Jesus Mendez, Down Easy - 411

-
The hopeful young ballplayers tried out, but weren't good enough. And Jesus Mendez, the chief Venezuela scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, had to break the news.

"Almost all of them, I'll have to let down easy," Mendez told The Los Angeles Times in a January 2008 article. "I never tell them afterward they can't play. I tell them what they have to work on to get better."

It was as a free agent in Caracas that a young Mendez signed with the Cardinals in time for the 1986 season. His father and brother had played in amature ball in Venezuela.

According to his Google-translated Spanish Wikipedia page, Mendez caught the eye of Jim Fregosi, then managing the winter Venezuelan Professional Baseball League' Tigres de Aragua.

His time with the national team and the Tigres would lead to his number 18 being retired, the same number he wore for Louisville in 1990. Mendez played a total of 13 seasons with the Tigres.

Mendez played with the Florida State League' St. Petersburg Cardinals for two seasons, providing some crucial plays, a bases loaded double late in a June 1986 game, a rally-stopping catch in a July 1987 game.

He made AA Arkansas in 1988 and AAA Louisville in 1989. Mendez played until 1992, but never got the call up. His Spanish Wikipedia page notes Mendez' path to the majors was blocked by the Cardinals' outfield that included Vince Coleman and Willie McGee.

He then went on to his career as a scout.

Browse By:

-Player Name
-Player Team
-Date Featured

Players A to Z

Popular posts from this blog

Kevin Rinaldi saw pros over two seasons, made single-A

-
Image
Brevard Community College's Kevin Rinaldi got the win in this March 1989 game, despite one of his weaknesses - the first inning, according to Florida Today . Rinaldi went six innings, giving up five runs in the process, but still got the 8-5 victory, Florida Today wrote . "If he ever gets out of the first inning, he usually does a good job," Brevard head coach Ernie Rosseau told Florida Today . "He just has trouble in that first inning." Rinaldi went on to turn pro later that year. His pro career lasted two seasons. He topped out at single-A. Rinaldi's career began that year, signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent out of Brevard Community College. At Brevard, he struck out six while giving up five hits in a February win, then struck out 11 in another that month. Shortly after, Florida Today featured Rinaldi in a brief spotlight. In it, he counted his career goal as making the majors. He also identified Paul Molitor as a relative, though not how...
Read more

Walter Roy, Rookie Roommate - 2349

-
Image
Read the March 2015 interview: Walter Roy, Gung-Ho The first couple roommates for Javier Lopez didn't work out . Then he moved in with Walter Roy , and another teammate. The group was rounded out by Roy's wife. The two were at rookie Pulaski that year and the move for Lopez forced the Puerto Rican-native out of his comfort zone, Lopez wrote years later in his book "Behind the Plate. " "I had to learn English living with them," Lopez wrote . "Walter's wife was there, too. She was a very sweet lady, and she talked to me all the time, taught me a lot." Lopez went on from there to a major league career that spanned 15 seasons. Roy's career ended the next year at single-A Burlington . Roy's career began in 1989, signed by the Braves as an undrafted free agent out of Saginaw Valley State University and Mott Community College. At Pulaski, the pitcher Roy got into 14 games, starting two. He went 2-1, with a 2.12 ERA . He also struc...
Read more

Interview Part 3: Tom Gamboa, Strange Deal

-
Image
Brooklyn Cyclones manager Tom Gamboa in Troy, NY in August 2014. Gamboa served as Royals first base coach in 2002 when he was attacked in Chicago. (G21D Photo) Part 1: Accomplished Something | Part 2: Common Good Part 3: Strange Deal | Part 4: Truly Passionate Part 5: Player Stories One second Tom Gamboa was standing in the first base coaching box preparing to coach the ninth inning at Chicago's new Comiskey Park. The next second the 54-year-old was on the ground. He was knocked there near the end of this September 2002 game by a crazed father and son who had jumped onto the field from the stands. But Gamboa didn't know that at the time. All he knew was that he was on the ground being attacked. "I remember it like an out-of-body experience," Gamboa recalled to The Greatest 21 Days recently, "lying on the ground wondering who are these people? What are they doing on the field? And why are they swinging at me?" In an instant, Gamboa had ...
Read more

