Cookie Rojas

Octavio Víctor "Cookie" Rojas Rivas (born March 6, 1939), is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player, coach, manager and current television sports presenter. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman and outfielder from 1962 to 1977, most prominently for the Philadelphia Phillies where he first became an All-Star player, and later with the Kansas City Royals where his veteran experience and leadership played an integral role in helping the young Royals franchise develop into a championship team.

Although Rojas began his career as a second baseman, he was an extremely versatile athlete who could play any defensive position. He was named to four consecutive American League (AL) All-Star teams (1971-74) during his tenure with Kansas City and led the AL in fielding percentage in 1971, including a 52-game errorless streak as a second baseman.

After his playing career, Rojas worked as a coach for the Chicago Cubs and the California Angels before he became the manager of the Angels in 1988. He later worked as a coach for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays, participating in his first World Series with the Mets in 2000.

In 2003, Rojas began working for the Miami Marlins on their Spanish-language telecasts as a color commentator. In 1987, he was inducted into the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame, and he was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2011.

Playing baseball over the objections of his father, who wanted him to be a doctor, Rojas signed his first professional baseball contract with the Cincinnati Reds as a 17-year-old amateur free agent prior to the start of the 1956 season. Rojas was then assigned to Cincinnati's D-level team, the West Palm Beach Sun Chiefs in the Florida State League.

From 1957 to 1959, Rojas would make steady progress through the Reds' minor league system, playing for the Wausau Lumberjacks in the C-level Northern League in 1957, the Savannah Redlegs in the Single A Sally League in 1958, before coming home and playing for the Havana Sugar Kings in the AAA International League. His advancement through the system was steady despite his batting average falling every year between 1956 and 1960, finally bottoming out at .225.

Although he possessed an above-average glove, the Reds were not sure he'd ever hit enough to play regularly in the majors. Consequently, he would spend the next three seasons at AAA, playing for Havana and the Jersey City Jerseys, where he would continue to struggle with his bat while being blocked in the majors by superior Reds' second basemen in All Stars Johnny Temple, Billy Martin, and Don Blasingame. Rojas would finally go north with the Reds at the beginning of the 1962 season and would make his major league debut on April 10. However, he would continue to show little at the plate, hitting .221 with only 2 extra base hits in 78 at bats, and would be sent down to the AAA Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs for the remainder of the season.

After the 1962 season, Rojas was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for relief pitcher Jim Owens. Although the Phillies already had an All-Star second baseman in fellow Cuban Tony Taylor, Rojas had seen the last of the minor leagues and would man second in 27 games in 1963. Although he became the regular Phillies second baseman in 1965, Rojas would go on to play at every fielding position, including catcher and pitcher, but would see the bulk of his playing time in the outfield and shortstop in addition to second base. Getting more playing time helped improve his batting, as Rojas hit .291 in 1964 and a career-high .303 in 1965, when he was named to his first All-Star team. With the Phillies, Rojas teamed with shortstop Bobby Wine in a stellar double-play combination media and fans began to refer as "The Plays of Wine and Rojas", a takeoff of the popular song, "The Days of Wine and Roses".