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Thursday, February 15, 2018

Juan De La Rosa, Big Hit - 7

Down by one in the bottom of the eighth of this May 1992 game, Knoxville outfielder Juan De La Rosa came through with the big hit, according to The Associated Press.

De La Rosa did so by hitting a three-run home run to lift his AA Blue Jays to a 6-4 win, The AP wrote.

De La Rosa hit that home run in his seventh season as a pro. He went on to see time in 12 seasons. He made AAA, but never made the bigs.

De La Rosa's career began in 1986, signed by the Blue Jays as a free agent out of his native Dominican Republic. He was also credited as Juan DeLa Rosa.

He started with the Blue Jays at rookie Medicine Hat and short-season St. Catharines. He hit .227 in 57 games. He then played 1987 completely at Medicine Hat and hit .290.

De La Rosa played 1988 and 1989 at single-A Myrtle Beach. He hit .229 in 1988 and .256 in 1989. He went on a 14-game hitting streak in July and August 1989 and hit home run in five of six games during one stretch of the streak. He hit 11 home runs on the year.

He made high-A Dunedin in 1990, then AA Knoxville in 1991. He returned to Knoxville in 1992 and hit .329.

De La Rosa made AAA for the first time in 1993, getting 60 games at Syracuse. He hit .227 and had trouble hitting with runners in scoring position. By mid-June, he was 0 for 28 in that department.

He moved to the Twins system and AAA Salt Lake for 1994. He doubled in a run in a May game. He then returned there for 31 games in 1995 before he played out the year at independent Winnipeg.

He played 1997 in Mexico and at independent Elmira then returned to Elmira for 1998 to end his career.
1990 Minor League Tally
Players/Coaches Featured: 2,894
Made the Majors:1,077-37.2%
Never Made Majors:1,817-62.8%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 447
10+ Seasons in the Minors:269-X

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