramfis Trujillo – son of the country’s dictator, Rafael L. Trujillo – so the assignment was mandatory. The squad’s abundance of talent made it a steppingstone to the professional ranks. For example, the Aviación Militar club that represented the country at a 1956 tournament in Mexico featured Juan Marichal, Matty Alou, and Manny Mota, along with Elvio’s brother Manny.5 One of Elvio’s teammates was future major leaguer Ricardo Joseph.6

“Elvio had served nine months, all baseball, of his scheduled four years in the air force when a New York scout provided the escape hatch.”7 In September 1958, New York Yankees scout José Seda – also the head of the University of Puerto Rico’s physical education department – approached Jiménez and offered him $800 to sign. Jiménez didn’t hesitate. “I always sign right away. I want to play ball, not make trouble,” he explained. Asked later if any other teams had expressed interest, he replied, “Oh yes, the Braves. My brother told me not to sign with the Braves, they give nothing.”8 (After signing with the Braves the previous year, Manny Jiménez claimed that he received only half of his promised $1,000 bonus.9) That winter, Elvio appeared in four games for the Santo Domingo-based Tigres del Licey, going 0-for-5 during their Dominican League championship campaign.

Jiménez made his United States debut with the St. Petersburg Saints of the Class D Florida State League in 1959. In 132 games, he scored 110 runs and batted .329 while pacing the circuit in hits (181), triples (17) and total bases (274). The Saints won the FSL title, and the St. Petersburg Times published a cartoon of a smiling Jiménez – dropping his bat after stroking another hit – saying, “Just hit ’em where de pitch ’em!” The panel’s caption noted, “A leading right hand hitter, he has a knack of hitting to right field.”10

“When I first started, I didn’t pull the ball,” Jiménez acknowledged. “My brother gave me tips on pulling. He helped me a lot in winter ball.”11 During the 1959-60 offseason, Elvio appeared in 57 of 60 games for Licey and batted .260, while Manny hit .326 to help San Pedro de Macorís’s Estrellas Orientales reach the finals.

In 1960, Jiménez was a unanimous All-Star selection in the Class C California League.12 With the Modesto Reds, he increased his average to a league-leading .368 with a 3-for-3 performance in Bakersfield on August 10. Unfortunately, he broke his leg sliding into home plate during Modesto’s victory that night and missed the remainder of the season.13 While Jiménez was sidelined, Stockton’s Chuck Hinton overtook him for the batting crown by a single point. Jiménez recovered in time to play all 48 games that winter for Licey and hit .317.

The Yankees hired Cal Ermer – who had managed in the Dominican League in 1959-60 – to skipper their Triple-A affiliate in 1961. Jiménez was slated to spend the season in the Class A Eastern League with the Binghamton (New York) Triplets, and Ermer bet a Yankees official that the 20-year-old would lead the circuit in hitting.14 To avoid motel and restaurant segregation on their trip north, Jiménez, his roommate Horace Clarke – an infielder from the U.S. Virgin Islands – and African American pitcher Al Downing flew with Binghamton skipper Jim Gleeson.15

In June, Jiménez pulled muscles in each of his legs.16 He missed a total of 19 games and carried a .300 average into his final plate appearance of the season – far behind teammate Charlie Keller Jr. (.349). When Jiménez was called out on a bang-bang play at first base in his final at-bat to finish at .299, he threw down his helmet and argued with the umpire.17 Dominican League play was suspended that winter because of ongoing unrest following the springtime assassination of Rafael L. Trujillo.

In 1962, Amado Samuel and Manny Jiménez became the first two major leaguers from San Pedro de Macorís, while Elvio advanced to the Double-A Texas League. New York’s Amarillo Gold Sox farm club finished last in the six-team circuit, but Jiménez paced his teammates in batting (.310) and RBIs (82) while tying for the club lead with 14 homers. After Jiménez went deep at Dudley Field on June 8, Gold Sox manager Rube Walker said, “That one lapped the park. It was out of the park before it got out of the batter’s box. The El Paso crowd applauded because they knew they had seen a great exhibition of power.”18

On October 7, 1962, Jiménez married Francisca Irene Albizu. Their union produced four children: sons Sammy, Félix, and Elvio Jr., and daughter Fanny.

