Chico Ruiz

Hiraldo Sablón Ruiz (December 5, 1938 – February 9, 1972), known in the United States as Chico Ruiz, was a Cuban-American professional baseball player. An infielder, Ruiz played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds and California Angels from 1964 through 1971. He was the only major-league player ever to pinch-hit for Johnny Bench. He is, however, best remembered for a play he made his rookie season. His steal of home against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 21, 1964 has entered baseball folklore. Viewed by most over the years as "mad" or "zany," the play received a revisionist defense that put it in perspective as a daring and worthwhile gamble. It is often viewed as the turning point of the Phillies late season standings collapse in 1964.

Ruiz was born in Santo Domingo, Cuba, on December 5, 1938. His father, who owned a cigar factory, wanted Giraldo to succeed him in running the business. However, Chico attended college, where he studied architecture. His brother, Julio, later headed the labor force of Cubatabaco, which absorbed the Sablón business and various other private-sector tobacco enterprises.

Ruiz signed with the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1958 at age 19. He was among the last of the Cuban players to make it out of Cuba before the borders were sealed. He batted .275 with 28 home runs over six seasons in their farm system before making the renamed Cincinnati Reds out of spring training in 1964. Though he was a shortstop by trade, he made all 79 of his appearances on the field at either second or third base.

Ruiz married Isabel Suárez Navarro on October 4, 1961. They later had two daughters, Isis and Bárbara Isa.

On September 21, 1964, facing Art Mahaffey and the Philadelphia Phillies, Ruiz singled with one out in the sixth and the score 0–0. He advanced to third base on a single by Vada Pinson; however, Pinson made the second out of the inning trying to stretch it into a double. With two outs, Frank Robinson stepped to the plate.

Though in later years Mahaffey recalled he had gotten two strikes on Robinson, newspaper accounts at the time showed, in actuality, the count was 0–1. Ruiz, noting Mahaffey had used a long windup on the first pitch, broke for home on the next delivery. Seeing the runner, a rattled Mahaffey rushed and uncorked a pitch which Phillies catcher Clay Dalrymple could not handle. Ruiz stole home, accounting for the only run of the game. Then and later, Ruiz's decision was viewed as a bad one, considering that Robinson—Cincinnati's best hitter—was up. Sabermetric analysis, however, shows that it was not a bad percentage play.

At the start of that game, the Phillies had a 6+1⁄2-game hold on first place with 12 games to play. The Phillies then lost ten straight games to finish tied for second place. Phillies third baseman Dick Allen is quoted in Crash, The Life and Times of Dick Allen by Tim Whitaker as saying that the play "broke our humps". Chico Ruiz's steal of home has evolved into a popular culture legend. Some Philadelphia sports fans still refer to the "Curse of Chico Ruiz" as the reason for many of the misfortunes of the team over time.

With Pete Rose at second, Deron Johnson at third and Leo Cárdenas at short, Ruiz was squeezed out of a very solid infield, and saw very little playing time over the next two seasons. He brought a cushion to sit on the bench, a pair of special soft, comfortable alligator spiked shoes and a battery-driven fan the people in St. Louis gave him at their games to keep himself cool and comfortable on the bench.