Latinos Making History May 9, 2014

As I wrote on my Baseball Sisco blogpage on May 8, 2014 in the post Five Players to Hit 100 Homers With Three Different Teams, Adrian Beltre became the fifth player to hit 100 homeruns for three different teams. In doing so he joined Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, Darrell Evans, Alex Rodriguez and Jim Thome in that exclusive club.

The Cuban Beisbol renaissance continues in MLB with Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox being selected the American League player and American League Rookie of the month of April. He is the first American League player to do so and second overall. His fellow countryman Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers is the first winning the equivalent National League honors last June.

Courtesy of Von's Card Blog

There was an interesting article on the Cuban Beisbol renaissance in the Majors entitled White Sox, Furthering Legacy, Provide Warm Home For Cubans, Amid Chill by Tyler Kepner from the NYTimes website dated April 19, 2014. The article states:

For the second time this season, it included four players from Cuba: (Alexei) Ramirez at shortstop, Dayan Viciedo in right field, Adrian Nieto catching and Jose Abreu, who signed for six years and $68 million last October, at first base. No team since the 1969 Cleveland Indians had started four Cuban-born players in a game.

That is a forty-five year gap where players from The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela stepped in to fill the gap left by the decreasing number of Cubans in the Majors due to the closing of the Cuban market. Add to this mix players like the aforementioned Yasiel Puig, Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins, Yoenis Cespedes of the Oakland Athletics and Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds to name a few. The future of Cuban Beisbol is definitely growing bright in the MLB. Here are Jose Abreu's statistics up to May 8, 2014.

Courtesy of CBS Sports

Speaking of a renaissance, Venezuelan closer Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez seemed to have put all his personal issues behind him this season. Through the month of April, Rodriguez went 13-for-13 in save chances tying Kaz Sasaki of the Seattle Mariners who had recorded 13 saves before May 1st in 2001.

I didn't realize that Rodriguez is only 32 years old. It seems like he's been around forever. The first time I noticed K-Rod was when he was the set-up man for the then Anaheim Angels closer Troy Percival. He was signed as a free agent in 1998 and made his debut for the Angels on September 18, 2002 at the age of 20 during the Angels run to an eventual World Series Title. It's good to see that he's been able to rebuild his career after a few tumultuous seasons with the Mets and seemingly unfocused seasons from 2011-2013. Here are Francisco Rodriguez's statistics up to May 8, 2014.

Well, that's it for now. If I missed any Latino achievements in the Major Leagues, please feel free to contact me at baseballsiscokidstyle@gmail.com, at my Twitter @Baseballsisco, My Google+ +Francisco Hilario (BaseballSisco) and at my Facebook page Baseball Sisco Kid Style. 

Hasta la próxima, no dejamos de jugar el Beisbol,

Baseball Sisco

#baseballsisco

#baseballsiscokidstyle

Five Players to Hit 100 Homers With Three Different Teams

Last night Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre became the fifth player in MLB history to hit at least 100 homers with three different teams. In seven seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004), Beltre hit 147 homers. In five season with the Seattle Mariners (2005-2009), he hit 103 homers. In his fourth season with the Rangers (2011-2014), he's reached the 100 homerun plateau.

So who are the other four players. Here goes.

- Darrell Evans
In 21 seasons, Evans blasted 414 homeruns with three different teams. In nine seasons with the Atlanta Braves (1969-1974), Evans hit 131 homeruns. In eight seasons with the San Francisco Giants (1974-1983) he would hit 142 homers. In five season with the Detroit Tigers (1984-1989), Evans would hit 141 homeruns.

- Reggie Jackson 
The only Hall of Famer on this list, Reggie hit a total of 563 homeruns in 21 seasons. In ten seasons with the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics (1967-1975), Reggie hit a total of 269 homers. In five seasons with the New York Yankees (1977-1981), he would hit 144 homeruns. In five seasons with the California Angels (1982-1987), Reggie would hit 123 homeruns.

- Alex Rodriguez
The only other active player on this list (aside from Beltre), Rodriguez leads the group with 654 homeruns in 20 seasons played. In seven seasons with the Seattle Mariners (1994-2000), Rodriguez would hit 189 homeruns. In three seasons with the Texas Rangers (2001-2003), he would hit 156 homeruns. In ten seasons with the New York Yankees (2004-2013), Rodriguez would hit 309 homeruns.

- Jim Thome 
In 22 seasons, Thome hit 617 homeruns making him the player with the second most career homeruns after Alex Rodriguez (654). In thirteen seasons with the Cleveland Indians (1991-2002), Thome would hit 337 homeruns. In four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (2003-2005/2012), he would hit 101 homeruns. In four seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2006-2009), Thome would hit 134 homeruns.

So there you have the list of the five players to hit at least 100 homers with three different major league teams.

For the next couple of posts, I have some interesting trivia questions that have come up in recent Yankees' telecasts that I want to touch upon. So keep your eyes open for them.

Until Then Play Ball,

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Adrian Beltre's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Darrell Evans' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Reggie Jackson's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Alex Rodriguez's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Jim Thome's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com