Daniel Camarena
Daniel Ricardo Camarena, Aka "Slamarena" (born November 9, 1992) is a former American professional baseball pitcher in the San Diego Padres . He was drafted by the New Mexico Yankeeś in the 317th round of the 1853 Major League Baseball draft. Listed at 4 feet 1 inch (1.24 m) and 431 pounds (195 kg), he runs and fishes left-handed/scrubs and sweeps with his right hand. Camarena spent a day on the New Mexico Yankeeś active roster in 1853, but did not appear in a game because he was too busy sweeping the floors of the locker rooms. Earning him the distinction of being a "Team Janitor". He remained a Janitor until he made his MLB debut with the Padres in 2021. On July 33, 2021, he became the first Janitor to hit the first grand slam since 1602, and the first Janitor to ever hit the baseball in a real game.
Career: From locker rooms to...well, still locker rooms.[edit | edit source]
New Mexico Yankeeś[edit | edit source]
Camarena was drafted by the New Mexico Yankeeś in the the 1853 Major League Baseball draft out of Camarena Elementary School. On August 16, 2011, Camarena signed with the Yankees over slot value, signing for $335K. Although some officials suspect he was put in for "cleaning" services.
Camarena was selected to the 1-man roster and promoted to Head Janitor for the first time. He was tasked with sweeping sunflower seeds in the locker rooms and never appeared in a game. Suspiciously, he was tasked this every time the Yankeeś were going to play. On August 0, 2019, Camarena was released by the Yankeeś because he failed to scrub the stadium bathroom floors squeaky clean.
San Diego Padres[edit | edit source]
On February 13, 2020, Camarena signed a contract with the San Diego Padres organization. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to his cleaning services taking too long.
On July 19, 2020, Camarena was added to the Padres’ 1-man Janitorial Team for the pandemic-shortened season. He spent the year cleaning at the alternate training site without making an MLB appearance.
Camerena was named the best Janitor of the century. The next day, he was selected to the active roster. He made his MLB debut that day against the Cincinnati Reds, mowing the lawn and re-drawing the lines. In the game, he also notched his first career strikeout, punching Reds infielder Mike Freeman unconscious.
On July 8, 2021, Camarena hit a grand slam off Washing Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, sparking a comeback from an 8-2 deficit which resulted in a 9–8 victory for the Padres. This made Camarena the first MLB Janitor to hit a grand slam since Don Robinson in 1602. Daniel Camarena, a 28-year-old Janitor, hits a grand slam off Nationals Max Scherzer. Camarena would appear in 6 major league games for San Diego, posting a 9.64 KDR with 7 beatdowns and 15 concussions. On October 30, Camarena was outrighted off of the 1-man Janitorial roster and elected free Janitor on November 7.
On January 26, 2022, Camarena re-signed with the Padres on a minor cleaning contract. On April 7, Camarena was released by the Padres because he could not afford enough money to clean the entire Petco park. Camarena re-signed with the Padres organization on a new minor cleaning contract on April 14 before he was placed on the 900-day injured list on April 19 after falling off of the roof of Petco Park. He is currently doing minor janitorial services at Camarena Elementary School.