Euclides Rojas

Ninety miles. To most baseball fans, the term refers to fastball speed, a pitch whose “standard” for major-league success hinges on such baseline velocity. A ball thrown at such speed can cross home plate in little more than a second. By contrast, it takes much longer to travel the 90 miles that separate Cuba and Florida, especially when the voyager attempts to cross the treacherous waters in a jerry-rigged boat. Some reach the mainland while others languish at sea, much as aspiring players can remain mired in the minor leagues while others make the big show.

Pirates (the real kind, not those who play in Pittsburgh) once roamed the strait, but they took far sturdier ships than the one that took Euclides Rojas. He spent five days adrift, enough to have read Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea countless times, but unlike the book’s protagonists, who discussed baseball while waiting for the fish to bite, Rojas and his 12 companions dreamed of freedom.

Euclides was born on August 25, 1967, in Havana, eight years after Fidel Castro’s revolution took over Cuba. “Nené,” his single mother, raised seven children and instilled an early passion for baseball; years later, she would become a fixture in Euclides’ games.1 He grew up in La Timba, home to many government institutions and the Plaza de la Revolución (Revolution Square). As a child, he told his mother he would like to be a musician, a doctor, or a baseball player. Much like baseball, one out of three ain’t bad.

Although he always liked the pitching mound, Euclides’ earlier coaches suggested that he play the infield to avoid putting undue stress on his arm. In his midteens, he was finally allowed to pitch, and he quickly made the National Series team with Guira and, a year later, with Industriales, the club that would forge his identity. He credited his coaches, Mario Muñiz, Boricua Jiménez, Yosvani Gallego, and Isidoro León, for his development, which began at age 11 from José Luis Acuña School. He modeled his preparation after Agustín Marquetti, Armando Capiró, and Pedro Medina, Industriales’ big three. Medina, a catcher, would impart sage advice to his young pupil about how to attack batters. Gallego imparted a zest for control upon his young charge, highlighting the relevance of pitch location and displaying the importance of placing pitches where needed. Much like his namesake, the father of geometry, Euclides’ aptitude with angles helped him on the mound.

At age 14, Euclides was asked to face the fearsome slugger Antonio Muñoz with the caveat that the hitter should not win the game. Rojas promptly hit Muñoz in the back, awarding him first base, and then induced an out from the next batter. The matchup pitted the prospects of Industriales with the Cuban club traveling to Canada for the 1981 Intercontinental Cup, ultimately won by the United States. The act of bravado won Rojas a spot with the Industriales parent (senior) club.

Rojas was left off the Cuban youth team in 1982 due to concerns about his brother’s political opinions, although Rojas himself noted that it would have been a great honor to represent his nation.2 According to Rojas, the sibling was jailed for four years because of his unwillingness to work for the government, and his parents’ business was seized by the government during his childhood.3 The episode would prove to be harbinger of future events that would ultimately make Rojas question his government.

At the urging of a coach, his manager slotted Rojas in the fireman’s role, not yet popularized in the major leagues. Rojas was puzzled, asking point-blank if that was “pitching, right?”4 He found the opportunity a good fit with his competitive nature and his willingness to pitch every day.

Rojas debuted in the Serie Nacional at 16 and competed against some peers twice his age. He appeared in nine games for the Industriales, five of them starts, and while he won two and lost two, his 4.91 ERA was his career worst. He became a full-time reliever two years later and never looked back, dominating the league in 1992-1993 with a minuscule 0.58 ERA (two runs allowed, 25 strikeouts, 7 walks in 31 innings). Not blessed with a blazing fastball, he instead relied on off-speed pitches and had a penchant for taking his time on the mound, often taking his cap off and touching his uniform in an often successful attempt to unnerve his foes. Almost three decades after wearing the team’s blue uniform, he proudly recalled, “It’s the capital city’s team. My mom was a big fan (of the club), and I became a fan since I was a boy. It was an honor to play for them. I’m very thankful for that experience.”5

