Larry Rojas was a regular figure around Clearwater, and despite a heart transplant in 1985 and a stroke a few years ago, he remained VERY active in Clearwater with player development and helped create many Phuture Phillies throughout his career. My wife and I made it a point to say hi to him at every Clearwater game and took a few minutes to chat with him. He would often bring my wife little presents from his trips to Philly, and was a terrific man. He will be missed by us and the many players and people he touched throughout his life.
Larry had been with the Phillies since 1970, and earlier this year he was presented with the Phillies Latino Legends award in a ceremony at CBP in a ceremony prior to the game on September 7th.
We’ll miss you Larry!
Larry played minor league ball for eleven years with the Tigers, and Angels ending his career with the Phillies playing 87 games at Reading in 1970 and 12 games the following year in Eugene (OR). He joined the Phillies minor league staff in 1972 as a coach with the Reading Phillies and was still active as the Latin Liaison/Professional Coverage Scout up until his death.
He coached and managed in the minors, served as a roving infield instructor, field coordinator, special assignment scout, area scout and Director of Instruction/Latin American Scouting. Larry was a regular at Carpenter Field during the minor league spring training camp, Gulf Coast League season and Florida Instructional League season. He also scouted the Florida State League during the Clearwater Threshers season. Larry was involved in the development of Ramon Aviles, Luis Aguayo, Julio Franco, Alejandro Sanchez, Juan Samuel, Carlos Silva and Carlos Ruiz. He also developed instructors such as Roly de Armas, Carlos Arroyo, Manny Amador and Domingo Brito and Dominican Republic scout Wil Tejada.
Hilario Candido Rafael (Larry) Rojas was born February 2, 1942, in Havana, Cuba.
Phuture Phillies 
Was this the man who (somewhat infamously) said Greg Golson would be a superstar player? I think I read a column in the past where he said he’d only been sure of two guys – one of them was a really good big-leaguer in the 80s and the other was Greg Golson.
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I saw something earlier about him predicting five guys. They were Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Scott Rolen, Pat Burrell, and Greg Golson. The first two were spot on, the second two pretty well on track, and Golson has yet to show what he is made of.
It would be Larry’s greatest legacy for Golson to prove him right and develop into what he (Larry) had thought he could be. Golson has yet to “turn the corner” so let’s hope that Larry can go down with one last great prediction….
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I grew up living next door to Larry and this news is so sad to hear. I often think of him and wondered how he was doing. Two things I will always remember about him and that was his infectious laugh and beautiful smile. He will truly be missed.
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Thanks, ThreshersNewsMan. I could’ve sworn this was the man who predicted Golson’s greatness. It’d be very fitting if Golson developed into the kind of player Larry predicted in the past.
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LARRY ROJAS WAS A BIG PART OF THE PHILLIES FAMILY. HE WILL BE MSSED. I HAVE BEEN A PHILLIES FAN FOR 47 YEARS AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO MY PHILLIES BECOMING THE 2008 WORLD CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL!!!!!!!
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I rarely post anything however, in this case I need to because Larry was a stickler for getting things right – and the little bio on him is a little incorrect. His birthday was 2/2/43 (not 42) and therefore he was 64 not 65. Also what was left out of the tribute was that he was also a great contributor to Ryne Sandberg’s carreer – if you google Larry Rojas, you will see he mentioned both Larry and Dallas Green in many of the quotes from interviews for his induction into the Hall of Fame. He was my friend and no words can do justice to honor him.
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