“It’s a great honor,” Romero said when contacted with the news. “I thought people had for gotten me.”
Romero is the team’s all-time leader in saves with 190 in a career that spanned eight seasons with the team before it moved to Yellow Springs—eight seasons that didn’t see the team winning a lot of games, a factor that played into those save totals. “I remember him,” said current manager Bret Richards. “If they had a real team back in those days, Romero might have been a legend.”
Instead, he was just a solid baseball player who toiled away in some obscurity before leaving at age 33 to finish his career in Europe. He was a lefty who got by on a hard slider and a sinker that kept hitters beating it into the dirt. He saved 33 or more games four straight seasons for the Nine, striking out nearly a hitter an inning and keeping the ball mostly in the park. He finished his BBA career 40-47, with 190 saves and a 3.19 ERA.
“I can’t wait to see Ohio,” Romero said. “I understand it’s beautiful in the springtime. And I understand that the ballpark is like a cathedral.”
