Rafael Antonio Roque is a retired baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player who pitched

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 for three seasons, from 1998 to 2000, with the Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

.

Early career

Roque began his professional baseball career in 1991 when he signed with the New York Mets

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

 minor league system. He did not pitch in the minor leagues until the following season, and spent six seasons in the Mets organization, winning no more than 6 games in a single season. After becoming a minor league free agent, Roque signed with the Brewers organization for the 1998 season. In his first year with the Brewers, he combined to win 10 games with the AA El Paso Diablos

El Paso Diablos

The El Paso Diablos are a professional baseball team based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The Diablos are a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 2005 season to the...

 and the AAA Louisville Redbirds, recording a 5-2 record at Louisville.

Major League career

He was called up to the major leagues late in the 1998 season

1998 Major League Baseball season

*American League Championship Series MVP: David Wells**American League Division Series:*National League Championship Series MVP: Sterling Hitchcock**National League Division Series*All-Star Game, July 7 at Coors Field: American League, 13-8; Roberto Alomar, MVP...

, and made his debut as a starter

Starting pitcher

In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....

 on August 1 against the Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...

, earning a no-decision in his first start. Over the course of the season, Roque had a 4-2 record with a 4.88 earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

. Coincidentally, during his first Major League season, Roque gave up both Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire

Mark David McGwire , nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently the hitting coach for the St...

 and Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa

Samuel Peralta "Sammy" Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career which spanned from 1989-2007....

's 64th home runs.

Roque was named the Brewers' Opening Day

Opening Day

Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...

 starter for the 1999 season

1999 Major League Baseball season

The previous record of most home runs hit in a season, set at 5,064 in 1998, was broken once again as the American League and National League combined to hit 5,528 home runs. Moreover, it was the first season in 61 years to feature a team that scored 1,000 runs in a season, as the Cleveland Indians...

. He did not earn a win in any of his first 8 starts, and pitched out of the bullpen for much of the remainder of the season.

Roque spent much of the 2000 season

2000 Major League Baseball season

The 2000 Major League Baseball season ended with the New York Yankees defeating the New York Mets in Game 5 of the World Series, known as the Subway Series because fans could take the Subway to and from every game of the Series. An all-time record 5,693 home runs were hit during the regular season...

 in the minor leagues but did appear in four games with the Brewers over the course of the season. These were his last Major League appearances. His major league career ended with a 5-8 record and a 5.36 ERA.

Roque spent 2001 in the Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 organization. He then played for the Tigres de México

Tigres de Quintana Roo

The Quintana Roo Tigers also known as Mexico Tigers is a Triple-A baseball team located in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The team is part of the Southern Division of the Mexican Baseball League...

 of the Mexican League in 2002-03. After one last brief comeback in Mexico in 2005, his professional career was over.