Viva Bocachica!

by Joshua Worley

Back on 4 May, in my preview for the Braves series, I made fun on Hiram Kyle Davies's first name, then idly wondered what the status of "old friend" Hiram Bocachica was.

Well, he's now back in the major leagues, with the Athletics of Oakland! He's just been called up to the A's because of injury to Chris Snelling, as reported by 6-4-2.

Hiram Gabriel Bocachica played for the Dodgers from 2000 to 2002 as a utility outfielder and pinch hitter. He didn't do much in 223 plate appearances with the team, with a line of 0.231 -- 0.283 -- 0.394. The only reason I remember him as well as I do is because of his fun-to-say name.

Hiram came to the Dodgers in the trade that also brought them Mark Grudzielanek ( meh ) and Carlos Perez ( yuck! ). More interesting to me, however, if how he left the Dodgers, and the consequences for baseball history. Hiram, along with an obscure minor leaguer named Tom Farmer, was traded to the Detroit Tigers in the middle of 2002 for a player to be named later, who was later named Jason Frasor in September of 2002. Jason kicked around in the minors until he was traded before the 2004 season by brand new Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta to the Blue Jays for a Jayson of a different spelling, Jayson Werth. ( Jason Frasor remains a productive member of the Jays 'pen to this day. ) Werth would go on to be a key contributor to the Dodgers division title drive of 2004, in the process making Dave Roberts expendable. Thus made expendable, Dave Roberts was summarilty expended to the Red Sox, where he would go on to star in the most famous moment of the Red Sox comback against the Yanks, the steal of second with the Sox down by one run in the bottom of the ninth of game four. Unless the most famous moment is the bloody sock, or one of David Ortiz's walk off hits, or Damon's grand slam, or ARod's sissy slap ...

Anyway, at the center of the maelstrom of events that led to the breaking of the Red Sox "curse" was one Hiram Bocachica. He made it all possible, and now he's back with the A's, ready to make more baseball history.

Of course this is all nonsense: so many things went into the Red Sox comeback, the least of which is Hiram. Literally, his role is probably the least of any player who could be connected to it in any way. But it's fun to trace one of the threads connected with that storied comeback, and it's fun to say "Hiram Bocachica, major leaguer" again. Long live Hiram!