Not yet 19 years old, Rojas was thrust into the hero role in a game remembered as among the Cuban league’s greatest contests. Staked to a one-run lead, he allowed a game-tying single to Iván Davis but was saved from infamy by a walk-off home run. So ended the 1985-1986 Cuban National Series, with the Industriales besting the Vegueros, 6-5. As of 2023, it remained the sole occasion a final series ended on a swing.6

Rojas saved 90 games and won 59 others during his Cuban career, totals that would have likely been loftier had the government not pursued a draconian punishment for Rojas’ “transgressions.” His 2.92 ERA in 13 years in the Cuban Serie Nacional (National Series, the post-Revolutionary name of the Cuban league) relied on guile and control throughout his 847⅔ innings pitched.7 He led the leagues in saves in seven out of his 13 Cuban Serie Nacional campaigns.8 His 90 saves stood as the Cuban league record until broken by Orestes González, José A. García, Duniel Ibarra, Danny Aguilera, and Yolexis Ulacia, as the stopper role became a necessity rather than a luxury in team rosters.9 Rojas, like the major-league relievers of the 1970s, often came into the game in the middle innings when the situation demanded it, rather than only when staked with a ninth-inning lead.

As a member of the formidable Cuban national baseball team, Rojas understood the expectation that only a gold medal would be acceptable in foreign competition. The island’s superiority in the sport was at stake, but more importantly for the government, the tacit proof of the advantages of the Socialist system. Rojas traveled to Indianapolis for the 1987 Pan-American Games as part of the powerful squad, though he pitched only four innings. Years later, he would recall that the opportunity began to change his attitude toward the government: “[H]anging out with the other athletes and the US people made me realize we were treated with respect and kindness. … The regime’s propaganda was full of lies.”10

Rojas was part of the teams that won the 1988 (Rome) and 1990 (Edmonton) Baseball World Cup and the 1990 (Seattle) Goodwill Games. He stood out among his peers for his preparation and poise against the US squad, focusing on the execution of his chosen pitch. He won four contests for the unbeaten 1988 Cuban team, defeating the United States twice (once in the regular tournament and again in the finals). Years later, Rojas explained his poise on the mound: “The pressure is a privilege. No matter the situation in the game, you must execute your pitches well to obtain a favorable result. You don’t need extraordinary conditions but you must recognize each situation to know what to do in it.”11 The Rome tournament juxtaposed the pressure he felt on the mound with the oppression off it. He sold his uniform to a fan for $200; noting that “the state had given us a total of forty dollars to last the entire trip.”12

Rojas’s greatest international success came right at home, as part of the 1991 Pan American Games in his hometown. Cuba defeated the United States, 3-2, in the preliminary rounds and both squads were widely expected to meet again in the finals. However, Puerto Rico surprised the United States and instead faced Cuba in the Gold Medal game. An 18-3 final score left no doubt of the superiority of Cuban baseball.

Rojas’s international exposure prompted him to learn English, using Rafael Gómez Mena’s Basic English book. Without access to a Xerox machine, Rojas copied the book by hand and by his own admission, “[O]nce I was done, I practically knew the entire book.”13

However, the 1990s proved to be a difficult decade for the island, as the decades-old patronage from the Soviet Union abruptly ended. The euphemistic “special period” espoused by the government produced a heavy dose of belt-tightening across the island, and even sports icons were not immune to its difficulties. Rojas would launder his own uniform at home and ride his bicycle to the ballpark. His sixth-floor apartment lacked an elevator, so even after pitching, he would carry his bicycle up the stairs to prevent its theft.

