Luis Arroyo

Luis Enrique "Tite" Arroyo, (February 18, 1927 – January 13, 2016) was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball pitcher from 1955 to 1963. Arroyo was the first Puerto Rican player to appear for the New York Yankees and was a key part of their pennant winning seasons in and . In 1955, Arroyo and Vic Power became the first Puerto Ricans to be selected to MLB's All-Star Game. In 1955, Arroyo was sent to the Senadores de San Juan. In 1956-57, he led the LBPPR in strikeouts.

American League hitters had little success against Arroyo's screwball, and after a solid contribution at the back of their bullpen in 1960, he enjoyed the best season of his career in 1961. That year, Arroyo pitched 119 innings with a 2.19 ERA, while winning 15 games as the team's relief ace. His totals of 65 games pitched and 29 saves both led the league; he surrendered only five home runs in a season where league-wide offensive totals were very high by historical standards and was named to his second All-Star team while finishing sixth in AL MVP voting. He was named the Sporting News Reliever of the Year in 1961, for the American League.

Arroyo's glory was, however, short-lived. He injured his arm the following spring; while he pitched for two more seasons, he never regained his prior effectiveness. Arroyo retired after appearing in only six innings in the 1963 season. Over the course of his MLB career, he pitched 531 innings with a 3.93 ERA, collecting 40 wins, 32 losses, and 44 saves. He has also been inducted into the Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame (1992) and the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame (2002). an annual event where Arroyo was a popular figure. The Yankees announced his death saying that Arroyo's daughter said he had been diagnosed with cancer in December 2015.