Jorge Brito saw two majors seasons with Rockies, was awed

Jorge Brito took a look around the Rockies new home in Coors Field and he couldn't help but be awed, according to The Associated Press.

The backup catcher turned to a Spanish adage to describe the new baseball palace, The AP wrote.

"If God isn't here, he can't be too far away," Brito told The AP in late-April 1995.

Brito's sense of wonder could also likely be traced to something else: That he'd made a major league roster.

After spending almost a decade in the minors, Brito made the bigs in Colorado out of that abbreviated spring. He saw time in parts of two seasons, getting into a total of 26 games.

Brito's career began in 1986, signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic.

Brito started with the Athletics at short-season Medford. The catcher played there his first two seasons, hitting under .200 both years.

He played at single-A Modesto for parts of the next three seasons. He also saw time at AA Huntsville and AAA Tacoma in 1989.

Brito knocked a game-winning hit in a June 1988 game against San Bernardino. He then opened the 1989 season back at Modesto, hitting a late three-run home run to extend a lead in a win over Reno.

"He served me up a fastball and I got all of the middle of it," Brito told The Reno Gazette-Journal afterward. "With two men on and no one out, I just wanted to hit the ball good and I did that."

Brito played all of 1990 at Huntsville, hitting a solo home run in a May game. He made AAA Tacoma for stretches in 1991 and 1992, but played 1993 back at Huntsville.

For 1994, he signed with the Rockies as a free agent. He played that year between AAA Colorado Springs and AA New Haven.

He got his break in 1995, debuting with the big club April 30. He got into 18 games total that year and hit .216.

Brito returned for another eight games in 1996, showing he could hit that spring with a three-hit performance.

Brito played in three more pro seasons after that, but he never returned to the bigs. He finished out his pro career in 1999 with the Brewers at AA Huntsville and AAA Louisville.

• Reno Gazette-Journal, April 8, 1989: Silver Sox drop opener, 9-4
• Cincinnati Enquirer, Associated Press, April 26, 1995: 'If God isn't here,' he can't be far

More: The 1990 Huntsville Stars

1990 Minor League Tally
Players/Coaches Featured: 2,474
Made the Majors: 998-40.3%-X
Never Made Majors:1,476-59.7%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 416
10+ Seasons in the Minors:253-X