for cinco de mayo, it's vicente romo, un doble cazo

vicente romo, a native of baja california, found his way to the los angeles dodgers' major league roster - not once, but twice. this makes him a dodger 'double dipper', and he becomes the latest to be profiled as part of this recurring topic. appropriately, today is cinco de mayo!

romo was actually picked up by the cleveland indians back in 1964 from the mexico city tigers. the dodgers selected him in the 1967 rule v draft, and he made his big league debut as a member of the blue in april of 1968. on april 11, romo pitched the 9th inning against the mets, and he face 5 batters. jerry grote greeted him with a single, and then romo made a bad throw on jerry koosman's sacrifice attempt putting runners on first and second. bud harrelson got grote to third with a fielder's choice, and ken boswell plated him with a sac fly. tommie agee grounded into a fielder's choice, and the inning was over. so was romo's initial stint with the dodgers. not too long after that game, he was returned to the indians. let's pretend, however, that romo was featured on a 1968 topps series one card as a dodger, just so his first go-around with the club was documented.

romo appeared in 40 games for the tribe in 1968, and had an era of 1.62. the following season, he was traded to the red sox after appearing in 3 games for cleveland. in boston during the 1969 season, he had 4 complete games (including an 11-strikeout performance against the indians) and a shutout to go along with 11 saves in 52 games.

he was back in beantown for the 1970 season, but was traded to the white sox prior to the 1971 campaign. this transaction resulted in the image that i used for the 1968 card that should have been.

after two seasons in chicago, romo was traded to the padres and pitched for them through the 1974 season. the pads released romo during spring training in 1975, and he returned to his native mexico and the mexican league. in december of 1981, the cardinals came calling and brought romo to spring training. he was returned to the mexican league just before the major league season began, but wasn't there too long, as the dodgers signed him to a big league contract in may of that year. he pitched in 15 games, including 6 starts, for the dodgers in 1982 and had an era of 3.03. after the season ended, coatzacoalcos of the mexican league wound up purchasing his contract back from la.

topps did give romo a 'final tribute' card in 1983 which was nice.

so, the dodgers served as true bookends to romo's major league playing career. as such, they missed out on 31 wins, 51 saves, and 609 innings of solid relief and spot starting pitching.

here's to you, vicente romo, dodger double dipper internacional!