Monday, July 15, 2013

Player Profile: Salome Barojas


I have six cards of Salome Barojas. This one is from 1985 Donruss.

Playing career: During the 1981 baseball strike, some managers with little else to do made scouting trips to Mexico to try to find the next Fernando Valenzuela. White Sox manager Tony LaRussa came up with a gem in Salome Barojas, who would debut in 1982, saving five games in the Chisox’ 8-0 start. He saved 33 games over his first two seasons with Chicago, but after a dismal 1983 postseason and a lackluster start to 1984, he was traded to Seattle, who tried to convert him to a starter with little success. After the 1985 season he returned to Mexico, where he had great success, culminating in his election to the Salon de la Fama in 2002.

Where he is now: Coaching in Mexico.

My memories: I only knew him from Bob Sheppard’s “Poetic Tribute to Baseball’s Hispanic Names”. The only link I found to it online was from the Daily News in 2010, but I used to have it in a clipping from either Newsday or the New York Times from the late 80’s/early 90’s. Salome Barojas, along with Jose Valdivielso, was Sheppard’s favorite name to announce.

Google Autocomplete results: He is third when you type Salome Ba, between Salome Bandcamp, referring to a band that performs at Metal Bandcamp, and Salome Baby Name – Salome is currently the 261st most popular girls name in the US. There do not appear to be any other prominent Salome Barojases.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Jimmy Baron.

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