David Eugene LaRoche (né Garcia; born May 14, 1948) is an American former professional baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. LaRoche is most famous for throwing his own variant of the

eephus pitch An eephus pitch (also spelled ephus) in baseball is a very high-arcing off-speed pitch. The delivery from the pitcher has very low velocity and often catches the hitter off-guard. The eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is char ...

, which he called "La Lob". Over his career, LaRoche went 65–58, with 819 strikeouts in 1,049 innings pitched. He has a career 3.53

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. Before retiring from baseball following the 2015 season, LaRoche was the pitching coach for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

' short-season affiliate, the

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...

. He is the father of former MLB players

Adam LaRoche David Adam LaRoche (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks ...

and

Andy LaRoche Andrew Christian LaRoche (born September 13, 1983) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays. La ...

Biography

LaRoche was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His surname was Garcia, but he changed it to LaRoche at age seven, the last name of his stepfather. "LaRoche is French, but I have no French in me", Andy LaRoche said. "My grandfather was 100% Mexican." According to the ''1979 Complete Handbook of Baseball'', LaRoche decided to change his name because classmates often teased him because an overweight, bumbling character on the then popular television program ''

Zorro Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...

'' was named Sergeant Garcia. Dave LaRoche with Gerald Ford (cropped)

LaRoche was drafted by the California Angels in the 5th round of the 1967 amateur draft out of West High School in

Torrance, CA Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific O ...

. He made his debut for the California Angels in and went on to pitch 14 seasons in the major leagues. During his time as a player representative for the Minnesota Twins LaRoche had a reputation as a troublemaker. According to Twins public relations director Tom Mee, LaRoche "complained about everything. In fact, they filed a grievance about the choice of ice cream we had in the clubhouse. eloved to agitate, and it was not right." According to

Rod Carew Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman, second baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins ...

, "He was always negative about everything in the locker room. I finally got tired of it one night...we were having a team meeting and he was constantly interrupting people. I said to him, 'Just shut up and listen to what the guys have to say.' He asked what I was going to do about it, so I challenged him to a fight. There was a broom closet in the back of the clubhouse. I opened its door, turned on the light and said, 'Come on, let's go in.' As soon as he walked in, I turned off the light, closed the door and whaled away at him." According to Twins teammate

Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Blyleven recorded 3,701 ...

, "A reporter asked him why he wanted to be player rep and Dave said, 'Because all the player reps under Calvin Griffith get traded.'" He was traded by the Twins to the Chicago Cubs for

Bill Hands William Alfred Hands, Jr. (May 6, 1940 – March 9, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1965 to 1975. His best season came in 1969 with the Chicago Cubs, when he won 20 games. Early life A n ...

Joe Decker George Henry Decker, Jr. (June 16, 1947 – March 2, 2003) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs (1969–72), Minnesota Twins (1973–76) and Seattle Mariners (1979). He was born in Storm Lake, Iowa. He was traded ...

and minor‐league pitcher Bob Maneely on December 1, 1972.Durso, Joseph. "A's Send Epstein to Rangers; Scheinblum, Nelson to Reds," ''The New York Times'', Saturday, December 2, 1972.
Retrieved April 12, 2020 LaRoche's sons Adam (a first baseman) and

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

(a third baseman) both became MLB players. Another son, Jeff LaRoche, played minor league baseball before entering law enforcement. LaRoche was named as the pitching coach for the

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

in the Miami Marlins organization for the 2018 season.

References

External links

, o
Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laroche, Dave 1948 births Living people American baseball players of Mexican descent American League All-Stars Arizona Instructional League Angels players Baseball coaches from Colorado Baseball players from Colorado Brooklyn Cyclones coaches California Angels players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox coaches Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players El Paso Sun Kings players Fort Myers Sun Sox players Hawaii Islanders players Major League Baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Mets coaches New York Yankees players Quad Cities Angels players San Jose Bees players Sportspeople from Colorado Springs, Colorado UNLV Rebels baseball players Wichita Aeros players

Biography

See also

References

External links