Diunte: How Luis Arroyo gave one baseball fan the experience of a lifetime
From SABR member Nick Diunte at Baseball Happenings on January 17, 2016:
Luis Arroyo, the great Puerto Rican left-handed reliever for the 1961 New York Yankees World Series championship team, passed away at the age of 88 on Wednesday January 13, 2016 in Puerto Rico after a bout with cancer. As the closer for their team, Arroyo preserved many of their victories, but one of his greatest assists came well after his playing days ended to a complete stranger.
In 2011, while milling around the hotel where the Yankees Old Timers were stationed for the weekend, I encountered Arroyo sitting in an almost regal manner in a chair in the corner of the lobby, free from the rush of the crowds that swarmed the other alumni making their way through the hotel en route to explore New York City. While the droves of fans and collectors flocked to the younger retired Yankees, I sensed an opportunity to talk with Arroyo about his vast treasure of experiences as a ballplayer in Puerto Rico in the late 1940s with all of the legendary Negro League and Puerto Rican stars who passed through the famed winter league.
Read the full article here: http://www.baseballhappenings.net/2016/01/how-luis-arroyo-gave-one-baseball-fan.html
Originally published: January 25, 2016. Last Updated: January 25, 2016.