Rojas recalled, “I never thought about staying. … Things started to happen that made me very unhappy in my own homeland and I decided to leave on a homemade raft with my wife, child, and some neighborhood friends.”14 His decision was influenced by René Arocha, the first high-profile deserter, who decamped in 1991. Rojas recalled, “This was a personal decision of René’s. … It worked out for him, and he always told me he was deserting as someone seeing freedom. … Whether he played baseball or not was not his concern. He wanted to be a free man; it worked out for him, and I am thankful he confided in me. He did not make a mistake. Mistakes were made by those who arrived in 1959.”15 Cuban officials, recalled Rojas, were unwilling to face reality: “They kept saying that maybe he had been drugged or kidnapped or something. They didn’t want to accept the truth.”16

Arocha’s actions stunned the Cuban authorities. Since the Castro regime took over, only two major leaguers had deserted the island, Rogelio Álvarez and Bárbaro Garbey. Álvarez left in 1963, at the height of Cold War tensions, while Garbey departed in 1980 when the government allowed more than 100,000 of its subjects to leave for Miami. However, Arocha was a bona fide star, and his decision shook the system. The government routinely interviewed players returning from foreign competitions to intimidate and prevent any future “issues.”

The government took punitive actions, ordering Rojas to pitch nine innings on three days’ rest in the 1991-1992 tournament, regardless of pitch count, “under threat of suspension.”17 The toll on the mound, coupled with the physical and emotional tax of ongoing blackouts and other difficulties of 1990s Cuba, cemented his decision to depart the island: “The wool was pulled from my eyes. I realized our enemies were at home, not abroad.”18

Although Rojas and his wife, Marta, welcomed son Euclides Jr. on December 23, 1991, the government was quick to diminish the family’s joy. The government did not select Rojas for the 1992 Olympic team, as it suspected he had known of Arocha’s plans to defect. Wistfully, Rojas pondered: “It was my mistake not to desert with him.”19 The omission opened a spot for Rolando Arrojo to make the Gold Medal-winning squad.20 Arrojo himself defected in 1996 while in Atlanta for the next Olympic Games.

On Rojas’s return from a tournament in Colombia in 1993, two police officers harassed him, demanded to check his luggage, and took him in custody. After his release, Rojas’s mother pleaded with his son to leave the island at his next opportunity.21

The Cuban economy’s collapse led to riots in the summer of 1994. The government had previously detained anyone seeking to leave the island by sea, but it temporarily lifted the restriction to relieve some of the pressure. An estimated 35,000 Cubans departed, mostly on handmade and jerry-rigged vessels.22 Although no official tally exists, the US Coast Guard estimates that 8,000 perished trying to reach the United States.23

The American policy of “dry foot, wet foot” proved a heavy obstacle. Under such guidelines, Cubans intercepted at sea would be returned, while those lucky to land on American soil would be rewarded with immediate asylum. Rojas, his wife, and their young son set sail on August 19 aboard a raft that carried 10 others. Words fail to accurately capture the ordeal: “We navigated by the stars and the rising and setting of the sun. … We did not speak of it, but we became gripped by fear. … We ran out of water but managed to swap food for water with other boat people.”24 Although Rojas was hesitant to bring his family, his wife, Marta, said, “We’re going with you. … If we die, we die together as a family.”25

Rojas had saved his meager salary for a year to afford the wood; his fisherman friend built the boat.26 The engine stopped working after only five hours. After five days alternating between manual rowing and the whims of the ocean’s current, the US Coast Guard intercepted the boat and its voyagers were sent to Guantánamo Bay.27 To Americans, this would be the equivalent of almost reaching Park Place on the Monopoly board but instead being sent back to home.

An episode of Nuestra Historia, a documentary series produced by US-government funded (and heavily anti-Castro) Radio Televisión Martí, shows a shirtless Rojas, surrounded by other boat people, stating, “My name is Euclides Rojas, and I was a former member of the Cuban baseball team. We’d rather lose our lives at sea than to live under such a hostile regime.”28 Another scene shows Rojas, holding his young son in his arms, talking to José Canseco during the latter’s visit to Guantánamo.

The government tried to equate Rojas to Lucifer, a fallen angel who renounced heaven, but to Rojas and countless other Cubans who had risked their own lives to seek freedom, it was the opposite. Rojas was clear-cut in his assessment: “I left Cuba just like any other Cuban, dreaming of freedom.”29

After six months at the US Navy Base in Guantánamo Bay, Rojas and his family were allowed to enter the United States. Arocha himself sponsored his old friend for the necessary visa. On February 15, 1995, Rojas reached the mainland, and began cutting grass and doing handyman jobs to earn a living. At the recommendation of Arocha, he and fellow defector Ariel Prieto signed with the Palm Springs Suns of the Western League, an independent eight-team circuit. Rojas started five games, winning one and losing four. Although being thrust into an unfamiliar role may have affected his performance, his 3.34 ERA was considerably better than the 4.33 league average.

