José Uribe

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José Uribe

José Altagracia González Uribe (January 21, 1959 – December 8, 2006) was a Dominican shortstop in Major League Baseball from 1984 until 1993. Most of his ten-year career was spent with the San Francisco Giants. He played for the Giants in the Bay Bridge Series against the Oakland Athletics, which is famous for having been interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Born in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, Uribe was signed by the New York Yankees in 1977 but was released within the same year; he eventually signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980, debuting with the team in September 1984 but playing only eight games before being traded. Uribe was humorously called the "Player to Really be Named Later". In February 1985, he was delivered as "the player to be named later" in a trade between the Cardinals and Giants. Between the time of the initial trade and his delivery, he changed his name from José González Uribe (Uribe is his mother's maiden name; see Iberian naming customs) to just José Uribe (González is his father's name) because, as he put it, "There are too many Gonzálezes in baseball!" Thus he really was "named later". He also earned a rather unique nickname from ESPN announcer Chris Berman when the stat known as the "Game Winning RBI" was an official statistic, José "Game Winning" Uribe.

Uribe was the Giants' principal shortstop for eight seasons, including their 1987 National League western division championship and 1989 NL pennant, leading the league with 85 double plays in the latter season. In the 1987 National League Championship Series he had a 2-run single with the bases loaded in the second inning of Game 5, giving the Giants a 4-3 lead. He then stole third base and scored as the Giants won 6-3 for a 3-2 series lead, though San Francisco went on to lose the final two games.

Uribe signed with the Houston Astros as a free agent for the 1993 season, and ended his career with a .241 batting average, 19 home runs, 307 runs, 219 RBI, 738 hits and 74 stolen bases in 1038 games.

He was a second-cousin of current White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe.

Uribe was killed, at age 47, December 8, 2006 in a car crash at about 3:00 a.m. near his hometown of Juan Baron, Palenque, Dominican Republic.[1]