It takes a special kind of player to work one’s way into the Bottom 7 Cubs of my time after only 59 innings in a Cubs uniform. Melquiades Rojas Medrano was just that kind of player. I guess part of it is that Rojas managed to give up 54 hits, 30 walks, 29 earned runs, and 11 home runs in those 59 innings. He also managed to blow six games and go 0-4 in that time.
Doesn’t it seem like this tubby piece of crap was with the Cubs for years? Nope. Only about four months. Had Rojas spent a more significant amount of time in blue pinstripes (and had the Cubs even been remotely good in the time he was with the team), it would have been tough to keep him out of the coveted Bottom One slot.
On December 10, 1996, the Cubs signed Rojas to a COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS three-year, $13.75M contract. By 1996 standards, that was an astonishing amount of money for a closer, particularly one who had never saved more than 36 games in a season. To put some perspective on the $4.6M Rojas stole from the Cubs in 1997, Mariano Rivera only made $4.25M in 1999. Not only was that contract signed two years later, but it was also signed by Mariano Rivera, who was the balls, not Mel f@#$ing Rojas, who just sucked them.
If there was one good thing which came of the Cubs’ horrendous 0-14 start to the 1997 season, it was that Cubs fans at least didn’t have to see Rojas lumber out of the bullpen in a futile effort to convert a save for the first two weeks of the season. He didn’t make up much ground after the terrible start, as he converted only 13 saves for the Cubs in 1997. Perhaps the worst part about Rojas, though, was that he had a knack for getting one or two outs in the inning before you noticed the brown stain on the back of his pants begin to spread and he blew the game wide open. Oh, and did he ever retire the first batter he faced in an inning? Ever?
The Cubs finally decided that Rojas was a mistake and that Terry Adams was a better option for closer. They traded Rojas along with Brian McRae and Turk Wendell to the New York Mets for Mark Clark, Manny Alexander, and Lance Johnson.
Since Rojas wasn’t a Cub for long, since he had more hilariously bad low points than I could possibly hope to rank, and since, as I mentioned above, Rojas is a “special kind of player” this entry’s Low Point will be forgone for…
HILARIOUSLY BAD OUTINGS!
10. July 20, 1997. In the top of the 9th inning at Wrigley Field, the Rockies had a 7-5 lead. By the end of the inning, they had a 9-5 lead. Thank you, Mel Rojas. Rojas got two quick outs out of Quentin McCracken and Eric Young. Rojas then proceeded to give up a single to Neifi Perez followed by a two-run homer to to Larry Walker, putting the game well out of reach. The Cubs lost 9-5.
9. May 17, 1997. The Giants are at Wrigley clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the 9th inning. Rojas gets Glenallen Hill swinging before giving up a single to Barry Bonds. Jeff Kent then slams a two-run homer to deep right centerfield, turning a one-run Cub deficit into a three-run Cub deficit. The Cubs lost 4-1.
8. April 3, 1997. Rojas’ first outing as a Cub was outstanding. He entered the bottom of the 8th inning of a ballgame in Florida against the Marlins. The Marlins already had a 5-1 lead, but why not let them pad it? Rojas walked Charles Johnson, beaned Alex Arias, and gave up a bunt single to Luis Castillo to load the bases. Edgar Renteria grounded into a 3-2 fielder’s choice. Rojas beaned Gary Sheffield to drive in a run, walked Bobby Bonilla to drive in another run, and then gave up another run on a Moises Alou fielder’s choice. Three runs came across in the inning, yet the Marlins only collected one hit. The Cubs lost 8-2.
7. May 24, 1997. The Cubs have a 1-0 lead over the Reds in the bottom of the 9th inning at Cincinnati. After getting Mike Kelly to strike out looking, Rojas gives up a game-tying solo moon shot to Eddie Taubensee, who only hit 10 homers all that season. The Cubs lose 4-1 in 12 innings on a walkoff three-run homer off the bat of Curtis Goodwin.
6. It’s the bottom of the 9th inning in Atlanta, and the Cubs have a 5-4 lead on the Braves. You wouldn’t think a one-run lead would be the ideal situation for Rojas, but he comes in, anyhow. Before you can say, “F@#$ you, Mel Rojas,” he gives up a leadoff triple to Danny Bautista. Rojas then induces a pop out from Jeff Blauser. Refusing to bail himself out, Rojas gives up a game-tying double to Chipper Jones followed by a game-winning single by Fred McGriff. Cubs lose 6-5.
5. April 24, 1997. The Pirates are in Wrigley Field. They have the Cubs just where they want them, as the Pirates are down 3-2 in the top of the 9th inning with Rojas coming in. Rojas gives up a leadoff single to Al Martin and then wild pitches him to second base. Rojas comes back, strikes out Mark Johnson looking, and then gets Kevin Elster to fly out with Martin moving over to third. Two outs, runner on third, the lead still intact. It didn’t last. Rojas gave up an RBI double to Jason Kendall to lose the lead, and then gave up a single to Jose Guillen to put the Cubs down a run. The score stood, as the Cubs lost 4-3.
