Julio Rojo

Note: This page is for 1920s catcher Julio Rojo; for others with the same name, click here.

Domingo Julio Rojo

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8"

• Debut 1923
• Final Game 1929
• Born May 22, 1894 in Sagua la Grande Cuba
• Died December 27, 1958

BR page

Biographical Information

Julio Rojo played in four different decades in the Cuban Winter League and in three decades in the Negro Leagues, perhaps the longest career of a Cuban catcher in the Negro Leagues. His son Julio Rojo, Jr. would later pitch in Cuba.

Julio Rojo, Sr. debuted in 1916 with the Cuban Stars, playing first base for the Negro League club. He hit .333 as the Stars' catcher in 1917 and .384 at first base in 1918. That winter, he debuted in Cuba. In 1919, Julio fell to .167 while returning to the catcher's job with the Stars. Julio was 11 for 71 with a double as a utility man in the 1919-1920 CWL.

In 1920, Rojo hit .176 for the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants. He went 0 for 4 in an exhibition that fall against Carl Mays and Babe Ruth then was 4 for 14 with a double in Cuba in 1920-1921. in 1921, Rojo batted .215 for Atlantic City and went 1 for 5 against Fred Heimach and Eddie Rommel while playing the A's. He improved to .263 in 1922, tying Bob Hudspeth and Oliver Marcelle for second in the east behind Louis Santop. He went 17 for 57 with 3 doubles and a triple for the 1922-1923 Santa Clara Leopards.

Rojo moved to the Baltimore Black Sox in 1923 and also switched positions, now at third base. He hit .302, led the new Eastern Colored League with 9 steals and was 4th in the ECL with six triples. With the 1923-1924 Santa Clara Leopards, generally considered one of the top Cuban teams of the pre-Castro era, he hit .320 and slugged .412. He backed up Frank Duncan at catcher and split first base with Heavy Johnson and Eddie Douglass.

In 1924, Julio batted .328 as a utility man for Baltimore and 1 for 2 in an exhibition against the A's. He hit .275/?/.341 for Santa Clara-Matanzas in 1924-1925. Catching for Baltimore in 1925, he hit .268. He joined the Habana Leones in 1925-1926 and would spend much of his career with them. He hit .264 and slugged .330 for them his first season. With the Black Sox in 1926, he fell into a part-time role and hit .178 while Robert Clarke shared the catcher's job with him.

The Cuban veteran hit .351 and slugged .546 for Habana in 1926-1927, tying for the league lead with four triples. He hit .336 as a catcher for the New York Lincoln Giants in 1927. Backing up Mike Gonzalez in Habana in 1927-1928, he went 7 for 38 with two doubles. He hit .351 as an outfielder for New York in 1928. Had he qualified, he would have been fifth in the ECL in average, behind Pop Lloyd, Dick Lundy, Oscar Charleston and Jud Wilson, three of whom would wind up in the Hall of Fame. Rojo again backed up Gonzalez in the winter of 1928-1929.

In 1929, he hit .315 while catching for New York. Winning the starting job from Gonzalez, he hit .272/?/.393 in 1929-1930. His six triples were one shy of leader Chino Smith. He played in his last US campaign in 1930, hitting .294 while splitting the Lincoln Giants catching job with Larry Brown. He was 4 for 8 in a postseason series with the Homestead Grays and 0 for 3 in an exhibition versus Carl Hubbell.

Rojo's Cuban career was far from over, though. He went 18 for 63 for Habana in 1930 and hit .248/?/.290 in 1931-1932. In 1932-1933, he shared catching with another major leaguer, Mike Guerra, for Habana, and also played third base. He hit .241 and slugged .317 for the winter. He backed up Bill Perkins in Santa Clara in 1935-1936, hitting only .212 and slugging .306. He was a player-manager for Santa Clara in 1936-1937, hitting .266 and slugging .330 while again backing up Perkins.

Rojo was manager of the Estrellas Orientales in the 1937 Dominican League, guiding players such as Ramón Bragaña, Alejandro Oms and Cocaina Garcia. He was unable to stop the powerhouse put together by Rafael Trujillo which boasted Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson among others. Julio managed Habana for part of 1937-1938 and shared catching duties with the legendary Gibson. Rojo did well, going 19 for 66 with two doubles, a triple and a homer. In the 1938 Mexican League, he went 5 for 32 with 5 walks. He was 15 for 42 with a double and a homer while backing up Chico Hernandez in 1938-1939. Back in Mexico with the Veracruz Eagle, the old-timer hit .268/~.387/.388 with 17 RBI in 22 games. In 1939-1940, he was just 4 for 26 with a double for Habana. He was 2 for 7 for Santa Clara in 1940-1941, managing the team for part of the year (Pelayo Chacón also took a hand at the reigns).

In 1941, Julio was 15 for 58 with 2 doubles and 9 walks in 18 games for the Monterrey Industrials, his last season outside of Cuba. He went 6 for 46 for Habana in 1941-1942 to end his playing career. He remained active as a Habana coach in 1942-1943, 1943-1944 and 1945-1946 and later coached for Cienfuegos in 1949-1950 and 1953-1954.

Rojo's 21 seasons in the Cuban Winter League were 5th all-time after José María Fernández, Chacón, Mike Gonzalez and Martin Dihigo.

Sources

• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• Wayback Machine archive of Radiococo listing of Cuban baseball families
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros