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René Arocha (born February 24, 1964) is a Cuban former professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
. He is generally considered the first Cuban baseball player to openly defect to the United States with the intention of playing for a
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 ...
(MLB) team.


Biography

René Arocha studied at the Regla
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
in Havana. After graduating high school, Arocha became a member of Cuba's famed national baseball team. In 1991, during an international competition, Arocha
defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...
, opting for a life in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the chance at playing in the Major Leagues. His story became known across the States when
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
media began talking about him, and Arocha was the subject of many
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
reports on
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
and
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
. In 1991, Arocha was signed by the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
, and assigned to the Cardinals' farm team in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
. As a pitcher in Louisville in 1992, Arocha posted 12 wins and 7 losses with an earned run average of 2.70. These numbers prompted the Cardinals to bring Arocha to the Major Leagues, and he debuted with the Cardinals in 1993, winning 11 games and losing 8, while striking out 96 opponents and accumulating an ERA of 3.78. The 1994 and 1995 seasons were marred for Arocha by injuries, and he only won 7 games in those two years combined, while also losing 7. After missing the entire 1996 season with injuries, he was dealt as a player to be named later to the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
in a deal to acquire catcher
Tom Lampkin Thomas Michael Lampkin (born March 4, 1964) is a former catcher in Major League Baseball who played in , –, and –. Career Lampkin was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Mike and Shirley Lampkin and grew up in Clyde Hill, Washington. He was one of ...
. Arocha spent much of 1997 with the Giants'
Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
affiliate, the
Phoenix Firebirds The Phoenix Firebirds were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1958 to 1959, and from 1966 to 1997. Before 1986, the team was known as the Phoenix Giants. The franchise was a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast Le ...
. He won 7 games while losing only 3. Arocha returned to the majors with the Giants, pitching ten innings and posting an 11.32 ERA before earning his release on August 6, 1997. The
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
signed him one week later, where he completed the season as a member of their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus. Arocha finished his professional career with the Houston Astros' Triple-A affiliate in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
in 1998, posting a 5–4 record and a 5.45 ERA in 11 starts.


See also

*
List of Cubans This is a list of notable Cubans, ordered alphabetically by first name within each category. Additional lists For Cuban-Americans please see List of Cuban Americans Art and entertainment Actors * Ana de Armas, actress * Ana Margarita Mart ...
*
List of baseball players who defected from Cuba This is a list of baseball players who defected from Cuba, consisting of Cuban baseball players who have defected since the beginning of Fidel Castro's presidency. Background Prior to the Cuban Revolution, which saw Castro rise to power in 1959 ...


Notes


References


External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Baseball-Reference (Minor and Mexican leagues)
NYTimes, March 21, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Arocha, Rene 1966 births Living people Columbus Clippers players Industriales de La Habana players Leones de Yucatán players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Metropolitanos de La Habana players New Orleans Zephyrs players Phoenix Firebirds players San Francisco Giants players St. Louis Cardinals players Baseball players from Havana Sultanes de Monterrey players Tiburones de La Guaira players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Defecting Cuban baseball players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico Louisville Redbirds players