Former MLB player and broadcaster Julio Cruz passed away yesterday. No cause of death has been released. Cruz was 67.
The Brooklyn born Cruz was originally signed as a free agent by the California Angels in 1974. In 1976, Cruz was selected by the Seattle Mariners in their expansion draft and would make his big league debut during their inaugural season in 1977.
A second baseman by trade, Cruz's greatest asset was his base stealing. Between 1978 and 1983, Cruz stole at least 40 bases and twice stole more than 50 bases finishing in the Top 5 in the AL stolen bases each of those six seasons. Cruz was the Mariners' all-time stolen base leader with 290 bags swiped until he was surpassed by Ichiro Suzuki in 2008.
In June 1983, the Mariners traded Cruz to the Chicago White Sox for Tony Bernazard. At the time of the trade, the Chisox were 28-32 and in fifth place in the AL West. The Chisox went 71-31 the rest of the way and would win the division by 20 games. While there were many great players on that squad - LaMarr Hoyt, Carlton Fisk, Harold Baines, Greg Luzinski, "Juice" Cruz gave the team a spark and was arguably their MVP that season. The White Sox would fall to the Baltimore Orioles in 4 games in the ALCS, but hit a respectable .333 during that series.
Cruz remained on the South Side of Chicago through the 1986 season. Cruz would spend the 1987 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers playing baseball with their Triple-AAA affiliate in Albuquerque and finished up his professional career in the independent California League in 1988. In 10 MLB seasons, Cruz played in 1156 games collecting 916 hits for a lifetime batting average of .237 with 23 HR, 279 RBI and 343 stolen bases.
Cruz would reunite with the Mariners in 2003 joining their Spanish language broadcast team where he would remain through the 2021 season.
I leave you with Cruz balancing a baseball bat on his face. I kid you not. R.I.P.
No comments:
Post a Comment