José Raimundo Arcia Orta (August 22, 1943 - July 31, 2016) was a Cuban

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player or utility man is a player who has the ability to play more than one position in the field and is primarily used as a substitute. The term super utility player may be used to refer to a player who can play all or mos ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played from 1968 to 1970 for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. Arcia was signed as an amateur free agent by the

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in Tex ...

in 1962 but would not make his major league debut for six years. In 1967's

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

, the Cubs selected Arcia from the Cardinals organization. He opened the 1968 season as a member of the Cubs and remained with the club the whole season, batting .190 in 58 games as a rookie, hitting his only Major League home run, and playing six positions in the field. Arcia was selected by the Padres in the

1968 MLB expansion draft The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft was conducted to stock up the rosters of four expansion teams in Major League Baseball created via the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion and which would begin play in the 1969 season. The expa ...

. Arcia saw considerable playing time over the next two seasons with San Diego, serving as a rather versatile utility man. The only positions he did not play in his career were catcher and pitcher. His poor offense continued, however, as he hit .215 and .223 in 1969 and 1970 respectively, with singles accounting for 90 of his 116 hits. He also proved to be an unreliable baserunner, caught stealing in 13 of his 30 attempts those two years, though he did lead the Padres with 14

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s in 1969. Arcia's last game as a big leaguer was September 30, 1970.

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1943 births 2016 deaths Arkansas Travelers players Burlington Indians players (1958–1964) Cardenales de Lara players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cedar Rapids Cardinals players Chicago Cubs players Columbus Astros players Dubuque Packers players Florida Instructional League Cardinals players Grand Forks Chiefs players Hawaii Islanders players Jacksonville Suns players Kansas City Royals scouts Llaneros de Acarigua players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Cuba 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Minor league baseball managers Modesto Colts players Moultrie Colt .22s players Omaha Royals players Raleigh Cardinals players Rock Hill Cardinals players Salt Lake City Angels players San Diego Padres players Baseball players from Havana Tacoma Twins players Thomasville Tigers players Tigres de Aragua players {{Cuba-baseball-bio-stub