Luis Cruz Sr.

Luis Alfonso Cruz Borbon

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born December 26, 1961 in Navojoa, Sonora Mexico

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Luis Cruz Sr. played 16 years in the Mexican League. Never a league leader in an offensive category, he was a reliable producer who finished his career among the top 20 in league history in a few departments. He is the father of major leaguer Luis Cruz.

Cruz Sr. began his career in 1984 with the Tampico Lightermen, hitting .251/.294/.473 with 19 home runs in 355 AB. In 1985, he batted .263/.324/.449 with 16 homers. The next year, he improved to .323/.369/.564 with 87 runs, 26 homers and 113 RBI; those were career highs in homers and RBI, but it should be noted that the 1986 season was notorious in Mexican League history for its high offensive stats.

In 1987, Luis hit .381/.425/.650 for the San Luis Potosi Cactus Pear Growers for a career year. He set highs in average, OBP, slugging and doubles (31) while hitting 22 home runs. He ranked third in the league in average behind Orlando Sanchez and Rufino Linares. Cruz batted .299/.355/.482 for the 1988 San Luis Potosi squad. He led Mexican League outfielders with 22 assists and 10 double plays. That winter, he hit .294/~.328/.417 for the Hermosillo Orange Growers with 5 triples, possibly the highest in the league.

Cruz had another fine campaign in 1989, hitting .330/.388/.487 with a career-best 103 runs. He was third in the Liga in runs, five behind Mike Cole and Willie Aikens. In 1990, Cruz moved to the Torreon Cotton Dealers and hit .293/.336/.461. With Torreon in 1991, his batting line was .331/.386/.596 and he slugged 24 homers with 98 RBI; he also had 7 triples. In 1992, he batted .324/.355/.490 with 92 RBI.

The Novojoa native moved to the Yucatan Lions in 1993 and hit .300/.375/.467. He joined his 5th team in 1994, signing with the Saltillo Saraperos and slumping to .249/.281/.333 at age 32. For the first time in his 11-year career, he failed to reach double digits in homers, only swatting 5.

Cruz bounced back in 1995 with the Reynosa Broncos, batting .301/.330/.455. It was his last big season. In 1996, he hit .269/.342/.356 for Reynosa. He batted .238/.298/.321 in 1997 and .280/.360/.332 in 1998. He wound up his career by hitting .229/.275/.229 in 19 games for Reynosa in 1999. Those last four seasons brought him under .300 for his career.

His batting line in 1,671 games was .297/.338/.464. He had 321 doubles, 210 homers, 903 runs and 1,034 RBI. Through 2000, he was 17th all-time in Mexican League history in doubles and RBI, 13th in home runs and 15th in times hit by pitch (87).

Cruz was a candidate for the Salon de la Fama from 2006 to 2010 but did not win entrance and fell from the ballot.

Sources

• 1989 Baseball Guide
• 1988-1990 Baseball Almanacs
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros
• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette