Delino DeShields

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Delino Lamont DeShields (born January 15, 1969 in Seaford, Delaware) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Montreal Expos (1990-93), Los Angeles Dodgers (1994-96), St. Louis Cardinals (1997-98), Baltimore Orioles (2000-01) and Chicago Cubs (2001-02). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. DeShields was to attend Villanova University where he would have played point guard on the basketball team; however, after being selected as the 12th overall pick in the 1987 MLB draft, he chose a career in baseball.

1 Career
2 "The Trade"
3 Highlights
4 External links

[edit] Career

In a 13-season career, DeShields posted a .268 batting average with 80 home runs and 561 runs batted in in 1615 games. After a decent 1993 campaign with Montreal, in which he stole 43 bases and hit .295, he was traded to the Dodgers.

[edit] "The Trade"

Although DeShields compiled a solid career, his name is most recognizable as being a part of one of the worst trades in major league history. On November 19, 1993, DeShields was traded from the Expos to the Dodgers for a skinny pitching prospect named Pedro Martínez. In three years in L.A., DeShields did not hit higher than .256. Martinez went on to win three Cy Young Awards and establish himself amongst the greatest pitchers in the game's history. While in hindsight the trade was a horrible one for Los Angeles, at the time DeShields was building a reputation as one of the more versatile hitters in the game, capable of putting the ball into play or getting a walk, which, combined with his stolen base capabilities, had made him a much sought-after player at the time of the trade.

[edit] Highlights

Placed second in Rookie of the Year Award voting in 1990
Led National League in triples (14, 1997)
9-time Top 10 finisher among NL base stealers (1990-98)
His career 463 stolen bases ranks him 44th on the all-time list
Wore his socks just below the knee, to honor the players of the defunct Negro Leagues
Has a blog (not) named after him [1]. Professional poker player Alex "Yahtzem" Jacob is reportedly one of the site's bloggers, and one of DeShields' fans.