Gary VIllalobos got slide praise, saw 3 seasons, high-A
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The Lynchburg Red Sox needed speed late in this July 1991 game. What they got from their pinch runner Gary Villalobos was also good baserunning, according to The Lynchburg News and Advance.
Villalobos came around to score the game-winner, just avoiding the tag with a wide slide, The News and Advance wrote.
"Villalobos made some kind of unbelievable slide," Lynchburg manager Buddy Bailey told The News and Advance afterward. "I don't know how he made himself so skinny."
Villalobos scored that run in his second season as a pro. He saw just one more. He topped out at high-A.
Villalobos' career began in 1990, signed by the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent out of his native Venezuela.
Upon the Red Sox signing Villalobos, The New London Day noted he played shortstop, second base, catcher, adding the unusual personal insight that "he plays a mean harpsichord."
Villalobos started with the Red Sox at high-A Winter Haven. He saw 88 games and hit .271. He doubled in a run in a June game.
He then moved to Lynchburg for 1991. He hit .203 in 62 games. He returned to Winter Haven for 1992. He had a double and a triple in a May game. Overall, he saw 50 games and hit .235 to end his career.
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- Lynchburg News and Advance, July 2, 1991: L-Sox take advantage of Durham error
Made the Majors:1,482-31.6%
Never Made Majors:3,212-68.4%-X