Born in La Romana, Dominican Republic, he developed as a ballplayer around the San Pedro de Macoris area, a hotbed of future Major League talent at the time.

Inheriting a bases loaded, two out situation, he retired Bill Pecota on a fly ball to left to end the eighth inning.

[2] Prior to the start of the 1992 season, the Orioles sent De la Rosa to the Yankees to complete an earlier deal in which they acquired Alan Mills for a player to be named later.

De la Rosa pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate, the Louisville Redbirds in 1995, and the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks of the independent Northern League in 1996.

[3] De la Rosa continued to pitch in independent leagues in New York City and Philadelphia before moving to Baltimore, Maryland, where he lived with his brothers until his death at 44.