Jorge Roque Vargas (born April 29, 1950, in
Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a former
professional baseball player who was an
outfielder for 65
career games in
Major League Baseball for the
St. Louis Cardinals from to and the
Montreal Expos in . He threw and batted
right-handed, stood tall and weighed .
Roque joined the Cardinals' organization in 1967. He was called to the majors for the first time in September 1970 after his selection as an All-Star by the
Class A California League
The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...
, where he led the circuit in
runs scored
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...
(101) and
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
(165) in 137 games played. In 1971, after another strong showing, this time in the
Double-A Texas League, Roque received another September audition. In his first game back with the Cardinals, he had three hits in four
at bats September 26 against the Expos. Then he spent the second half of with the MLB Cardinals; he appeared in 32 games and started 19 as a
center- or
right fielder, but he
batted an anaemic .104, with seven total hits in 67 at bats. On November 6, the Cardinals traded Roque to Montreal to reacquire their former
All-Star catcher of the 1960s,
Tim McCarver.
Despite having hit a grand slam as Montreal's starting center fielder on Opening Day , and receiving a lengthy trial during the season's first month, his desperate struggles as a batsman continued. Three consecutive two-hit games from April 17–19 lifted his batting mark to .222, but he would collect only one more safety through May 6, when he was supplanted by
Ron Woods as the club's right-handed-hitting center fielder. Roque was sent to
Triple-A after May 15. He hit .148 in 61 at bats during his Expo tenure. As a major leaguer, he collected only 19 career hits and ten
bases on balls
A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...
in 154
plate appearance
In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...
s; he batted .137 with four
doubles, one
triple
Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble":
Sports
* Triple (baseball), a three-base hit
* A basketball three-point field goal
* A figure skating jump with three rotations
* In bowling terms, three strikes in a row
* In ...
, and two
home runs.
His professional career continued in the Triple-A
Mexican League from 1974 to 1979. He was selected by the
New York Mets from
Pericos de Puebla in the
Rule 5 Draft on December 2, 1974.
Durso, Joseph. "Baseball Draft Is Skimpy," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 3, 1974.
Retrieved October 30, 2020
References
External links
1950 births
Living people
Arkansas Travelers players
Azules de Coatzacoalcos players
Cafeteros de Córdoba players
Cedar Rapids Cardinals players
Gulf Coast Cardinals players
Major League Baseball outfielders
Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
Modesto Reds players
Montreal Expos players
Peninsula Whips players
Pericos de Puebla players
Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada
Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Baseball players from Ponce, Puerto Rico
St. Louis Cardinals players
Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players
Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players
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