Aroldis Chapman

Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (; born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals and in the Cuban National Series for Holguín. Chapman bats and throws left-handed, and is nicknamed the "Cuban Missile" or the "Cuban Flame Thrower". Chapman pitched for Holguín domestically and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team. He defected from Cuba in 2009 and signed a contract with the Reds in 2010. Chapman made his MLB debut that season. He won the MLB Delivery Man of the Month Award as the best relief pitcher for July 2012, was named to four straight National League All-Star teams from 2012 to 2015. The Reds traded Chapman to the Yankees after the 2015 season, and the Yankees traded Chapman to the Cubs during the 2016 season. With the Cubs, Chapman won Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. He signed with the Yankees after the 2016 season. On July 11, 2014, Chapman broke the record, previously held by Bruce Sutter, for the most consecutive relief appearances with a strikeout, having struck out at least one batter in 40 consecutive appearances. Chapman's streak began on August 21, 2013, and lasted 49 consecutive games over two seasons, with the 49th and final game being on August 13, 2014. Chapman currently has the record for the fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB history, at , as well as the Guinness World Record for fastest baseball pitch. Early life Chapman was born in Holguín, Cuba, on February 28, 1988. He lived in a three-room house with his parents and two sisters. Chapman's father was a boxing trainer and then later worked for the city. His mother did not work outside the home. Chapman's paternal grandparents had emigrated from Jamaica to Cuba in order to get a better education. The Chapmans, whose last name can be traced to English settlers in Jamaica in the late 1600s, were not a prominent family.