The 63 season started postitively for Mejias. The Sox organization assisted him in bringing his family out of Cuba. He did have a couple of game-winning hits in the first few weeks of the season. It soon became apparent, however, that his skills had diminished greatly. After 115 at bats during April and May, he was batting only .150. He did not reach .200 until June 22, and by then he had been replaced in center field by oft-injured Gary Geiger. Mejias recovered somewhat, but his season slash was a disappointing .227/.260/.370. He showed little of the power of the previous season, with 11 homers and 39 rbi’s. His outfield play was sometimes a bit of an adventure.
After serving a reserve on the team in 64 (a rookie named Tony Conigliaro had established a spot in the outfield), Mejias spent a year as a player-coach with the Sox triple-A team in Toronto before finishing his career in Japan in 1966.
According to Thompsonian, Roman is in his 80’s and resides in California. To us aging Red Sox fans, he remains a man who brought a tiny bit of excitement to a drab period in team history.
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