His audition prompted the Florida Marlins to select Rojas in the 30th round of the 1995 amateur draft. The franchise’s only Cuban-born player, Orestes Destrade, had struggled in South Florida, leaving former big leaguer and then-pitching coach Cookie Rojas as the biggest draw for Cuban fans. The prospect of a former Cuban national hero proved to be irresistible for the team that would later boast Miami-born Alex Fernández and playoff sensation Liván Hernández in the Marlins’ 1997 World Series-winning rotation.

Ten productive innings with the Rookie League Gulf Coast Marlins in 1995 (one run, six hits, one walk, seven strikeouts, two wins) earned Rojas a quick promotion to Double-A Portland, where he struggled against more robust competition. A 7.77 ERA, his worst as a professional, was attributed to a lack of command (13 walks) and the league’s power-friendly ballparks (three home runs in 22 innings). Nevertheless, Rojas progressed to Triple-A Charlotte for a three-inning showing (one run, two hits, two walks, two strikeouts).

Rojas’s arm, already strained by a punitive workload in Cuba, was further injured by the hours of constant rowing during his escape. A nine-inning stint with Charlotte in 1996 confirmed the worst fears: While the eight strikeouts were emboldening, the pain was too much to ignore. The organization was nevertheless impressed by Rojas’s devotion to the young hurlers and offered him successive coaching opportunities. Though he grudgingly accepted while he figured his arm would heal, the 27-year-old Rojas found the chance for a second career to be a beguiling option. An arm operation as a coach sealed his future: “What I lacked was being younger and having my health. … I arrived with an injured arm. … Back then, in Cuba, pitchers were used differently.”30

Rojas rejoined the Gulf Coast Marlins at the pitching coach, leading them to the playoffs in his third year (bowing in the semifinals to the Devil Rays’ rookie squad). He cheered Liván Hernández and his mates as they won the 1997 World Series, becoming the toast of Miami, and likely of Havana as well, despite the government’s disapproval. After a year off, Rojas coached the Florida Summer League Brevard County Manatees team in 2001, then returned to the GCL Marlins. Among his charges, Brad Penny and A.J. Burnett found the big-league success that eluded him. Rojas left the organization to join the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2001 as a roving instructor. His mother died in 1999, and given the conditions surrounding his departure from Cuba, the government did not allow Rojas to return to the island for her funeral.

Rojas joined the Boston Red Sox organization as its bullpen coach prior to the 2003 season. GM Theo Epstein noted his experience with the Cuban national team as a deciding factor, given the franchise’s bullpen struggles in the 2001 and 2002 campaigns. The move garnered scant attention during the offseason, but Epstein was confident he had landed a prized asset: “Every time we asked someone about him, they said, why isn’t he in the big leagues?’”31 Manager Grady Little was also impressed by Rojas during the interview: “We were overwhelmed with what he brought to the table. It didn’t take us long to decide he was our man.”32

Despite the animosity between the Red Sox and the Yankees, Rojas could not help but wax nostalgic about the 2004 ALCS: “We were down 3-0 … ‘El Duque’ jumped the fence from the Yankees bullpen, shook my hand, hugged me, and congratulated me. It was an incredible experience, to win that way and then to play against St. Louis. That team played with a lot of confidence and determination.”33 Orlando “El Duque” Hernández had been his teammate with the Industriales and the national team, giving the pair another chapter in their baseball lives. Rojas recalled the 2004 team as “unflappable. They would never give up. … Schilling, Pedro, Wakefield, Lowe … They would challenge each other, it was incredible.”34

