Rodolfo Arias Martínez

Cuban left-handed pitcher of professional baseball.

He played in 1959 for one season with the Chicago White Sox. He made his debut on April 10, 1959 and made his last appearance on August 26 of that same year. He won two games, struck out 28 batters and his ERA was 4.09.

As a left-handed pitcher he spanned a total of 23 years in three countries: his native country, Cuba, the United States and Mexico, where he said goodbye to the sport he loved. As a member of the Chicago White Sox in 1959, his year in the Major Leagues, he made 34 appearances.

Arias was born at the Siboney Sugar Mill in the province of Camagüey. His father, Arturo Arias, was the head of a railroad station and his mother, Zoila Martínez, was a homemaker. Young Rodolfo was a rebellious child and in no time he got himself expelled from school and was sent to an educational center sponsored by the courts; his educational level only reached the equivalent of high school.

Arias's love for baseball began very early and he took advantage of every opportunity to play with his friends. The "ball" they used was a sphere covered with black electrical tape, which they squeezed tightly until it took on the shape and consistency of a baseball; the bat was simply a branch cut from a local hardwood tree, the güira, which is normally used to make maracas. Rodolfo had no other interests, but rather, as he remembers, it was "what all the kids did all day long."

Young Rodolfo was so good as a left-handed adolescent pitcher that many of his friends would not go to play against him unless he played first base instead of being the pitcher.

In the 1950s, he played in the Havana Amateur League for a club formed by Customs, but the team had no success on the field. However, an opportunity in an amateur tournament on the island allowed him to join the San Germán club in the province of Oriente in the Pedro Betancourt League. The team finished in first place and continued to the top spot in the National Popular Amateur League. Winning the League allowed Rodolfo and his teammates to travel to the United States in 1953 to play in a double elimination tournament in Michigan against amateur teams.

Before the team left Cuba for the United States, Joe Cambria, scout for the Washington Senators, tried to get Arias to sign, but Arias, after speaking with the President of the Popular League, Pedro Tibanier, heeded his advice not to sign with anyone until he arrived in the United States. If he pitched well, perhaps he could get a better contract. He went to the United States, but arranged with Joe Cambria that he would sign upon his return.

From Havana the team traveled to Miami, from there they went by bus for the long trip to Michigan. In 16 days of baseball, the team won only two games, both pitched by Arias. Although there were a couple of good players on the team, it was considered too weak by the scouts; Rodolfo, at 5 feet 10 inches and weighing 155 pounds, had the right build to continue along with his pitching abilities. The Chicago White Sox scout, Doug Menor, offered him a contract for $3,000. We should remember that pitchers like Camilo Pascual and Pedro Ramos signed for only $75. Because of this, Tibanier's advice and his own decision had been correct.

Upon his return to Cuba, Arias was called by Miguel Ángel González (a former Major League player and coach with 17 seasons, mostly as a catcher) of the Havana Lions, as they had heard about his pitching performance in Michigan. Upon entering the stadium he slipped on the wet stairs and fractured his left arm. Rodolfo still feels the depression he suffered at that moment.

During this period, he traveled to the province of Las Villas, where he met his future wife, Olga; the couple fell in love and were married in February 1954. Although Arias was from Camagüey, both his father and his wife were from Las Villas.

During his professional career he alternated between playing in Cuba's winter league, which began in late fall/winter, and in the United States, in the spring. He never thought of or wanted to do anything else but play baseball. He remembers thinking, "Why get a job when you can play baseball?"

Arias began his minor league career in the United States in 1953 with the Madisonville (Kentucky) Miners of the Class D Kitty League, appearing in 37 games, winning 16 and losing 10, with a .299 batting average. The White Sox moved him to Class B the following year, and he pitched for the Waterloo White Hawks with a record of 5-7 in 33 games.

His first year in the Cuban League was with the Havana Lions in '54, playing for Adolfo Luque (who had pitched in the majors for 23 years, accumulating a record of 194 wins and 179 losses). He describes Luque as a "warrior" who seemed to care about nothing more than winning baseball games, a demanding manager, a perfectionist in his behavior. Luque died three years later. Arias's teammates were Don Blasingame at second and Ken Boyer at third. He pitched in six games without wins or losses. He joyfully remembers striking out the three "Americans" on the Almendares team: Rocky Nelson, Gus Triandos, and Earl Rapp.

During 1955-1957, Arias played for the Amarillo Gold Sox, Colorado Springs Sky Sox, and Toronto Maple Leafs, with a combined record of 34 wins and 24 losses. In 1956, he played in the winter league for the Marianao team, winning two games. His son, Rodolfo ("Rudy"), was born that year. He improved his record in 1957 with 9 wins and 5 losses and in the winter he played for the Caribbean Series championship representing Cuba (Marianao), which had five wins and only one loss. His opponents were Mayagüez (Puerto Rico), Balboa (Panama) and Caracas (Venezuela). Arias was able to pitch in one game for a total of one inning, allowing three hits with one strikeout.

The year 1958 saw Rodolfo pitching in his native land during the regular season. He was playing Triple-A in the International League for the Havana Sugar Kings Cuba, with a record of 7-7 and an ERA of 3.80. One of his victories was the only no-hit, no-run game in that team's history, on August 17 against the Rochester Red Wings. The only Rochester player who managed to get on base was shortstop Roy Smalley, who received a walk in the sixth inning. Arias received $1,000 from Cuba's Bohemia magazine for his feat that day.