Features from the 1990 minor league sets (By Date)

-
Image
What happened to your favorite minor league team in 1990? Find out here. Since late 2009, the players of 1990 have been featured at Greatest21Days.com, one at a time. Here, they've been ordered here by the date published, newest first.  Every player has a story. With the help of contemporaneous newspaper articles, find that story here. Most recent players added Dec. 1 ,  2024 Features in order of when the y appeared: February 2025  -  Doug Bair  did his job in major leagues over 15 seasons , 2/23/25  -  Nick Belmonte  played, managed, broadcast Florida games , 2/22/25  -  Mark Brewer  amassed coaching experience over long career , 2/21/25  -  Dan Shwam  had long independent league managerial career , 2/15/25  -  Jim Schifman  dreamed of pros, made it for eight games , 2/11/25  -  Steve Keighley  worked to hit over 4 seasons, made high-A , 2/9/25  -  Jim Doyle  helped Sal...
Read more

Marsalis Basey played minors baseball, college basketball

-
Image
Marsalis Basey started his pro baseball career in 1990. But, after one game, he went home, homesick, The Tucson Citizen wrote later. "It was a big difference from what I was used to," Basey told The Citizen in December 1992. "And I wasn't used to being away from home - at least not that far. But they told me I could leave and come back when I wanted to." The occasion for the interview was Basey's visit to Arizona as a member of the West Virginia University Mountaineers basketball team, where he played four seasons . Basey did return to the baseball field. He ended up playing over four seasons in the Astros system. He topped out at high-A. Basey's career began in 1990, taken by the Astros in the 16th round of the draft out of Martinsburg High School in Martinsburg, West Virginia. With the Astros, Basey got into that one game in the rookie Gulf Coast League . He went 0 for 5. He then returned home to West Virginia and joined the Mountaineers . He got...
Read more

Samir Jarad played over two pro seasons, six pro games

-
Image
Samir Jarad was good enough to see two pro seasons, just not necessarily good enough (or healthy?) to spend much time on the field. Jarad's career proved limited to just six games across those two seasons .  He played all six of those games in the rookie Gulf Coast League. Jarad's career began in 1990, signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent. Baseball stat sites lack references to his college or home origins. In fact, the limited nature of Jarad's career appears to have contributed to the lack of information about it.  Google searches, as well as searches at Newspapers.com, uncover no extra references to Jarad's brief career, including anything that fits with him prior to him turning pro. Jarad's first season consisted of a single game spent as a 19-year-old in the GCL. He's credited with three plate appearances, no hits and one strikeout. He isn't credited as playing in the field. From that brief appearance, Jarad appears to have still had enoug...
Read more

1990 CMC Pre-Rookie Set

-
Features of each member of the 1990 CMC Pre-Rookie Set. Click the names to read about the players. Features were posted from 2010 to 2012. Cards Featured in the 1990 CMC set: 880 Players/Coaches Featured: 891 Number Who Made the Majors: 608 Never Made the Majors: 283 5+ Seasons in the Majors: 271 10+ Seasons in the Minors: 163 1990 CMC Pre-Rookie Set 1 - Stan Belinda , No Comparison, 9/22/11 2 - Gordon Dillard , Reasonable Success, 5/1/11 3 - Terry Collins , Life in Baseball, 2/7/12 4 - Mark Huismann , Way To Break In, 7/28/10 5 - Hugh Kemp , Big Story, 10/24/10, Interview 6 - Scott Medvin , Best Shot, 3/9/11 7 - Vicente Palacios , He Did, 9/8/11 8 - Rick Reed , Another Chance, 12/19/10 9 - Mark Ross , Got to Stay, 7/8/11 10 - Dorn Taylor , As Good, 6/21/12 11 - Mike York , New Start, 10/21/11 12 - Jeff Richardson , Family Man, 1/27/11 13 - Dann Bilardello , Big Moment, 6/24/10, Interview 14 - Tom Prince , Clean Hit, 4/2/10 15 - Danny Sheaffer , Uniform t...
Read more