Obituary: Carlos “Bobby” Treviño (1945-2018)

RIP to Carlos “Bobby” Treviño, a who had a long career in the Mexican league as well as a brief tryout with the California Angels in 1968. He died on December 5 at the age of 73. He was the older brother of former MLB catcher Alex Treviño.

Carlos Treviño was born in Monterrey, Mexico, on August 15, 1945. According to his SABR biography, Treviño was a part of the Monterrey team that won the Little League World Series in 1958. He was the catcher on the team, though he would transition into an outfielder as he got older. That team was the first non-U.S. team to ever win the LLWS; the event was made into a movie called The Perfect Game.

Treviño entered into professional baseball in 1964, playing 3 games with the Mexico City Reds and 115 with the San Louis Potosi Reds. He hit over .340 there and performed so well that he was signed by the California Angels organization in October, 1966. Treviño broke into the minors with the Angels’ AAA affiliate in Seattle, but after some struggles there, he was sent to the AA El Paso Sun Dogs. He hit over .300 and became a fan favorite among the Sun Dogs’ Mexican fans.

Treviño got off to another solid start in El Paso. By late May, he was batting .313 and led the Sun Dogs in RBIs with 23. He got his chance in the majors when Angels outfielder Jay Johnstone had to go on the DL due to a severe spike wound. He got into a total of 17 games with the Angels, playing all three outfield positions and well as pinch-hitting frequently. Treviño got 9 hits in 40 at-bats for a .225 batting average. he was sent back to the minors in early July and was never brought back up.

Mike Floyd, the right fielder for the Sun Dogs, praised his teammate Treviño for keeping him calm in the outfield. He pointed out that he was a pure hitter, but not as fast or as strong as the Angels had wanted. It’s too bad the Halos weren’t looking at Treviño as a total package, because he seemed to have the skills to be a quality hitter, even if he wouldn’t become a slugger.

Treviño played one more season with the Sun Dogs in 1969 and then returned to the Mexican League, where he would play and occasionally manage for the rest of his baseball career. His obit on MILB says that he hit .283 with 70 homers and 608 runs batted in 1,214 games.

After baseball, Treviño worked as a truck driver for a steel company until his retirement. He had been ill with lupus for about a year prior to his death.

Obituary (in Spanish): https://www.milb.com/mexican/news/fallece-carlos-bobby-trevi241o/c-301492182