Orlando Hernández was not the only compatriot wearing pinstripes; José Contreras, whose signing gave birth to Larry Lucchino’s “[T]he evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America” statement, played for New York until he was traded to the Chicago White Sox. Rojas knew Contreras’ wife and daughters had been attempting to escape the island, finally succeeding on June 21, 2004, aboard a powerboat. The Contreras family had been separated since the hurler abandoned the national team in Mexico on October 1, 2002. “To feel what he did you have to have experienced what he did, and I didn’t. I thought about leaving Cuba alone but with the idea of bringing (my family) along. I’m glad my wife said, ‘We make it together, or we sink together.’” Nevertheless, Rojas added, “If we face him, I’d like to win but beat him 3-2 … Even though I’m a coach on the Red Sox, I wish him well.”35

Rojas left the organization after the World Series triumph, an under-the-radar move during an offseason that saw Pedro Martínez and Derek Lowe  depart Boston. According to press reports, he was offered another role within the franchise, but he opted to seek other opportunities.36 He fondly recalled his time with the Red Sox: “Being with Manny Ramírez, with David Ortiz, with Pedro Martínez and that group of ballplayers and coaches will always be a great accomplishment. … Fenway Park reminded me of the Estadio Latinoamericano. … That love for the game, that passion, the energy in that stadium is just like in Havana. It was like being back home.”37

Rojas returned to the Pirates as the Latin American field coordinator and eventually the franchise’s bullpen coach. The long-suffering franchise steadily improved and reached the postseason in three straight seasons (2013-2015). Rojas left Pittsburgh in 2019; in his nine years, the Pirates bullpen mirrored the fortunes of the franchise, swinging from 3.7 WAR in 2015 to -3.5 WAR in 2019. Rojas took great pride in his work with the relievers, noting that “pitching coach Ray Searage and I have been working together for a long time, since we met with the Marlins. We’re like brothers and trust each other. … The first thing is to learn the routine of every reliever. … We communicate a lot and work hard, so they trust me.”38 His pupils raved about his work: José Veras called him “an unbelievable person” and Daniel Moskos added, “He’s a great guy to be around on a daily basis. He’s done wonders for me.”39

Rojas was thankful for the opportunity to work with the Pirates, stating, “It’s a privilege to work for such a long time with the organization, especially with the young bullpen arms. My job is a lot of fun and I am motivated every day.”40 As a coordinator, he took great pride in the creation of the Pirates’ Dominican Republic academy, which not only developed the athletic promise of the young prospects but also assisted in the critical transition to American life: “I can see their confidence when they come to the country, so it’s not a big change. … They’re comfortable, they speak English.”41 Rojas again recalled his experience with the Marlins, especially with then-assistant GM Dave Littlefield: “The support they gave me, I wasn’t expecting it. It was awesome. It was something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. That’s something I try to pass on.”42

Rojas also coached the pitching staff of 2011-2012 Navegantes de Magallanes club in the Venezuelan league and the Acereros (Steel Workers) of Monclova’s pitching staff during the 2021 Mexican League’s summer season.43 He joined the Detroit Tigers organization in 2021 as its director of Latin American player development, a position he still held in 2023.44

While some players have called for a unified Cuban team in international competition, Rojas is steadfast on his stance. As an outspoken proponent of political freedom for his homeland, he maintains, “If I were to get a call asking me to be the pitching coach of a unified Cuban team, I wouldn’t do it until there is democracy in my country.”45 Amid rumors of a Cuban boycott of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, an organization calling itself the Association of Professional Cuban Baseball Players touted its willingness to field a team of expatriates with Rojas and former big leaguers Garbey, Contreras, Arocha, and the Hernández brothers as part of the coaching staff.46

Should Cuban baseball ever elect a “Team of the Century,” as Major League Baseball did in 1999, Rojas would be a worthy candidate as the team’s closer. He is regarded as “one of the highest examples of the art of relief pitching in the 50 years of post-professional baseball. Though he was not blessed with the astronomical velocity of the classic stopper, he based his dominance on perfect control. He was a tireless student of the opposition and sought to display an unnerving calm from the mound, employing a hard-to-hit curve that found its target in the bottom and corners of the strike zone.”47 Asked by Orlando Hernández about the most important traits for a closer, Rojas was unequivocal: “Having faith in oneself, knowing how to warm up in the bullpen so as not to waste pitches … and observing the game while it is in progress.”48

Rojas exhorts aspiring Latin coaches “to learn, listen, respect the game and the opponent, and to focus on how to help the players,” noting that “being patient is the hardest part.”49

Notes

The referenced links were accessed on January 8, 2023.

