With two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning at Wrigley Field on July 28, 1977, Dave Rosello lined a single to left field that sent Rick Reuschel across the plate and settled one of the wildest games the Chicago Cubs ever played, a 16-15 win over the Cincinnati Reds built on 11 combined home runs and four separate Cubs comebacks. Rosello, the sure-handed reserve infielder who spent parts of nine major league seasons with the Cubs and the Cleveland Indians, died on September 30, 2026, in Kissimmee, Florida. He was 76.

He was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and signed with the Cubs organization as an amateur free agent on November 11, 1968. In the minor leagues he was a three-time American Association All-Star and led Double-A shortstops in assists and total chances in 1972, the kind of defensive record that would define his big league career, according to The Big Lead.

Rosello debuted in the majors on September 10, 1972, against the Philadelphia Phillies, and spent six seasons as a Cub working mostly as a reserve at second base, shortstop and third base. In 1976 he stepped into the lineup for six-time All-Star Don Kessinger at shortstop, playing a career-high 91 games and batting .242 with 41 walks against 33 strikeouts, far better plate discipline than his .236 career average suggested, according to Yahoo Sports.

That December, the Cubs traded him to the Cleveland Indians for minor leaguers Norm Churchill and Bruce Compton. Rosello played three more seasons in Cleveland, setting career highs with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 1979, before closing out his playing days in the Indians' farm system in 1982. Along the way he became the Cubs' first Puerto Rican infielder and just the sixth Puerto Rican player in the franchise's history, according to Yahoo Sports.

Rosello settled in Kissimmee, Florida, where he went on to coach baseball, passing along the knowledge and enthusiasm he had brought to his own career, according to his family's notice on Legacy.com. He was a regular on the golf course and at the beach, and made an annual tradition of visiting Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. He is survived by his wife, Virgen Rodriguez; his children, Noemi Rosello Rodriguez and David E. Rosello Rodriguez; stepsons Jonathan L. Soto Rodriguez and Christopher L. Soto Rodriguez; and five grandchildren, Ian Reyes Rosello, Alice Reyes Rosello, Christopher L. Soto Perez, Liddiannis Mendret Perez and Valentino Soto.

What Rosello left on a baseball field was never about the batting line. He stuck in the majors for nine seasons because he could cover three infield positions, and because on one long night at Wrigley Field his bat settled the score when the Cubs had run out of nearly everything else. The rest of it, the Double-A record for sure hands at shortstop and the ballfields of Kissimmee where he kept coaching long after his own playing days ended, belongs to the children, stepchildren and grandchildren he coached and raised.