That winter, he returned to Cuba and played for Marianao once again (3-7), returning to the Caribbean Series, where he made another brief appearance, giving up a hit and a walk. Marianao once again won the series with a record of 4-2 against the teams from Caguas (Puerto Rico), Carta Vieja (Panama), and Valencia (Venezuela).

During the 1959 season, at the age of 28, Arias was promoted to the Chicago White Sox. His first game saw him enter in the bottom of the ninth inning on April 10, in a game against the Detroit Tigers. The game was tied, with two outs and a runner on first. He allowed a single, but then recorded the third out, sending the game to extra innings. He was a pinch hitter in the top of the 10th. Arias was used exclusively as a relief pitcher for the White Sox in 1959, pitching 44 innings total. He was 2-0, and allowed 49 hits and 23 runs, while walking 20 and striking out 28 batters. During the 34 games he appeared in, he batted only four times, without a hit and struck out twice.

Rudy finished 13 games; his two victories were on April 17 against the Tigers and on May 12, when he pitched the 11th and 12th innings of a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Arias's last game in the Major Leagues was on August 26, 1959. He finished with an ERA of 4.09, above the team's collective average of 3.29. Arias was with the team all season and was a member of the Red Sox roster in the World Series. He received his full share of the World Series, although he saw no action in the series.

The two batters he feared most were Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. As he recalls, when pitching to Mantle in a preseason game he found himself at a count of 2 and 1, followed by a second strike with the count at 2 and 2. The catcher called for a changeup and Mickey made a powerful swing. According to Arias, who laughs when telling the story, "That ball almost hit the sun."

On another occasion, Ryne Duren had just struck out Nellie Fox and when Arias took the mound, it was Duren's turn at bat. The White Sox manager called time and approached the mound. His message to Arias was "Hit him with a pitch." That's what was done in those days, there was no option in the matter—you had to do it. So he wound up and threw at Duren who, knowing what was coming, jumped backward and avoided the pitch. Arias hit him in the stomach with his next throw. As a fight was about to break out, Earl Torgeson ran from first base and positioned himself between Arias and everyone else. Torgeson was known for being skilled with his fists, and no one touched Arias that day.

His daughter Olga Cristina was born while he was pitching in Chicago. In fact, the White Sox were scheduled to be on a trip to Washington when his daughter was about to be born, but he was allowed to stay to be with his wife. After the birth, he was driven to the airport by Bill Veeck himself, a gesture he is grateful for to this day.

Arias returned to Cuba for the 1959 winter league and played for Marianao, where he had a record of 4-8, pitching 118 innings in 29 games with an ERA of 3.29.

He returned to Triple-A in 1960, playing for the San Diego White Sox affiliate in the Pacific Coast League and the Miami Marlins, a Baltimore affiliate in the International League. He had a combined total of 10 wins and 10 losses in 174 innings. After the season, he pitched for Marianao, where he won 10 games and lost 9 in 150 innings of pitching with 93 strikeouts and 50 walks, and was selected to the All-Star team.

On January 17, 1961, Arias set a Cuban league record by pitching a complete game of 18 innings against the first team he had played for, the Havana Lions. He lost that game when Dan Morejón singled with a runner on second. Who was the winning pitcher in relief? Luis Tiant (a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of fame), who went on to win Rookie of the Year for his 10 victories. With Castro's regime fully in power, 1961 was the last season of professional baseball in Cuba.

In the spring of 1961, Arias pitched for the Jersey City Jersey of the Cincinnati organization in the International League, where his record was 8-9 in 157 innings. He returned late in the year to Cuba when he heard rumors that the new government was starting a baseball league again. Once there, he pitched without practicing properly and without adequate supervision and tore a tendon in his arm. Shortly after, he learned that the rumors he had heard about baseball in Cuba were not correct. Wanting to continue playing professional baseball, he left Cuba once again.

Arias pitched in 1962 for the Columbus Jets, a Pittsburgh affiliate in the International League, and in San Diego, which was now part of the Cincinnati organization, but pitched only 15 innings because of his shoulder trouble and did not record a win. The Cincinnati medical staff gave him a cortisone injection and sent him to the Macon Peaches, an affiliate in the South Atlantic League. He got a 2-1 record in 26 innings of work, but his arm was no longer able to meet the demands of the game and the rigors of pitching, and so he retired.

It was hard to leave baseball, however, and after a few years, feeling his arm better, he pitched in the Mexican League for the Poza Rica team in 1965 and 1966 and was able to get a record of 3 wins and 3 losses, but a slip at second base resulted in a serious leg injury that became infected and prevented him from pitching anymore. He could hardly walk, but he had also heard that there were rumors that United States teams might have interest in him again. He returned to Mexico in 1967, but his arm had deteriorated again. He stayed, but one week before the start of the season he retired for the last time from professional baseball.

Arias worked in construction in the Miami area, but it proved to be too physically difficult. He played in a Miami softball league for Barnett Bank when a bank official offered him a job in security. He immediately accepted and worked in security for 18 years until his final retirement in 1995.

Arias and his wife, Olga, celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary in February 2008. In addition to their two children, they have four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His son, Rudy, signed with Seattle in 1977 as a catcher, but retired after suffering a fractured jaw. Later he was a bullpen catcher in three Major League organizations for 11 years.

As for old Rudy: He lives in the Miami area and spends much of his time with his family. He continues to receive mail from fans and collectors seeking autographs. Both he and his wife have wonderful memories of their life together.