Cookie Rojas, one of the great Royals of the 1970s, turns sixty seventy today. Octavio Victor Rivas Rojas was born on March 6,1939 in Havana.
Rojas, mostly a second baseman, was a five-time All-Star, with four of those appearances coming as a Royal.
Rojas joined the Royals via an in-season trade during the 1970 campaign. From 1971 to 1974 Rojas was an All-Star and a down-ballot MVP candidate, thanks to, well... his defense and singles I suppose. Rojas was only an above-average hitter a few times, but has long been a beloved player amongst Royals fans. In that regard, he's not much different from the man who would eventually follow him at the keystone, Frank White.
Rojas's final season came in 1977, when he was one of the oldest active players in the game at the age of 38.
Rojas is 11th in team history in games played (880) and hits (824) and his 14th in doubles (139). DeJesus is three doubles behind Rojas in doubles, despite playing in 239 fewer games.