Talk:Ronnie Camacho

Circa 1969, I went to the Adolfo Lopez Mateos stadium to see the Puebla Parrots (Pericos) play against the Reynosa Broncos. By then, the Broncos were playing much better; they had acquired from the Parrots two excellent players--Puerto Rican Oscar Rodriguez and Cuban-born Daniel Morejón. The Broncos won the game 13-7, as I recall. The Lopez Mateos' outfielders concrete-block fence was about 8ft-to-9 ft high; behind that fence, there is a dirt area that rises in about a 45 degree angle away from the fence; behind the dirt area, there is a second 25ft-high metal fence. Most of the homerun balls usually fell on the dirt area between the two fences. Right behind center field and outside the 2nd and taller fence, there was a two-story house risen higher than the taller fence. It was obvious that the owner had built a big opening on the front of the 2nd floor so he could watch the games from the comfort of his home. As a spectator in the stadium seats, one could easily see the tall two-story house sticking out above and behind the second metal fence. In one of his turns at bat, Rolando “Ronnie” Camacho hit the ball so hard that we could hear the loud cracking noise the wooden bat made when it made contact with the ball; the ball kept quickly rising in about a 35 degree angle and it easily went behind the first fence then over the second fence and it kept rising and going until it landed on top of the concrete roof of the two story house in question; it probably landed in a 30 degree angle because it bounced and kept going away from the roof. For a quick moment the crowd fell silent because of the shock and owesomeness of Ronnie Camacho's homerun. I never knew what was between the second metal fence and the two-story house until 2007 (38 years later) when I was in a work-related visit to Reynosa near the Lopez Mateos stadium. I recalled Ronnie Camacho's homerun. I decided to drive behind the stadium right behind center field. I thought the two-story house would be two or three feet behind the second fence but to my surprise, right behind the second fence there is an 8ft wide sidewalk; then there is a 30ft-wide street that runs parallel to the curvature of the right-center-left fields; then there is another 8 ft- wide sidewalk across the street. The house is located about 15ft away from the second sidewalk. Suppose the center field fence is 400ft. away from home-plate; lets add 25ft for the second fence +8ft. for 1st sidewalk + 30ft for the street and + 8ft for the 2nd side walk +15ft of distance to the two-story house equals 486ft., providing the fence is 400ft. from home plate. Had the ball not landed on the roof, we could easily add another 30 ft. which would add up to about 506ft. Ronnie Camachos' homerun could have easily gone over the fence of any of the Major Baseball Leagues’ ballparks. If Camacho had been coached better when he was young, he would have been a much greater baseball player than he was.

Lic. José M. Pulido, McAllen, TX