1 “El Duque entrevista a Euclides Rojas-Azules de corazón,” Cuban-play, originally broadcast in “La estrella invitada.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a60BLZWkKE8.

2 “Euclídes Rojas cuente por qué lo dejaron fuera del equipo de Cuba a La Olimpiada de Barcelona 92,” TU Miami TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE5O5XoZ7AI.

3 Michael Silverman, “The Greatest Relief: Freedom,” Boston Herald, April 27, 2003.

4 “Euclides Rojas: aventura y triunfo de un balsero y pelotero cubano,” Playoff Magazine, August 10, 2020. https://playoffmagazine.com/euclides-rojas-aventura-y-triunfo-de-un-balsero-y-pelotero-cubano/.

5 “Euclídes Rojas, de Industriales a coach de Grandes Ligas,” Periódico Cubano, April 14, 2018, https://www.periodicocubano.com/euclides-rojas-industriales-coach-grandes-ligas/.

6 Yirsandy Rodríguez, “Momentos memorables en el béisbol cubano: ¡36 años después del mítico jonrón de Marquetti!,” Baseball de Cuba, January 19, 2022, https://www.baseballdecuba.com/post/momentos-memorables-en-el-b%C3%A9isbol-cubano-36-a%C3%B1os-despu%C3%A9s-del-m%C3%ADtico-jonr%C3%B3n-de-marquetti.

7 Rogério Manzano, “Euclídes Rojas,” Desde mi palco de fanático, https://desdemipalcodefanatico.wordpress.com/jugadores/euclides-rojas-1/.

8 Cuban Serie Nacional is the post-Revolutionary name of the Cuban league.

9 Dilberto Camagüey, “José Ángel García primero con 200 salvados em Series Nacionales,” Béisbol en Cuba, March 28, 2016, https://www.cubaencuentro.com/fernando-vila/blogs/palmar-de-junco/entrevista-a-euclides-rojas-ii.

10 “Euclídes Rojas cuente por qué lo dejaron fuera del equipo de Cuba a La Olimpiada de Barcelona 92.”

11 Emilio Sosa Martín, “Euclides Rojas: ‘Espero regresar el día que mi Cuba sea libre,’” Pelota Cubana USA, May 10, 2019, https://pelotacubanausa.com/2019/05/10/euclides-rojas-espero-regresar-el-dia-que-mi-cuba-sea-libre/16/13/49/.

12 Steve Fainaru and Ray Sanchez, The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream (New York: Random House, 2001), 45.

13 “Euclides Rojas: aventura y triunfo de un balsero y pelotero cubano.”

14 “Euclides Rojas: aventura y triunfo de un balsero y pelotero cubano.”

15 “Nuestra historia: Euclídes Rojas.” Radio Televisión Martí, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmA7d6IU1oo.

16 The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream, 51.

17 “Nuestra historia: Euclídes Rojas.” Radio Televisión Martí, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmA7d6IU1oo.

18 “Nuestra historia: Euclídes Rojas.”

19 “Euclides Rojas: aventura y triunfo de un balsero y pelotero cubano.”

20 “El Duque entrevista a Euclides Rojas-Azules de corazón,” Cuban-play. Originally broadcast in “La estrella invitada.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a60BLZWkKE8.