Financial problems prevented the Dominican League from operating that winter.19 After play was already underway in Venezuela’s Occidental League, Jiménez was signed by the Maracaibo-based Lácteos de Pastora.20

Jiménez was invited to Yankees spring training in 1963. “I’m a bad outfielder. But I’m a good hitter,” he said. “I can hit anywhere I play as long as I have a bat in my hand.”21 Initially a center fielder, he had become a fulltime corner outfielder, and he was coming off a difficult defensive season at Amarillo. “The wind there was brutal,” noted Yankees farm director Johnny Johnson.22 After former All-Star outfielders Joe DiMaggio and Wally Moses worked with Jiménez on getting good jumps and tracking balls hit over his head in Fort Lauderdale, a witness reported, “I don’t think his life is in danger out there any more.”23

Jiménez was assigned to New York’s Double-A South Atlantic League affiliate in Augusta, Georgia. After he produced a league-leading .331 batting average through 82 games, he was promoted to the Triple-A International League.24 According to Moses – the Yankees’ minor-league batting instructor – Jiménez “looked like a major-league hitter” as he compiled a .316 average in 43 contests with the Richmond Virginians. “He is what you would call a straightaway hitter,” Moses observed. “He is hard to strike out, but I would classify him as a swinger.” Facing right-hander Billy Muffett in batting practice one day, Jiménez demonstrated his dexterity by hitting pitches thrown behind him, over his head, and on the bounce. “[Richmond manager Preston] Gómez told me it was a fantastic exhibition,” said Johnson.25

The Yankees added Jiménez to their 40-man roster.26 “It’s up to him,” said Ralph Houk, New York’s new GM after three years as manager. “But I’ve got to say he has the chance of a lifetime.”27 For the first time in three years, the Dominican League played a full season. In 54 games, Jiménez batted .306 and led Licey with 12 doubles. In the playoffs, he batted .375 in five contests to help the Tigres win the championship.

During spring training 1964, the Washington Post’s Shirley Povich reported, “[Manager] Yogi Berra does not trust himself to pronounce the name of Elvio Jiménez, Yankee rookie. Berra calls him ‘No. 48.’”28 Jiménez competed for a reserve role. “Everybody knows he isn’t going to break into my outfield – not with Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Tom Tresh around. The big thing is to see how he does as a pinch hitter,” Berra explained.29 “That guy’s like I used to be. He’s a bad ball hitter.”30 The Yankees elected to send Jiménez back to Triple-A for more seasoning. Berra told him, “Work on your defense and we’ll call you back up.”31

Jiménez went 4-for-4 for Richmond on Opening Day.32 After notching eight hits in his first 13 plate appearances, he predicted that he’d win the International League batting title.33 When he slumped, Jiménez moved around in the batter’s box and tried different stances. Coach Steve Souchock helped him, prompting Jiménez to say, “Steve, when I get older, I’m going to get a job like you have. I’m going to teach hitting.” Jiménez improved his English with an eye to the future, explaining, “If I’d go out of baseball, it would be hard for me to find a job in my country.”34

In the Dominican Republic, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Jiménez was known as “El Mulito”, a diminutive form of his 6-foot-1 brother Manny’s nickname, “El Mulo” (The Mule). “He has more power than I thought,” remarked Syracuse manager Frank Carswell. “I thought he was a spray hitter. He’s a Vic Power type, the way he crouches in and swings. Elvio hits what he sees. If he can see it, he’ll hit it.”35 Jiménez never walked more than 34 times in a season, but after his first year as a professional, he never struck out more than 44 times either. Although his .297 batting average in 1964 was his lowest to that point, he led Richmond with a career-high 88 RBIs and earned a Silver Glove for his 1.000 fielding percentage in 149 games in the outfield.36 The Yankees promoted him to the big leagues at the conclusion of the Virginians’ season.

