Franchise Ball News

One for the Ages: Hidalgo Rivera

Jun 28th 2022 By Yonkers Renegades

As we head to the offseason we're struck by news that Hidalgo Rivera is hanging up his cleats at the age of 39, leaving the Yonkers Renegades without their franchise player and the Franchise Ball community without one of the finest all-around players to grace us with his presence.

A rookie-of-the-year candidate in '93 and a World Champion in '98, Rivera spent 16 of his 18 pro seasons with the Renegades, and was the captain and face of the Ocean Star franchise for most of his tenure. While he sometimes stood in the shadows of more explosive teammates such as Hall of Famers Patrick Grantham and Deshaun Bennett, and more recently the likes of Hugh Provost (more on him in another article), Rivera quietly, gracefully earned his place among the immortal in Franchise Ball, joining fewer than 10 other players in the exclusive Triple Digit Club for players with 100 or more career doubles, triples, homers and stolen bases, an accumulating some pretty phenomenal statistics along the way.

He swiped 30 or more bases in 17 of his 18 seasons, and managed 5 or more triples 16 times throughout his career, despite never bagging a double-digit season. He reached the 20-homer mark 5 times in his first six seasons despite a power rating of just 73. And although he spend the fast majority of his career in the leadoff spot, he managed 50 or more RBI five times. A lifetime .295 batting average dipped below .300 only due to severe dropoff in his final two seasons, a testament to the affects of time on even the greatest of players.

Without question his two finest seasons came in '97 and '98. In each season he tallied more than 100 hits, cleanly hit 20 homers, batted in more than 40 and swiped more than 50 bases. More importantly, his partnership with fellow outfielder/DHs Zeke Jaramillo, Liam Juarez and Patrick Grantham formed a speed/average combination that propelled the Renegades to the season '98 World Series championship - and they did it the hard way via the Wildcard bracket, rallying after a late collapse cost them the division title to go a perfect 13-0 in the postseason to defeat the Eugene Spitters to lift the trophy.

More than a decade later, the Renegades haven't returned to that level, and with the other players in that core now gone and with Grantham already taking his place in the Hall, Rivera was the last man standing, a relic of a bygone age when Yonkers baseball ruled the land.

Rivera's retirement is bittersweet. While his destiny in the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot selection is all but certain (hopefully), manager Greg Hudson said Rivera's presence will continue to be felt in the Hudson Valley as the team has appointed him as their scouting director, in the hopes that he'll use his experience to help the team identify new talent for the future.

So as we bask in the dying light of season 110 and look forward to 111, let's take a moment to tip our caps to Hidalgo Rivera: Singular talent. Centurion. One for the ages.

News Conversation
This article inspired me to write an article about the great Armando Block who respectively hung up his cleats in the off-season
2 years ago
One thing I didn't write in the article but bears mentioning: a lot of top players have duplicates or regens, either by coding glitch or deliberate trade glitching. Not Rivera. There was only ever one of him.
2 years ago
Kites : 
Almost 5000 At Bats.
2 years ago
Hawks : 
Good to see loyalty too, just wondering what kind of lucrative contracts he rejected for the benefit of the Franchise?
2 years ago
Now this is inspiring to write my own stuff
2 years ago
Diablos : 
Thank you, legend, for giving Renegades fans memories to remember for their entire lives
2 years ago
Aces : 
Great article Renegades
2 years ago