Rolo Avila

Rolando Avila

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 170 lb.

• School California State University, Long Beach, Los Angeles Harbor College
• High School Paramount High School

• Born August 10, 1973 in Torrance, CA USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Rolo Avila played in the minor leagues and for the USA national baseball team.

Avila was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 13th round of the 1993 Amateur Draft from junior college, but he didn't sign. The Baltimore Orioles then picked him in the 20th round of the 1994 Amateur Draft, and he hit .275/.381/.370 in 56 games for the Bluefield Orioles in his first season. He was 5th in the Appalachian League with 27 steals (in 31 tries), between Decomba Conner and Scarborough Green, and was 8th with 41 runs.

He had a .239/.357/.339 batting line with 27 steals in 52 games for the High Desert Mavericks in 1995, and he also played 52 games with the Frederick Keys, where he hit .263/.328/.337. He reached AA that season, and he went 10-for-43 with the Bowie Baysox. His 36 swipes were second among O's farmhands, 16 behind Miguel Mejia, and he tied Brad Tyler for 9th with 60 runs. He improved to .331/.381/.443 with 22 steals for the Mavericks in 1996, and he also batted .266/.340/.352 with 15 steals for the Baysox. He had 12 appearances for the AAA Rochester Red Wings, and he went 12-for-47. He was 5th in the Baltimore chain in runs (92, between Jesse Garcia and Bryan Bogle), 6th with 31 doubles and tied for 4th with 25 swipes.

The Californian went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997, and he collected 52 steals with a .290/.369/.387 batting line for the San Bernardino Stampede. He tied Joe Mathis for 7th in the California League with 94 runs and tied Trent Durrington for 4th in stolen bases. In the Dodgers system, he tied J.P. Roberge for 4th in runs, was 3rd in steals and 7th in walks (63, between Paul Konerko and Chip Hale.

Avila then signed with the Atlantic City Surf of the Atlantic League, and he got 30 steals with a .261/.384/.354 batting line. Only Kinnis Pledger and Will Pennyfeather scored more runs than his 73 and only Tony Rodríguez had more bases pilfered. The speedy outfielder extended his solid performance in 1999, and he hit .302/.401/.428 with 29 steals for the Newark Bears. He tied Jeff Berblinger for 5th in runs (81), tied Keith Gordon for 4th in swipes and was 10th in walks (54, between Héctor Villanueva and Sharnol Adriana).

He had his career year in the Atlantic League in 2000, and he crushed 12 homers with a .319/.418/.462 batting line and 47 steals. He was 5th in average (between Dave Steed and Johnny Monell Sr.), 7th in OBP (between Alex Cole and Mike Warner), 5th in runs (97, between Steed and Ric Johnson), tied Warner for 3rd in swipes and was 9th with 71 walks (while only striking out 27 times). He stole 41 bags with a .269/.378/.349 batting line in 2001 for the Bridgeport Bluefish, 3rd in steals behind Billy Hall and P.J. Williams. He was 64th with 64 walks, between Emiliano Escandon and Greg Blosser.

The 28-year-old batted .315/.385/.453 with 42 steals for the Bluefish in 2002. He made league leaderboards in runs (77, 6th, between Oreste Marrero and Vic Gutierrez), hits (150, tied for first), doubles (26, 7th), triples (5, tied Johnson and T.J. Staton for 5th), steals (2nd, 10 behind Hall), walks (51, tied Francisco Morales for 5th), average (7th, between Aaron Ledesma and Justin Hall) and OBP (5th). He joined Gordon, Desi Wilson and Wil Quintana as the Atlantic League All-Star outfielders.

Avila got 20 steals with a .329/.384/.417 batting line in 2003, and he also played four games for the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican League (5-for-16, 2 2B, BB). He tied Justin Davies for 5th in the Atlantic League with 80 runs, led with 160 hits (9 ahead of Elvis Peña), tied for 5th in triples (5), was 10th in steals, lost the batting title by just .002 to Brad Strauss and was 6th in OBP (between Strauss and José Offerman). He joined Derrick Gibson and Kimera Bartee as the All-Star outfielders. He represented the USA in the 2003 Baseball World Cup, hitting .345/.379/.472 with 6 walks, 7 steals (in 9 tries) and 7 runs in 8 games; in center field, he had 11 putouts, 3 assists and no errors. He tied Eduardo Paret for the event lead in steals, more than double #3 Takashi Yoshiura.

The veteran then hit .262/.351/.320 in 2004, and he also spent a handful of games with the Leones de Yucatan in Mexico. He recorded a .254/.322/.302 batting line in 2005, and he played 87 games with a .259/.360/.297 batting line and 20 steals in 2006 for the Pensacola Pelicans. That was his last season as a professional player.

He had 392 steals and 922 runs in 1,371 games as a pro. Through 2024, he was among the Atlantic League's career leaders in games (830, 9th, between Lew Ford and Pennyfeather), at-bats (3,187, 6th, between Dwight Maness and Ford), hits (933, 5th, between Ford and Luis Lopez), runs (582, 2nd, 53 behind Ray Navarrete; he had retired as the record holder), singles (720, 3rd, behind Bryant Nelson and Angel Espada), steals (231, 3rd, behind Darian Sandford and Billy Hall), walks (411, 6th, between Lopez and Blake Gailen), caught stealing (83, 1st, 17 ahead of Sandford), HBP (63, 6th) and lowest K rate (.07, 3rd, behind only Joee Amado and Edgar Tovar).

Fans could place Rolo Avila on an all-candy team along with Frank Hershey, Gummy Wall, Steve Mintz, Taffy Wright, and others.