When Jiménez reported to New York on September 12, the club was in third place.37 But an 11-game winning streak soon vaulted the Yankees to the top of the American League standings. They clinched their fifth consecutive pennant on October 3, and Jiménez made his major league debut the following day at Yankee Stadium, starting the regular season finale in left field and batting third against the Cleveland Indians. New York lost, 2-1, in 13 innings, but he went 2-for-6 – singling against a couple of Cleveland rookies who went on to win 517 games between them, righty Luis Tiant and lefty Tommy John. Jiménez caught all five fly balls hit his way and grounded out to short for the final out of the game.

The Yankees owed Cleveland two players to be named later for their September acquisition of pitcher Pedro Ramos, and some New York newspapers speculated that Jiménez could be one of them.38 Instead, the Indians received veteran hurlers Ralph Terry and Bud Daley.

On November 3, 1964, Jiménez had to administer first aid to two of his brothers and transport them to the hospital.39 Manny was showing off his pistol when it accidentally discharged, with the bullet passing through his throwing hand before striking Juan in the chest.40 Elvio led Licey in RBIs and topped the Dominican League in doubles, but he batted just .248 in 54 games.

In 1965, Jiménez was one of the last cuts in spring training as the Yankees opted to give their final outfield spot to Ross Moschitto, a 20-year-old who had never played above rookie ball.41 Professional baseball returned to Toledo, Ohio, for the first time in a decade that season, and Jiménez batted cleanup and homered off Bill Spanswick in the Mud Hens’ inaugural International League victory.42 In May, Jiménez went 6-for-7 in one game at Toronto as part of a 17-for-27 stretch.43 In 132 contests overall, he hit .297 for the second straight year, but the Yankees outrighted him to Toledo that fall to make room for other prospects.

There was no 1965-66 Dominican League season as the country recovered from the springtime intervention of tens of thousands of U.S. troops sent to prevent a civil war. Jiménez joined the Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuelan League and batted .346 in 22 games.44

Since he was not selected in the minor league draft, Jiménez returned to Toledo in 1966. After he produced a .235 batting average in 71 appearances, though, he was demoted to the Columbus (Georgia) Confederate Yankees of the Double-A Southern League. In 50 games there, he batted .308. The Yankees released him in December while he was batting .271 for Licey in Dominican League action.

In 1967, Jiménez returned to the International League with the Columbus (Ohio) Jets after signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. On May 10, Manny Jiménez – who had begun the season with Pittsburgh as a pinch-hitter – was sent down, allowing the brothers to form two-thirds of the Jets outfield.45 Manny hit .331 in 46 contests to earn a return to the big leagues on June 25, while Elvio remained with Columbus all year and batted .340 to lead the circuit. He was also voted an All-Star Game starter.46 His .994 fielding percentage earned him a second Silver Glove.47 Jiménez missed the Jets’ postseason, though, because he returned to the Dominican Republic to be with his ailing father and wife.48 Licey had a second straight losing campaign, but he batted .275 and shared the club lead in homers.

Back with Columbus in 1968, Jiménez claimed at least a share of the International League lead in hits for the second straight year, matching Jacksonville’s Bobby Pfeil with 157. By increasing his production to 14 homers, he tied Al Oliver for tops on the Jets. Jiménez and Oliver each batted .315, one point behind teammate Manny Sanguillén..