4. May 14, 1997. The Dodgers and Cubs are tied 4-4 in the top of the 9th inning at Wrigley Field when Rojas comes in out of the bullpen. He starts the inning off with a bang, surrendering a leadoff double to Eric Anthony. Juan Castro bunts Anthony to third. “Oh, bummer,” Cubs fans thought. “All they need is a sacrifice fly to take the lead.” Never fear. Rojas didn’t give up the sacrifice fly. Instead, he gave up a two-run homer to Nelson Liriano, who only hit 25 such homers in 11 seasons as a Major Leaguer. Cubs lose 6-4.
3. July 15, 1997. The Cubs are clinging to a 3-2 lead over the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field. Rojas starts the 9th by giving up a single to Sean Barry followed by an infield pop out to Tony Eusebio. Chip Caray’s lover Craig “The Beej” Biggio draws a walk as Cubs fans start to groan. On cue, Rojas serves up a three-run home to Bill Spiers. The Cubs lose 5-3.
2. May 2, 1997. Rojas is called on again in the bottom of the 9th inning to hold on to a 7-6 Cubs lead over the Dodgers in L.A. Rojas walks the first two batters he faces, Mike Piazza and Eric Karros. He then gets Raul Mondesi and Todd Hollandsworth to pop out on the infield. Maybe Rojas is going to back his way into a save? Nah. He proceeds to give up another set of back-to-back walks to Todd Zeile and Wayne Kirby, walking in the tying run. The Cubs lose 8-7 on a Tom Prince sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th.
1. June 5, 1997. The Cubs are facing off with the Phillies in Philadelphia. Even though Kevin Foster started, the Cubs have an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the 9th inning. Rojas comes in to close out the game. Rojas walks Darren Daulton, gets Scott Rolen to ground into a fielder’s choice, drills Rex Hudler, and gets another fielder’s choice out of Kevin Foster. With runners on first and third and two outs, Rojas gives up a three-run bomb (and the lead) to Mike Lieberthal. The Cubs go on to lose the game in the 10th inning when an RBI single by Rolen gives the Phillies a walkoff, 9-8 win.
Did You Know? As recently as 2003, Rojas was attempting to make a comeback with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Maybe he was still riding the high of being only the 19th pitcher in the National League and the 28th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to record a nine-pitch, three-strikeout inning. The second batter Rojas got was eventual Cub Todd Hundley. Oh, and the most recent Cub to do it? LaTroy Hawkins on September 11, 2004. It’s like playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon, only I want to punch all of the degrees!
So not only did he suck, he was bad enough we had to trade McRae, who I always liked, to the Mets for Johnson, Manny freaking Alexander, and Mark Clark. I’m still trying to figure out if we got hosed or if the Mets did. Certainly Rojas’s suck factor had to outweigh (hah!-fat piece of shit) any benefit the Mets would have gotten from Brian. Of course, we got quite the pile in return as well.
Oh, and why do the Cubs have this thing for overweight closers? The majority of my lifetime, there’s been tubby greasepots closing games for this team. WTF? Whatever happened to guys like Lee Smith? You know, athletes? Beck, Alfonseca, Rojas, Dempster (last year’s pasty tub of guts, before he got ‘ripped’). Borowski was kind tubby, in a plumber’s crack kind of way. I almost want Guzman or Marmol to get the job, just so we have a guy who’s seen his penis in the last five years closing. At least they look like pitchers and not like guys who have been spending way too much time with Jim Hendry.
Holy hell, that was a lot of bad memories in a such a short amount of playing time. I could have sworn that he pitched for longer than that. In Rojas time (which counts against years in Purgatory, I think), he seemed to be on the mound, effing games up for DECADES. Thank you, bottom 10, for dredging up years of repressed hatred!
By the way, that #1 Hilariously Bad Outing was on my 21st birthday. Thank God I could legally drink afterwards…
“It’s like playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon, only I want to punch all of the degrees!” Best. Line. Ever.
Just taking a stab. Were four of the remaining six mentioned in that article?
That’s good gumshoe-ing, MarkO.
Maybe.
Mel Rojas definitely earned his runs.
That’s the top ten of suck. he was a fucking black hole out there, draining life from the stadium faster than 1$ beer days at the local pub, or a whining ex-wife and your Mercedes is in HER name, and wants it back. Or a girl that farts during sex, that, too, drains the life out of a man. Sex farts, and Mel Rojas. They make a hell of a pair.
Thank you for reminding me of My Favorite Things to hate about Mel Rojas. Adolf Hitler could have pitched better relief.