Rolando Audley Roomes (born February 15, 1962) is a former professional baseball player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

primarily as an outfielder from 1988 to 1990. He played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Early life

Roomes was born in Kingston, Jamaica to Vincent and Enid Roomes. He has three brothers. Roomes played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

as a child, then graduated to baseball after his family relocated to Bushwick, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He went to Beach Channel High School in Rockaway Park, where he was signed by the Chicago Cubs (on July 14, 1980) as an amateur free agent. His minor league career featured high

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and strikeout totals. In 1987, Roomes played for the AA Pittsfield Cubs and had a .308 batting average with 135 strikeouts, and followed that up in 1988 with a .301 batting average and 134 strikeouts for the AAA Iowa Cubs.

Major league career

Roomes remained in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

for 8 seasons until he made his Major league debut at age 26 on April 12, 1988 as a pinch runner for

Jerry Mumphrey Jerry Wayne Mumphrey (born September 9, 1952) is an American retired professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals (1974–79), San Diego Padres (1980), New York Yankees (1981–83), Houston Astro ...

in a 7-5 Cubs road loss to 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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He finished the season with 17 games played for the Cubs. On December 8, 1988, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for

Lloyd McClendon Lloyd Glenn McClendon (born January 11, 1959) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1987 to 1994 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners and the ...

. On May 3, 1989, the Reds called up Roomes, who remained on the major league roster for most of the season, playing 107 games and hitting .263. In 1990 Roomes continued to struggle with strikeouts, and the Reds had acquired outfielders

Billy Hatcher William Augustus Hatcher (born October 4, 1960) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first base coach. He played for the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phill ...

, then later

Glenn Braggs Glenn Erick Braggs (born October 17, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball outfielder and designated hitter. Braggs was a member of the Cincinnati Reds team that defeated the Oakland Athletics in the ...

. After hitting .213 with two home runs and seven runs RBI's in 60 plate appearances, he was released by the Reds, who went on to win the

1990 World Series The 1990 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1990 season. The 87th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending champions and heavily favored American League (AL) ...

. On the same day the Reds released him, June 18, 1990, he was claimed on waivers by the

. He appeared in 16 games for the Expos, hitting .286 in 15 plate appearances. It was his final year in the big leagues, with the Expos releasing him in December 1990. Roomes retired after the 1991, splitting time between the minor league

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

and

Denver Zephyrs The Denver Zephyrs (formerly the Denver Bears) were a Minor League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They were a Triple-A team that played in the American Association from 1955 to 1962, the Pacific Coast League from 1963 ...

References

External links

Rolando Roomes SABR Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roomes, Rolando Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Montreal Expos players 1962 births Living people Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from Jamaica Nashville Sounds players Indianapolis Indians players Portland Beavers players Denver Zephyrs players Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Gulf Coast Cubs players Geneva Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Lodi Crushers players Pittsfield Cubs players Quad Cities Cubs players Winston-Salem Spirits players Beach Channel High School alumni Jamaican emigrants to the United States