Throughout his career, reporters described Jiménez as quiet and friendly.49 But on July 1 in Toledo, he had a memorable altercation with “The Monster” – 6-foot-6 Mud Hens pitcher Dick Radatz. It started after Jiménez grounded into a double play and exchanged words with some occupants of the Toledo dugout. “They made some pretty bad remarks, and I didn’t think I had to take it,” he explained. Although he said Radatz was not the one mouthing off, when the pitcher stepped forward to confront him, Jiménez grabbed a bat and had to be restrained by several Columbus players. “I had to have something to protect myself,” he said. “Against a guy that big, a bazooka would have been better.”50

On August 12 at Forbes Field, Jiménez drove in three runs in Columbus’s exhibition victory over the Pirates. Manny notched one RBI for the big leaguers after replacing Roberto Clemente in right field.51 That offseason, the Pirates added Elvio to their 40-man roster. In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Charley Feeney wrote, “[Pittsburgh GM Joe L.] Brown admits that some people are laughing because the Bucs added Elvio Jiménez to their roster. He is a butcher in the field. It must run in the family… He is a right-handed hitter who deserves a chance.”52 Manny – who had used a glove in just 11 of his 116 appearances for Pittsburgh – was soon traded to the Chicago Cubs. Elvio batted .239 in 50 games for Licey in 1968-69 but paced the club in runs scored and RBIs.

When Jiménez reported to spring training in 1969, Feeney reported, “Elvio was rated a good bet to stick as the No. 4 outfielder.”53 The Pirates cut him on March 26, however, nearly two weeks before Opening Day.54 “My heart is broken by Pittsburgh because maybe I[’ll] never get another chance in big leagues,” he said. “Pittsburgh look[ed] at me [for a] few weeks and [said] I[’m] not able to hit.”55 Jiménez went back to Columbus without the bitter feelings that being overlooked used to inspire and hit .275. “Baseball hasn’t been kind to me,” he remarked.56

Jiménez batted .298 for Licey in 1969-70 and tied for the club lead with 11 doubles. Although his playoff performance was subpar, the Tigres won another championship. When the Dominican Republic competed in the Caribbean Series for the first time in February, Jiménez was on the squad representing his country in Caracas, Venezuela.57

In 1970, Jiménez split the season between two teams in the Triple-A American Association – the Denver Bears and the Indianapolis Indians. In 108 games overall, he batted .275. Next, it was back to Licey for another title campaign, followed by a role in the Dominican Republic’s first ever Caribbean Series triumph, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in February 1971. Jiménez then completed his 13-year minor league career by batting .269 in 97 games for Indianapolis. That fall, Jiménez was part of the group of athletes that received the Dominican Republic’s prestigious Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez, and Mella for distinguished service from the country’s president, Joaquín Balaguer.58

From 1972 to 1975, Jiménez spent his summers in the Mexican League. After two productive seasons with the Bravos de Reynosa – .359 with 16 homers in ’72, followed by .337 with 20 in ’73 – he moved on to the Saraperos de Saltillo midway through ’74 and the Mineros de Coahuila in ’75. Jiménez remained with Licey in a pinch-hitting role through 1975-76. The Tigres won two more titles during that time. Including playoffs, Jiménez appeared in 615 games for Licey over 15 seasons and hit .270 with 17 homers. In 1973, he was part of the Dominican Republic’s Caribbean Series champions.

By 1978 Jiménez had become a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers. At the time, the Toronto Blue Jays were the only major league franchise with a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, though Los Angeles Dodgers scout Ralph Avila ran a similar camp for the Tigres del Licey with prospects from several U.S. organizations. Initially unable to convince the Dodgers to fund their own school, Avila teamed up with Jiménez in San Pedro de Macorís in 1981. “We built two rooms in Elvio’s backyard and we put eight beds in each room, and Elvio’s wife fed them,” Avila described. “We sent better conditioned ballplayers to the U.S., players with better knowledge.”59

Jiménez saw something in players like future All-Stars Mariano Duncan, Ramón Martínez, Juan Guzmán and Henry Rodríguez when they were malnourished teens. “He had a hard time to sign them,” said Elvio Jiménez Jr., recalling how Avila would often size up the assembled prospects like Martínez – a future 20-game winner – and say, “I don’t like them. They’re too skinny. Send them home.”60 The elder Jiménez would then dismiss the youngsters with instructions to return after Avila had left. Martínez added 17 pounds to his lanky frame in his first winter of eating Mrs. Jiménez’s cooking.61

Avila and Jiménez’s training camp worked so well that Dodgers President Peter O’Malley agreed to fund the construction of a state-of-the-art baseball academy on 50 acres of land in Campo Las Palmas. It opened in 1987.62 On June 18, 1988, the Dodgers signed an undersized right-handed pitcher whom Jiménez had recommended – Ramón’s younger brother, Pedro Martínez. For years, Jiménez had told Pedro, “I’m coming back for you” when he visited Ramón. “My dad signed him for the Dodgers when nobody believed in him…Nobody, even Ralph Avila,” recalled Elvio Jr. “My dad couldn’t tell Pedro nobody wanted him. Afterwards, when everything went good, Ralph Avila took credit for that signing. Even Pedro doesn’t know that because he was just a kid. My dad used to tell him everything is fine…Ralph told my dad, ‘If you want sign that shit, go ahead, but it’s your responsibility.’ My father accepted those conditions.”63

In December 1988, Jiménez moved on to the San Francisco Giants to become their director of Dominican scouting operations.64 Although the new position involved a raise, Jiménez left the Dodgers in part because Avila wanted Pablo Peguero as his right-hand man. (In late 1999, Avila and Peguero were suspended for one year by Commissioner Bud Selig for knowingly conspiring with the Dodgers to sign Adrián Beltré before his 16th birthday. Selig also ordered that Campo Las Palmas be closed for 12 months.65) With the Giants, Jiménez signed a lot of players, some of whom played for him when he managed in the Dominican Summer League. When Luis Rosa took over San Francisco’s Dominican program in 1995, however, many of the prospects Jiménez had signed were released to cut costs. Two years later, Rosa was arrested and charged with sexually abusing more than a dozen young players.66

Jiménez continued to coach for – and occasionally manage – the Tigres del Licey. The club eventually retired his uniform number 11. In 2000, Jiménez joined his brother Manny – a 1994 inductee – in the Dominican Republic’s Sports Hall of Fame.

For most of the first two decades in the 21st century, the Boston Red Sox employed Jiménez as a scout. It was on his recommendation that Boston signed three-time All-Star Hanley Ramírez in 2000.67 The Red Sox won three World Series titles while Jiménez worked for the organization, the first in 2004 – when Pedro Martínez went 16-9 and led the team in strikeouts. Martínez, who had already won three Cy Young Awards, told the Boston Herald, “Without a doubt, Elvio Jiménez would be a guy I would send my videos to if I were to get lost [in terms of pitching mechanics].”68

Although Jiménez appeared in just one major-league game, he influenced numerous stars over his half-century in professional baseball while receiving very little recognition. “My father is a quiet guy,” said Elvio Jr. “He doesn’t like talking or dealing with the media. He just wants to do his work and go home.”

As of 2022, Jiménez is retired and lives in Santo Domingo. “You gotta have luck,” he observed in 2004. “In baseball a lot of things happen. You never know about the future.”69

Last revised: March 9, 2022

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Elvio Jiménez Jr., for granting a telephone interview to the author on January 23, 2022, and for sharing images from a scrapbook of his father’s baseball career.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Norman Macht and factchecked by members of the SABR factchecking committee.

Sources

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

Elvio Jiménez’s Dominican League statistics are from https://stats.winterballdata.com/players (Subscription service. Last accessed January 25, 2022).

