Hiram Bocachica

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Bocachica and the second or maternal family name is Colón.
Hiram Bocachica
Outfielder / Coach
Born: (1976-03-04) March 4, 1976
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 13, 2000, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
NPB: March 20, 2008, for the Saitama Seibu Lions
Last appearance
MLB: July 17, 2007, for the San Diego Padres
NPB: September 6, 2009, for the Saitama Seibu Lions
MLB statistics
Batting average.215
Home runs15
Runs batted in37
NPB statistics
Batting average.251
Home runs20
Runs batted in47
Stats at Baseball Reference 
Teams

Hiram Gabriel Bocachica Colón (born March 4, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams from 2000 to 2007, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he made his MLB debut. He then played two seasons for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has been a coach and manager for several minor league teams in the U.S., Mexico, and Caribbean leagues.

Playing career

Major League Baseball

Bocachica was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the first round (21st overall) of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft.[1] On July 31, 1998, the Expos included Bocachica as a prospect in a trade that sent Carlos Pérez and Mark Grudzielanek to the Los Angeles Dodgers for prospects Ted Lilly, Wilton Guerrero, Peter Bergeron, and Jon Tucker.[2] Bocachica was a September call-up in 2000 for the Dodgers.[3]

Los Angeles traded him on July 25, 2002 to the Detroit Tigers for Tom Farmer and a player to be named later, later identified as Jason Frasor. He reached free agency after the 2003 season, then played one season with the Seattle Mariners, where he set career highs with 5 stolen bases and 12 walks.[1]

Bocachica signed with the Oakland Athletics. He hit .444 in spring training in 2005 before suffering a broken wrist after Matt Wise hit him with a pitch in late March, sidelining him until late August. Bocachica was called up to the A's in September, playing in 9 games. He began the 2006 season on the injured list again with a broken right wrist, later appearing in 8 MLB games.[3] He was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres on May 31, 2007. He played in 33 games in his final MLB season, 27 of them with San Diego. He became a free agent after the season.[1]

Nippon Professional Baseball

Bocachica signed with the Saitama Seibu Lions on December 3, 2007. Despite playing only 78 games during the 2008 season, he hit 20 home runs, including one in Game 7 of the Japan Series, which the team won.[4][5] He agreed to return to the Lions in 2009, batting .215 with 13 home runs in 75 games.[6]

Mexican League and Atlantic League

On April 12, 2010, Bocachica, along with fellow MLB alums Brian Barton and Tike Redman, signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish for the 2010 season.[7] However, starting in April he played for Diablos Rojos del México and Broncos de Reynosa of the Mexican League.[8] He later returned to Bridgeport after 43 games in Mexico.[5]

Bocachica played for two Mexican League teams, Leones de Yucatán and Petroleros de Minatitlán, in 2011.[9][5]

International career

Bocachica played for Puerto Rico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.[10] In three games, he batted 1-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored.[11]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Bocachica became a sports agent. In 2016, he began working with the MLB development program in Puerto Rico. The following year, he was the hitting and third base coach for the Cangrejeros de Santurce in the Puerto Rican winter league.[12]

In 2018, Bocachica was a traveling instructor for the Oakland Athletics. In 2019, he was the manager of the Arizona A's Gold team in the Rookie-level Arizona League.[12]

Bocachica coached the 2021 Hickory Crawdads, a High-A Texas Rangers affiliate.[13] In November 2022, he was named the manager of the Azucareros de Yabucoa of the Puerto Rican "Doble A" spring and summer league, but he was removed in April 2023.[14][15] He was the hitting coach of the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils in 2024.[16]

In December 2024, Bocachica was named the bench coach for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League.[17] He was replaced in late June by Wilfredo Romero.[18] In May 2025, Bocachica was named the first base coach of Leones del Escogido in the Dominican winter league.[19]

Personal life

Bocachica is married and has three children. He resides in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. His son, Hiram Bocachica Jr., plays college baseball for the Rice Owls.[12][20] Bocachica Jr. also played for the Puerto Rican national under-18 team.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hiram Bocachica Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  2. ^ "Dodgers Swing Another Big Trade". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Hiram Bocachica Stats, Age, Position, Height, Weight, Fantasy & News". MLB.com. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  4. ^ "Lions come from behind to win Japan Series". Japan Times. November 10, 2008. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Hiram Bocachica Minor, Winter, Japanese, Mexican & Independent Leagues Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  6. ^ "人生最高の日」ボカチカ残留へ". Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). November 10, 2008. Archived from the original on November 13, 2008.
  7. ^ "Trio Of Former Big Leaguers Join 'Fish". Bridgeport Bluefish. April 12, 2010. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  8. ^ "Bocachica pasa de Diablos a Broncos". MiLB.com (in Spanish). April 27, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  9. ^ "Arranca serie y el acero se impone". MiLB.com (in Spanish). June 4, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  10. ^ "Transcripts - Baseball - 2009 - WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC POOL D: SAN JUAN - March 9 - Hiram Bocachica - Jose Oquendo - Jonathan Sanchez". ASAP Sports. March 9, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  11. ^ "WBC Stats | WBC Team Stats | Puerto Rico | 2009". MLB.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c Oakland A's 2019 Media Guide. 2019. p. 639.
  13. ^ Salinas, Ashley. "Rangers Announce Crawdads Coaching Staff". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  14. ^ Rosa, Hector Titito (November 23, 2022). "Exgrandesligas Hiram Bocachica es nombrado dirigente de los Azucareros" (in Spanish). Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  15. ^ Hiram Bocachica: “Si no ganas te botan”. SB Sports Media. April 17, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2025 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ "Willie Romero, veteran championship manager, takes the helm". MiLB.com. February 7, 2024. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  17. ^ "Bocachica y Amezcua, coaches de los Leones; Morejón y Tavo regresan al cuerpo técnico". www.lajornadamaya.mx. June 12, 2024. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  18. ^ Silveira, Gaspar (June 25, 2025). "Willie Romero regresa a los Leones de Yucatán como coach de banca". Diario de Yucatán (in Spanish). Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  19. ^ "Leones anuncian al mánager Cintrón y su coaching staff". Leones del Escogido. May 5, 2025. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  20. ^ "Hiram Bocachica Jr. - Baseball". Rice University Athletics. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  21. ^ "Puerto Rico stun USA with come-from-behind win, earn chance for bronze medal game". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.