21 Daniel de Malas, “El jefe de la estación le dijo al policía si no le daba pena lo que estaba haciendo.” Swing Completo, June 2, 2020, https://swingcompleto.com/choque-euclides-rojas-policia-cuba-pedido-su-madre/

22 University of Miami, “The Cuban Rafter Phenomenon.” http://balseros.miami.edu/.

23 John Grupp, “Pirates Bullpen Coach Rafted to U.S. from Cuba Seeking Freedom.” Pittsburgh Tribune, June 26, 2011.

24 Matthew Syed, “‘Glorious Amateurs’ Risk Lives in Attempt to Flee Castro,” London Times, March 5, 2007: 64.

25 The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream, 54.

26 “Pirates Bullpen Coach Rafted to U.S. from Cuba Seeking Freedom.”

27 Different accounts state he was detained 5, 15, and 19 miles from Key West.

28 “Nuestra historia: Euclídes Rojas.”

29 Emilio Sosa Martín, “Euclídes Rojas: ‘Espero regresar el día que mi Cuba sea libre.’”.

30 Francys Romero, “Euclídes Rojas: Llegué de Cuba con mi brazo lastimado,” Cibercuba. June 17, 2019, https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2019-06-17-u194102-e194102-s27066-euclides-rojas-llegue-cuba-mi-brazo-lastimado.

31 Greg Sukiennik, “Sox Sign Rojas to Save Bullpen – New Coach Replaces Kipper,” Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & Gazette, December 3, 2002: D1.

32 “Sox Sign Rojas to Save Bullpen.”

33 “Euclides Rojas: aventura y triunfo de un balsero y pelotero cubano.”

34 “El Duque entrevista a Euclides Rojas-Azules de corazón,” Cuban-play. Originally broadcast in “La estrella invitada.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a60BLZWkKE8.

35 Rafael Hermoso, “Reunited, and It Feels So Good,” USA Today, June 2, 2004.

36 “Red Sox Notes,” Worcester Telegram & Gazette, November 23, 2004: D4.

37 Fernando Vilá, “Palmar de Junco: Blog de Fernando Vilá Chao,” Cuba Encuentro, August 18, 2009, https://www.cubaencuentro.com/fernando-vila/blogs/palmar-de-junco/entrevista-a-euclides-rojas-i.

38 Jorge Ebro, “Euclídes Rojas: Al béisbol le ha pasado lo mismo que a todo en Cuba,” Playoff Magazine, May 1, 2017, https://playoffmagazine.com/euclides-rojas-al-beisbol-le-ha-pasado-lo-mismo-que-a-todo-en-cuba/

39 “Pirates Bullpen Coach Rafted to U.S. from Cuba Seeking Freedom.”

40 “Euclídes Rojas, de Industriales a coach de las Grandes Ligas.”

41 Roger Castillo, “Detroit Tigers Hire a New Director of Latin American Player Development,” Motor City Bengals, October 17, 2021. https://motorcitybengals.com/2021/10/17/detroit-tigers-latin-player-development-euclides-rojas/.

42 Bill Briknk, “MLB Has a Diversity Problem, and It Goes Beyond the Rosters,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 21, 2017. 

43 “Euclides Rojas retorna al desarrollo de las grandes ligas.” Acereros Website, October 9, 2021, http://acereros.com.mx/euclides-rojas-retorna-al-desarrollo-de-las-grandes-ligas/. ?fbclid=IwAR1gVWX5h7eB6YLxr3CxFXpRHQAJlXO7qGDrnaJIcUVN9t-uuBv6zHNas8A.

44 “Detroit Tigers Hire a New Director of Latin American Player Development.”

45 Daniel de Malas, “El jefe de la estación le dijo al policía si no le daba pena lo que estaba haciendo.”

46 “Conforman cuerpo técnico de la Asociación de Peloteros Cubanos Profesionales.” Diario Las Américas, September 13, 2022, https://www.diariolasamericas.com/deportes/conforman-cuerpo-tecnico-la-asociacion-peloteros-cubanos-profesionales-n4256723.

47 Desde Mi Palco de Fanático: Memorias y reflexiones del baseball cubano.”

48 “El Duque entrevista a Euclides Rojas-Azules de corazón.”

49 “Euclídes Rojas, de Industriales a coach de las Grandes Ligas.”