Before retiring from baseball following the 2015 season, LaRoche was the pitching coach for the New York Mets\' short-season affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones. He is the father of former MLB players Adam LaRoche and Andy LaRoche.\n', '

LaRoche was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His surname was Garcia, but he changed it to LaRoche at age seven, the last name of his stepfather. "LaRoche is French, but I have no French in me", Andy LaRoche said. "My grandfather was 100% Mexican." According to the 1979 Complete Handbook of Baseball, LaRoche decided to change his name because classmates often teased him because an overweight, bumbling character on the then popular television program Zorro was named Sergeant Garcia.\n', '

LaRoche was drafted by the California Angels in the 5th round of the 1967 amateur draft out of West High School in Torrance, CA. He made his debut for the California Angels in 1970 and went on to pitch 14 seasons in the major leagues. \n', '

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