The first time Jose Cano threw batting practice to his son, Robinson, was about a quarter century ago. The son thinks he was 3 or 4. The father thinks it happened around age 6. But from the moment it happened, Robinson knew what he wanted.

It didn't matter to him that he grew up in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic -- the city known in the 1980s for producing shortstops. He was born with different baseball blood.

"I just wanted to hit," Robinson said.

Jose grew up a shortstop -- the signature position of the best players from that region -- but by the time he turned 18 and signed with the New York Yankees, he was a pitcher. He played only three games in the minors before he bounced from the Atlanta Braves' system to the Houston Astros' system.

He briefly made the big leagues with Houston for six games in 1989 -- even picking up a win in his final major league appearance, a seven-inning, two-run gem in Cincinnati.

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