Ruben Amaro¡¯s dad, Ruben, played for the Phillies. ¡°I was too young to remember him as a player,¡± said Jr., who was born and raised in Philadelphia. A trade with the California Angels after the 1991 season brought him back home.
A one-time batboy in 1980 wore a Phillies uniform again for the first time at Veterans Stadium on opening day, April 7, 1992. The largest crowd for an opener, 60,421, filled the Vet. After 22 seasons, the Phillies debuted new pinstripe uniforms with Phillies across the chest. The enemy was Greg Maddux and the Chicago Cubs.
Ruben Jr. came to the plate as a pinch-hitter for Mickey Morandini with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. He flied to center, ending the game, a 4-3 loss.
A significant moment in Phillies¡¯ history took place with that at-bat. He joined his dad as the first father-son combo in franchise history. Yes, All In The Family.
¡°I wasn¡¯t too nervous up at the plate,¡± Ruben Jr. was quoted by Frank Fitzpatrick in the Inquirer the next day. ¡°When it got me was when I ran out to the line before the game. I had chills down my spine then.¡±
The postgame news for the Phils was worse than the loss. Center fielder Lenny Dykstra will be out with a broken left wrist. He had been hit by Maddux¡¯s second pitch in the first inning, but he played all nine innings and scored two runs.
Next up the next day, Ruben Jr. -- leading off and playing center field and delivering two doubles, a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs in four at-bats to lead the Phils in an 11-3 romp. The homer was the first in his brief Major League career. It drew a curtain call from the 16,328 crowd that included his mother and brother. Dad wasn¡¯t there as he was the Latin America coordinator/scout for the Detroit Tigers.
¡°I never dreamed of anything like this, not in a million years,¡± he said in Paul Hagen¡¯s Daily News story. ¡°It¡¯s very exciting but it¡¯s also hard to describe. I¡¯m still in shock.¡±
He finished the season with career highs in games, runs, hits, doubles, triples, homers (seven) and RBIs (34).
All In The Family
Santos Amaro was an outstanding baseball player in Cuba and Mexico, hitting .314 over a 17-year career; a 1977 inductee into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame. ... He married Josefina Mora, a Mexican native, in 1929. ... They had a son, Ruben Amaro, born in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico (1936). ... While playing for the Phillies, Ruben met Judith Herman at the gourmet cheese shop that Judy¡¯s mother ran in Philadelphia¡¯s Reading Terminal Market. ... They married in 1961 and had two sons, David (born in 1962) and Ruben Jr. (1965). ... Judy¡¯s sister (Marlene) taught English to Tony Taylor and Pancho Herrera, teammates of Ruben Sr. in the early 1960s. ... David was drafted by the Cubs (1984); Ruben Jr. by the Angels (1987). ... David played one season of pro ball (1984); Ruben Jr., eight years in the Majors (1991-98); and Ruben Amaro Sr. 11 in The Show (1958; 1960-69). ... The pro ball bloodlines included OF Andrew Amaro (David¡¯s son) and Luis Amaro (Ruben Sr.¡¯s son from a second marriage). Andrew and Luis had brief careers in the Phils Minor Leagues. ... Santos and Ruben Sr. were the first father-son to manage in the Mexico Summer League. ... ¡°I take a great deal of pride in my background and my heritage,¡± says Ruben Jr., a third-generation Latino baseball man. His background is unique in Major League history, Cuban-Mexican/Jewish-American, wrote Rory Costello in a 2022 SABR Bio Project. ... Ruben Sr. was a devout Catholic. Ruben Jr. was quoted by Costello, ¡°We had a very diversified family. We did Passover, Yom Kippur, Chanukah.¡±
Scholastic Career
An outstanding soccer player, Ruben Jr. attended William Penn Charter School where he was All-City in baseball and soccer in his senior year. ... Academically, he drew interest from Duke, Vanderbilt and Princeton. He chose Stanford, becoming a four-year letterman in baseball. ... The Angels drafted him in the 11th round in 1987.
Pro Career
Ruben Jr. spent 12 seasons as a player, of which seven were in the Minors. His first game was in Salem, Ore. (1987); last, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre (1996). ... He played in the Show with the Angels (1991), Phillies (1992-93), Indians (1994-95) and Phillies (1996-98). ... He was traded twice, released twice and signed as a free agent, also two times. He was optioned oodles of times. The life of a ballplayer. ... Played winter ball in Venezuela. ... The first time he was traded was Dec. 8, 1991. He and LHP Kyle Abbott came east from the Angels for Von Hayes. At the time of the trade, dad was a scout for the Detroit Tigers.
World Series
He has a resume that is unmatched. ... College World Series (1987). ... One of the Phillies ba boys (1980). ... Left off the Phillies 1993 WS roster. ... 1995 WS (Indians; hitless in 2 at-bats) . ... 2008 (Phillies, assistant general manager). ... 2009 (Phillies, general manager).
Front Office
Assistant GM to Ed Wade (1998-2006). ... Assistant to Pat Gillick (2006-08). ... Phillies GM (2009-15). 2009 team became the first to reach the World Series in consecutive years. The 2010-2011 clubs won division titles but were eliminated in the playoffs. ... He traded for Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay. ... He had the dubious task of having to deal Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz and Cole Hamels, core players on the clubs that reached the postseason five straight years.
Back In Uniform
In October 2015, he was named first base, baserunning and outfield coach for the Red Sox. ... After two seasons, he joined the Mets in the same role. ... Following the 2018 season, he became special advisor/scout to the Mets' new GM.
On The Air
Ruben Jr. returned to his Phillies roots in 2020 as an analyst for Phillies telecasts on NBCSP. He also appears on the MLB Network as a studio analyst and WIP Radio. He¡¯s part of a ¡°The Phillies Show¡± podcast with writers Todd Zolecki and Jim Salisbury.
Honors
All-American Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame (2008). ... Philadelphia Jewish Sports HOF (2009). ... Executive of the Year, MLB ¡°This Year in Baseball Awards¡± (2009). ... Same honor, Philadelphia Sports Writers Association (2009).
Philanthropy
Amaro is co-founder of the Richie Ashburn-Harry Kalas Foundation, which provides baseball camps for underprivileged children in the Delaware Valley. He also serves on the YMCA board in Philadelphia.