Rafael Rua (born 1847) was a left-handed pitcher for the Troy Haymakers in 1868. He is thought to be the first Latin baseball player on an organized ball club, due to the fact that he was already involved with playing organized ball a little before Esteban Bellan had left Fordham University. Rua apparently threw some sort of pitch that was very similar to a modern-day screwball which proved to be quite effective as the Troy Times reported on August 4, 1868 that “Rúa’s pitching was the acme of perfection — not too swift to be unreliable, and with just enough of the ‘twist’ to prevent the Mutuals from making their heaviest batting". Despite this, Rua never played baseball again after 1868 and seems to have mysteriously disappeared after this.