Rudy Jaramillo

Rudolpho "Rudy" Jaramillo [ha-dah-MEE-yoh] (born September 20, 1950 in Beeville, Texas) is currently the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers. Jaramillo is the first individual in Rangers history to serve more than eight seasons on their major league coaching staff since being hired in 1994. Rudy also has the longest tenure with one team as a hitting coach in Major League Baseball.

Before his coaching career, he was a minor league outfielder from 1973 through 1976 who batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Jaramillo played four minor league seasons for the Rangers, but he never reached the major league level as a player. He started his minor league coaching career in 1983 and served as manager in the minors from 1984 to 1986. He, then, became a minor league roving hitting instructor and worked in that capacity through the 1989 season. In 1990, Jaramillo joined the Houston Astros coaching staff after Art Howe was named the team manager. From 1990 through the 1993 season, Rudy was the Houston Astros' major league batting coach, where offensive records were consistently broken each year and Jeff Bagwell earned Rookie of the Year in 1990. He served as manager of the Bend Rockies for one season in 1994.

Prior to the 1995 season, Jaramillo was named as the Texas Rangers' major league hitting coach. From 1996 through the end of the 2004 season, the Texas Rangers ranked in the top five in the American League in team batting average, runs scored, slugging percentage, home runs, and hits. In 1999, the Texas Rangers led all of Major League Baseball in hits, slugging percentage, and team batting average(.293 for the season). In 2005, the Rangers hit 260 home runs: the second-highest total in Major League history. During his time with Texas, his hitters have won 16 Silver Slugger Awards, four MVP Awards, three home run titles, two RBI championships and a batting title.

In 2003, Rudy was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the 2004 recipient of the Texas Rangers' Joe Macko Award, given to honor his long and meritorious service to the organization.

Baseball America, in 2005, named Rudy Jaramillo Major League Coach of the Year.

When the New York Mets were in search of a new major league manager in 2004, General Manager Omar Minaya interviewed Jaramillo as a possible managerial candidate. Jaramillo was among the final two candidates for the position, but Willie Randolph was ultimately selected as manager.

Jaramillo, who is bilingual, has been credited for the development of players as Jeff Bagwell, Juan González, Iván Rodríguez, Mark Teixeira and Michael Young, among others.

Jaramillo was awarded with theHispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame Pioneer Award at Rangers Ballpark, Arlington Texas on 9/19/08.

http://www.hispanicbaseballmuseum.com/fme_perez.html

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Rudy_Jaramillo BR Bullpen]
* [http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/team/coach_staff_bio.jsp?c_id=tex&coachorstaffid=427252 MLB.com]
* [http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/team/coach_staff_bio.jsp?c_id=tex&coachorstaffid=427252 Texas Rangers Official site]
* [http://www.rudyjaramillo.com/aboutrudy.htm Rudy Jaramillo Bio]
* [http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/051207galarudy.html Baseball America's 2005 Major League Coach of the Year]