I found this Chico Ruiz card in the Cincinnati Reds envelope of my 1965 set and it practically made me wince. For the Reds, he went 2 for 18 but scored seven runs which made me think he was used primarily as a pinch runner in 1965.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Totals | 29 | 2 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .111 | .111 | .167 |
Ruiz’ 1965 card is pretty horrendous as a hitter. It’s not often you see a position player with a 55-13. Aside from the two 6s, he just has the one 8 and one 9 to go with the 11. Not only that, those rolling for Ruiz have to put up with four 24s.
One slightly odd thing, he has a 23-13 but a 24-32. The card maker in me wants to switch the two.
While Chico Ruiz (from “Santo Dom’o, Cuba” per the APBA card) never hit like Rod Carew, his sophomore ‘65 season was by far the worst. His averages hovered around the .230-250 range during his 8 year career with the Reds and Angels. He did manage to play seven positions (all but CF and pitcher) throughout his career.
As I recall, Chico died tragically in a car accident near the end of his career.
Chico did indeed die in a car accident when he hit a utility pole in 1972. He was mostly a utility infielder for the Reds, although he became a regular in 1967 when Cardenas broke his hand. His claim to fame is his steal of home against the Phillies in 1964 starting their slide from 6 1/2 up to 1 down.
I think Ruiz had a broken leg in ’65.
Ruiz performed well in a ’64 MG replay, hitting 5 home runs. Chico blasted 2 in one game, one from each side of the plate..