Minnie Mendoza

[William Malone]

Cristobal Rigoberto Mendoza Carreras was born on December 3, 1934 in Cuba.

He signed with the Washington Senators in 1958, and spent over a decade in the minor leagues. Mendoza finally made his Major League debut for the Minnesota Twins in 1970 at the age of 35. His time in the big leagues lasted just 16 games. Mendoza was 3-for-16 (.188) with two RBI for the Twins. He never started a game, and all his at-bats came as a pinch hitter or after a double switch. The American League didn't adopt the designated hitter rule until 1972.

Mendoza spent the rest of his life in various coaching roles. He was coaching in the Orioles minor league system for much of the late 1970's through early 1990's, serving as their big league third base coach for one season in 1988. Mendoza moved to the Cleveland Indians organization in 1992, and spent over 20 years coaching at the lower levels of their minor league system. Much of this time was spent giving some of their youngest Latin American prospects one-on-one attention, helping them with the transition to American pro ball.

He passed away in 2024 at the age of 89.

 

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