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A MEMORIAL
LAUDING THE LIFE OF OSCAR ACOSTA AND EXPRESSING THE
CONDOLENCE OF THE SENATE ON HIS UNTIMELY DEATH.
WHEREAS, Oscar Acosta was born March 21, 1957 in
Portales and grew up in Elida, graduating from Elida high
school; and
WHEREAS, Oscar was the proud son of Juan and Concha
Acosta, who came to the United States from Mexico in the
1950s as part of a federal program that solicited workers to
build railroads; and
WHEREAS, in 1978, at Lubbock Christian college, Oscar
was named an all-American pitcher by the national association
of intercollegiate athletics; and
WHEREAS, he played minor league baseball for three years
with the Philadelphia Phillies and one year in the Mexican
league before a torn rotator cuff ended his pitching career;
and
WHEREAS, he began his professional coaching career in
1988 in the minor leagues, working for the Texas Rangers and
the New York Yankees organizations and the Columbus Clippers
of the international league, and he moved to the major league
as a pitching coach for the Chicago Cubs in 2000 and 2001 and
for the Texas Rangers in 2002; and
WHEREAS, while with the Chicago Cubs, he helped to turn
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around one of the national league's worst pitching staffs and
in 2001, his pitchers set a major league record with one
thousand three hundred four strikeouts; and
WHEREAS, he rejoined the Yankee's organization in 2004
as manager of its Gulf Coast League team where his skills
netted the team league championships in 2004 and 2005 and
earned him the title "Manager of the Year" in 2004; and
WHEREAS, he and Humberto Trejo were tragically killed in
an automobile accident on April 19, 2006 while they were on a
scouting trip to the Dominican Republic; and
WHEREAS, Oscar Acosta was a tough, intense coach who
taught his pitchers mental toughness and how to be mentally
prepared for the game; and
WHEREAS, while Oscar loved baseball and the young men he
coached, his greatest love was his family; and
WHEREAS, Oscar Acosta was a man molded by the hard life
of rural poverty, steeped in the values of Old Mexico and the
eastern plains of New Mexico, and he held dear the lessons he
learned from his parents and his community about the value of
persistence and hard work and the importance of respect and
love of family;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that New Mexico's native son, Oscar
Acosta, be recognized for his many accomplishments; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that heartfelt condolences be
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extended to the family and friends of Oscar Acosta; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be
transmitted to his wife, Kathy, and his children, Melissa,
Amanda and Ryan.