Rudolpho "Rudy" Jaramillo a-dah-MEE-yoh(born September 20, 1950) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach and player. Jaramillo graduated from Dallas's Sunset High School in 1970 and attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He is best known for being a hitting coach at the major league level, most recently 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 part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. During his time with the Texas Rangers, Jaramillo was the first individual in Rangers history to serve more than eight seasons on their major league coaching staff. He served as the Rangers' major league hitting coach for 15 seasons, from 1995 to 2009. Jaramillo also had the longest tenure with one team as a hitting coach 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), ...

(MLB). Jaramillo has been credited for the development of players such as

Jeff Bagwell Jeffrey Robert Bagwell (born May 27, 1968) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Houston Astros. Originally a Boston Red Sox fourth- ...

, Juan González,

Adrián González Adrián González Savín (born May 8, 1982), also known by his nicknames "A-Gon" and "Titán", is a Mexican-American former professional baseball first baseman He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, ...

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida ...

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, and Michael Young, among others.

Playing career

Before his coaching career, Jaramillo was a

minor league 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 Nor ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

from 1973 through 1976. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Jaramillo played four minor league seasons for the Rangers, but he never reached the major league level as a player.

Coaching career

Jaramillo started his minor league coaching career in 1983 and served as a manager in the minors from 1984 to 1986. He then became a minor league roving hitting instructor and worked in that capacity through the 1989 season. In 1990, Jaramillo joined the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

coaching staff after

Art Howe Arthur Henry Howe Jr. (born December 15, 1946) is an American former professional baseball infielder, coach, scout, and manager, who appeared as a player in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (–), Houston Astros (–), and ...

was named the team manager. From 1990 through the 1993 season, Jaramillo was the Astros' major league batting coach, where offensive records were consistently broken each year, and Jeff Bagwell earned Rookie of the Year in 1991. He served as manager of the

Bend Rockies The Bend Rockies were a Minor League Baseball, minor league baseball team that played in Bend, Oregon. The Rockies were members of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League for three years, from 1992 through 1994 and were affiliated with the Color ...

for one season in 1994. Prior to the 1995 season, Jaramillo was named as the Texas Rangers' major league hitting coach. From 1996 through the end of the 2004 season, the Rangers ranked in the top five in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in team batting average, runs scored, slugging percentage, home runs, and hits. In 1999, the Rangers led all of MLB in hits, slugging percentage, and team batting average (.293 for the season). In 2005, the Rangers hit 260 home runs, the second-highest total in MLB history. In 2008, the Rangers were first in runs scored (901), hits (1619), and home runs (194). During his time with Texas, his hitters won 17 Silver Slugger Awards, four MVP Awards, three home run titles, two RBI championships, and a batting title. Jaramillo also guided the Rangers to 13-consecutive seasons in which the offense recorded more than 800 runs scored, the longest streak by any major league team since 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) Amer ...

accomplished the feat in 17-straight seasons from 1926-42. When the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

were in search of a new major league manager in 2004, General Manager

Omar Minaya Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sánchez (born November 10, 1958) is a Dominican baseball executive. He was the special assistant to the general manager of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. He previously served as general manager for the ...

interviewed Jaramillo as a possible managerial candidate. Jaramillo was among the final two candidates for the position, but

Willie Randolph William Larry Randolph (born July 6, 1954) is an American former professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played from 1975 to 1992 for six different teams, most notabl ...

was ultimately selected as manager. Following the 2009 season, Jaramillo announced that he would not remain with the Rangers, opting to seek out other opportunities. He officially signed with the Cubs on October 21, 2009, as their major league hitting coach. While Jaramillo was credited with the development of young Cubs phenom

Starlin Castro Starlin DeJesus Castro (born March 24, 1990) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals. Castro i ...

, he was dismissed by the team on June 12, 2012.

Honors

In 2003, Jaramillo was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the 2004 recipient of the Texas Rangers' Joe Macko Award, given to honor his long and meritorious service to the organization. In 2005,

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

named Jaramillo Major League Coach of the Year. He was awarded with the

Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum was founded in San Francisco, California on October 24, 1998, by Amaury Pi-Gonzalez. Members of Hall of Fame *Juan Marichal, 2003 *Tony Taylor (baseball), Tony Taylor, 2004 *Roberto Clemente, 2010 Referenc ...

Hall of Fame Pioneer Award at

Rangers Ballpark Choctaw Stadium, formerly Globe Life Park, is an American multi-purpose stadium in Arlington, Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth. Originally built as a baseball stadium, it was home to the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball and the Texa ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, on September 19, 2008. He was selected to the DISD Athletics Hall of Fame and is a Member of the Sunset High School Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Rudy's nephew, Tony Jaramillo, is also a hitting coach.

References

External links

Rudy Jaramillo BioChicago Cubs Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaramillo, Rudy 1950 births Living people Chicago Cubs coaches Texas Rangers coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches People from Beeville, Texas American sportspeople of Mexican descent Houston Astros coaches Texas Longhorns baseball players Gulf Coast Rangers players Pittsfield Rangers players San Antonio Brewers players