Rubio Malone

Rubio Meade Malone

• Bats Both, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 160 lb.
• High School Compton High School

• Born May 9, 1959

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Rubio Malone pitched in the minor leagues from 1977 to 1979, then made two comeback attempts, in 1987 and 1989.

He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 20th round of the 1977 amateur draft, out of a high school in California. He played for the Elizabethton Twins in the Appalachian League in both 1977 and 1978, going 5-3, 3.33 the first year and 5-6, 3.00 the second. His 1978 season is notable because he pitched two no-hitters. The first came on June 23rd, a seven-inning 8-1 win over the Johnson City Cardinals. The second came less than a month later, on July 19th, when he defeated the Bluefield Orioles, 6-0, this time in 9 innings. There was only one other no-hitter thrown in the circuit that year. His hit rate was low, as expected, with 68 in 84 innings, but he also walked 57 batters while striking out just 43, after posting a good 71/37 K/W rate in his first season.

In 1979, he moved up to the Wisconsin Rapids Twins in the Midwest League but did not fare well as in 11 starts, his record was 3-6, 6.07. It's possibe that he was injured, and in any case he did not reappear in professional baseball until 1987, by which time he was 28 years old and playing for the San Bernardino Spirit, an unaffiliated team in the California League. He did very well as a relief pitcher, going 4-4, 2.08 in 52 games with 14 saves and 130 strikeouts in 108 1/3 innings. The Spirit became a Seattle Mariners farm team in 1988, and they were uninterested in keeping a 29-year-old pitcher around, even if he was coming off a great season, so he did not play that year. In 1989, now 30 and a full 7 years older than the average player in the circuit, he pitched for another unaffiliated team in the California League, the Reno Silver Sox. He had another good year, going 6-3, 3.72 in 38 games, notching 89 strikeouts in 82 1/3 innings. That was the final season of an unusual career.