José Arcia

José Raimundo (Orta) Arcia (born August 22, 1943 in Havana, Cuba) was a utility player in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres from 1968 to 1970. Arcia was signed as an amateur free agent by the Houston Colt.45's in 1962 but would not make his major league debut for six years.

Arcia's rather circuitous route to the majors was notable in that he was traded three times as a minor leaguer, from Houston to the Detroit Tigers, from the Tigers to the Cleveland Indians, and from the Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals. Finally, in 1967's Rule 5 draft, the Cubs selected Arcia from the Cardinals organization. He opened the 1968 season as a member of the Cubs and remained with the club the whole season, batting .190 in 58 games as a rookie, hitting his only Major League home run, and playing six positions in the field. Despite his subpar offensive performance, Arcia found himself coveted again, selected by the Padres in 1968's Major League Baseball expansion draft.

Arcia would see considerable playing time over the next two seasons with San Diego, serving as a rather versatile utility man. The only positions he did not play in his career were catcher and pitcher. His poor offense continued, however, as he hit .215 and .223 in 1969 and 1970 respectively, with singles accounting for 90 of his 116 hits. He also proved to be an unreliable baserunner, caught stealing in 13 of his 30 attempts those two years, though he did lead the Padres with 14 stolen bases in 1969.

Arcia's last game as a big leaguer was September 30, 1970.

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/arciajo01.shtml Baseball-reference page]