KSDK 5 On Your Side, Latino Baseball Illustration Aroldis Chapman earned his “Cuban Missile” monicker for bringing his brand of 100 mph-plus high heat to the mound, but on this day in béisbol, July 11, 2014, the Holguin, Cuba, native was on fire. The Cincinnati Reds closer set a record by notching a strikeout in 40 straight relief appearances going back to August 2013.  Chapman, who struck out the side against the Pirates to for his 20th save of the season, broke Bruce Sutter’s record set in 1977. Also on the day: Another Alou is put out to pasture. In

ESPN, Wikimedia Commons, Latino Baseball Illustration He was already considered the best — not to mentioned the most feared — designated hitter in the history of the game.  But on this day in béisbol, July 10, 2013, David Ortiz made it official. The Red Sox slugger became the all-time leader for hits by a DH when he banged a second-inning double in a 11-4 win against Seattle at Safeco Field. Big Papi’s 1,689th broke the record held by Harold Baines.  Also on this day: In 1964, Giants right fielder Jesus Alou went 6-for-6 with a home run — against six

ESPN, SI, Latino Baseball Illustration The first round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft turned out to be a fairly fruitful crop, with the likes of Billy Wagner (12th overall pick), Derrek Lee (14th), Chris Carpenter (15th) Torii Hunter (20th) and Jason Varitek (21th) soon to enjoy All-Star careers. But none of these young men would come anywhere near the success — and the constant controversy — of a shortstop out of Florida named Alex Rodriguez who was selected No. 1 that year by the Seattle Mariners. On this day in béisbol, July 9, 1994, the 18-year-old everyone would

Detroit Free Press, Archyde, Latino Baseball Illustration It was just another early summer game between two losing teams, and it wouldn’t have normally merited much attention unless you were a rabid fan of the Tigers or Royals. But on this this day in béisbol, June 25, 2002, the big story was in the opposing dugouts: For the first time in MLB history, both managers were born in the Dominican Republic. The hometown Kansas City skipper was Tony Peña, the Monte Cristi, D.R., native and former All-Star catcher who would go on to win Manager of the Year in 2003.  Leading

NY Times, Latino Baseball Illustration By Robert Dominguez Anyone who still needed convincing that Nolan Arenado was the best third baseman in any league needn’t have looked any further than this day in béisbol, June 18, 2017, when the young Rockies star hit for a rare cycle. And then capped the day with a thrilling walk-off homer. Batting third against the Giants at Colorado, Arenado hit a triple to right in the bottom of the first, stroked a single in the fourth and had an RBI double in the sixth before striking out swinging in the seventh. Despite his hot

Photo: Zimbio, San Diego Union Tribune, Latino Baseball Illustration By Robert Dominguez It was just another game on just another hot night in Texas between the Lone Star state’s two teams.  But when it was over, a pair of baseball greats on opposite ends of the field had set new career records. On this day in béisbol, June 17, 2009, as the Houston Astros faced the Texas Rangers in a game that would end with a walk-off win for Texas in the bottom of the ninth, the Astros' Ivan Rodriguez broke Carlton’ Fisk’s record by catching his 2,227th game of

The Starting Nine, Latino Baseball Illustration By Robert Dominguez He was a solid starter on some pretty good Baltimore teams, but Dennis Martinez always lived in the shadows of big-name, Cy Young-quality teammates like Jim Palmer, Mike Flanagan and Steve Stone. By 1986, the under-appreciated Martinez was deemed expendable by the Orioles after winning 108 games in a little over 10 years with the team. On this day in béisbol, June 16, 1986, Martinez and his magnificent mustache were dealt — dumped, really — to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later. The Nicaragua native was 32 years

By Robert Dominguez He didn’t look the part of the slugger, but Roberto Clemente could bash with the best of ‘em. The Pirates right fielder had by this day in béisbol, June 5, 1966, established himself as a five-tool superstar. Yet he was also deceptively powerful for his size — a modest 5-feet, 11 inches and 175 pounds. While he didn’t hit a lot of homers compared to other big boppers of the day, Pittsburgh fans were long used to his tape-measure long balls. In a June 5 victory over the Astros, Pirates first baseman Willie Stargell went 5-for-5 with