Ruben Amaro (amaroru01)

Rubén Amaro Mora

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut June 29, 1958
• Final Game August 27, 1969
• Born January 6, 1936 in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas Mexico
• Died March 31, 2017 in Weston, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"He's the kind of guy, well, there's a dignity to him and everyone likes and respects him." - Jim Bouton in Ball Four

Rubén Amaro played in the majors between 1958 and 1969, winning the National League's Gold Glove at shortstop with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964. He was the father of Rubén Amaro, Jr. and David Amaro and son of Santos Amaro. Amaro also had two kids from his second marriage: Rubén Andres Amaro, born February 23, 1990 and Luis Alfredo Amaro, born January 17, 1989, both of whom also played baseball. Amaro also had a daughter, Alayna Amaro, born January 24, 1984.

While his Cuban-born father was a Mexican League star, the Mexican-born Rubén Sr. only had five at-bats in the Liga. He played for the Mexican national team that won the Silver Medal in the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games. Known primarily for his defense and versatility, Amaro's only season with impressive offensive statistics was 1955 when he hit .309 with 18 homers for the Mexicali Eagles of the Arizona-Mexico League. When Amaro was selected to the Salon de la Fama in 1986, he and his father became the first father-son duo to be so honored.

Amaro worked as a scout, manager, coach and director in baseball and led the Venezuelan club Aguilas del Zulia to a Caribbean Series title in 1984 as a manager. He was a coach with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980 and 1981 and a member of the Chicago Cubs coaching staff from 1983 to 1986. He was a scout for the Phillies from 1973 to 1982 (signing Willie Hernández), and the Latin American Scouting Supervisor for the Cubs in 1988. He then scouted for the Detroit Tigers in the 1990s.

Amaro died in March 2017 of natural causes. Rubén Jr. portrayed him on two episodes of ABC's family sitcom The Goldbergs.

Notable Achievements

• NL Gold Glove Winner (1964)

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1977	Auburn Phillies	New York-Penn League	17-53	10th	Philadelphia Phillies
1989	Bristol Tigers	Appalachian League	28-39	7th	Detroit Tigers
1993	Bristol Tigers	Appalachian League	28-39	8th	Detroit Tigers
1995	Petroleros de Minatitlan	Mexican League	41-73	15th	none
1996	Williamsport Cubs	New York-Penn League	43-32	5th	Chicago Cubs
1997	Rockford Cubbies	Midwest League	66-66	9th	Chicago Cubs
1998	Rockford Cubbies	Midwest League	71-68	7th	Chicago Cubs	Lost League Finals
2002	GCL Phillies	Gulf Coast League	39-21	1st	Philadelphia Phillies	League Champs
2003	GCL Phillies	Gulf Coast League	23-33	12th	Philadelphia Phillies

Further Reading

• Rory Costello: "Rubén Amaro", in Mel Marmer and Bill Nowlin, eds.: The Year of Blue Snow: The 1964 Philadelphia Phillies, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2013, pp. 19-31. ISBN 978-1-933599-51-9
• Frank Fitzpatrick: "Ruben Amaro Sr. dies at 81", The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 31, 2017. [1]

Related Sites

• Ruben Amaro Sr at the SABR Bio Project
• Salon de la Fama page for Ruben Amaro Sr.