Notes

1 Stan Grossfeld, “Rising Star; Future is Bright for Hanley Ramirez,” Boston Globe, December 17, 2004: D1.

2 Bill Nunn Jr., “Change of Pace,” New Pittsburgh Courier, June 30, 1962: 19.

3 Rob Ruck, The Tropic of Baseball, (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1991): 168.

4 Elvio Jiménez, Publicity questionnaire for William, J. Weiss, April 26, 1960.

5 Ruck, The Tropic of Baseball: 70.

6 Ruck, The Tropic of Baseball: 169.

7 John W. Fox, “Our First Chico May Come Calling,” Evening Press (Binghamton, New York), April 2, 1961: 34.

8 John W. Fox, “Frugal Organizations Should Try Caribbean for REAL Bargains,” Evening Press (Binghamton, New York), April 15, 1961: 7.

9 Frank Eck, “Jiminez (sic) Says He Hits Better When Pitchers Throw at His Head,” Burlington (Vermont) Free Press, May 31, 1962: 22.

10 The cartoon was reprinted in the Dominican Repbulic’s El Caribe newspaper (date unknown) with an article headlined “James y Jiménez Figuran de Lideres Liga de Florida.”

11 Laurence Leonard, “Swatter Jiménez Cuts Vee Ice in Vic Power Style,” The Sporting News, May 23, 1964: 33.

12 Clipping headlined “Bat Leader” from an undated newspaper called the Journal.

13 “Leading State Loop Hitter Breaks Leg,” Oakland (California) Tribune, August 11, 1960: 43.

14 Fox, “Frugal Organizations Should Try Caribbean for REAL Bargains.”

15 John W. Fox, “Horace and Elvio Supply Homers,” Evening Press (Binghamton, New York), April 24, 1961: 21.

16 “Little Tap Worries Well-Socked Trips,” Evening Press, June 29, 1961: 26.

17 “No Wonder Elvio Finally Flipped Lid,” Evening Press, September 6, 1961: 57.

18 Jim Sims, “Jiminez Sets a Hot Pace,” Amarillo (Texas) Globe-Times, June 12, 1962: 10.

19 Fernando Vicioso, “Economic Conditions Kayo Dominican Loop’s Return,” The Sporting News, October 13, 1962: 28.

20 Olaf E. Dickson, “Flashy Vet Phillips Heats Rapinos Flag Bid as Slab Sizzler,” The Sporting News, December 29, 1962:33.

21 “Jiménez’ Life is Safer Now,” Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), April 7, 1963: 44.

22 Til Ferdenzi, “Yankee Job Waiting for Jolter Jiménez – Hot Picket Prospect,” The Sporting News, December 7, 1963: 27.

23 “Jiménez’ Life is Safer Now,” Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), April 7, 1963: 44.

24 Jim McCulley, “Sheldon, 3 Other Yanks Sign,” Daily News (New York, New York), February 12, 1964: 76.

25 Ferdenzi, “Yankee Job Waiting for Jolter Jiménez – Hot Picket Prospect.”

26 “Ready for the Draft: Elvio Up, Reed Down,” Evening Press, October 18, 1963: 25.

27 Ferdenzi, “Yankee Job Waiting for Jolter Jiménez – Hot Picket Prospect.”

28 Shirley Povich, “This Morning…,” Washington Post, March 15, 1964: C1.

29 Til Ferdenzi, “Jumpin’ Jiménez Patterned After Yogi’s Own Heart,” The Sporting News, April 18, 1964: 37.

30 Associated Press, “Another Jiménez Yankee Prospect,” Evening Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), February 4, 1964: 56.

31 Eddie Fisher, “A Deep Mystery – Jets’ Jimenez Solid Hitter, Ignored by Majors,” The Sporting News, May 17, 1969: 33.

32 Leonard, “Swatter Jiménez Cuts Vee Ice in Vic Power Style.”

33 “Jiménez Predicts Bat Title,” The Sporting News, May 9, 1964: 36.

34 Leonard, “Swatter Jiménez Cuts Vee Ice in Vic Power Style.”

35 Leonard, “Swatter Jiménez Cuts Vee Ice in Vic Power Style.”

36 “Silver Glove Award,” The Sporting News, January 2, 1965: 4.

37 Jim McCulley, “Diamond Dust,” Daily News (New York, New York), September 12, 1964: 48.

38 Associated Press, “Whitey Ford to Quit as Yank Coach,” Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), October 15, 1964: 30.

39 “Jiménez Out of Winter Baseball,” Times Record (Troy, New York), November 6, 1964: 25.

40 “A’s Jiménez Hospitalized; Shot Self in Right Wrist,” The Sporting News, November 14, 1964: 22.

41 United Press International, “New York Yanks Seeking 6th Straight AL Pennant,” New Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Virginia), April 10, 1965: 17.

42 Associated Press, “Toledo Entry Happy as Mud Hens Nip Maple Leafs, 3-2,” Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), April 18, 1965: 80.

43 “Mud Hens’ Jiménez Enjoys 17-for-27 Splurge at Bat,” The Sporting News, May 29, 1965: 31.

44 Elvio Jiménez’s Venezuelan League statistics from https://www.pelotabinaria.com.ve/beisbol/mostrar.php?ID=jimeelv001 (last accessed January 26, 2022).

45 Associated Press, “Couple Cutdowns Build Up for Mets,” Evening Press, May 11, 1967: 29.

46 Cy Kritzer, “Star Squads Led by Wings, Braves,” The Sporting News, July 29, 1967: 29.

47 Oscar Kahan, “Bat King Jiménez a Glove Whiz, Too,” The Sporting News, January 6, 1968: 52.

48 “Chiefs Miss Playoffs,” The Sporting News, September 16, 1967: 41.

49 Fisher, “A Deep Mystery – Jets’ Jimenez Solid Hitter, Ignored by Majors.”

50 “Monster Hunting Not for Jiménez,” Blade (Toledo, Ohio), July 2, 1968.

51 Bob Black, “Farmhands Make Most of City Visit,” Pittsburgh Press, August 13, 1968: 34.

52 Charley Feeney, “Big Bidders Seeking Stargell, Allen,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 3, 1968: 26.

53 Charley Feeney, “Bucs Fight Same Old Injury Hex at Bell,” The Sporting News, April 12, 1969: 29.

54 Bill Christine, “Dock Has Prescription for Pirate Pennant,” Pittsburgh Press, March 27, 1969: 46.

55 Tom Keys, “Chance That Really Wasn’t Hurt Elvio,” Citizen-Journal (Columbus, Ohio), undated clipping from 1969.

56 Fisher, “A Deep Mystery – Jets’ Jimenez Solid Hitter, Ignored by Majors.”

57 Rafael V. Peña, “Juego del Recuerdo, Serie del Caribe 1970,” Archivo Deportivo, February 2016, https://archivodeportivo.wordpress.com/2016/02/ (last accessed January 26, 2022).

58 Photograph clipped from Listin Diario (Dominican Republic), October 18, 1971.

59 Alan M. Klein, Sugarball, (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1991): 64

60 Unless otherwise cited, all Elvio Jiménez Jr. quotes are from a telephone interview with Malcolm Allen on January 24, 2022.

61 Gordon Edes, “Genius at Work,” Boston Globe, February 6, 1998: D1.

62 Klein, Sugarball: 64.

63 Elvio Jiménez Jr., Text message to Malcolm Allen, December 8, 2021.

64 Neil MacCarl, “No Southern Comfort in Knoxville,” Toronto Star, December 15, 1988: C5.

65 Tim Brown, Dodger Penalty is Far-Reaching,” Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1999: D1.

66 James Anderson, “Baseball Scout Faces Sex Charges,” Associated Press, November 21, 1997, https://apnews.com/article/8d4174477e8bb6a4ec156a84ee54703f (last accessed February 1, 2022).

67 Tony Massarotti, “On Balance, Ramírez Deal Was Worth It,” Boston Globe, June 17, 2009: C6.

68 Michael Silverman, “Baseball; Q & A with Pedro Martínez,” Boston Herald, July 3, 2005: B2.

69 Grossfeld, “Rising Star; Future is Bright for Hanley Ramirez.”