Omar Vizquel

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Omar Vizquel

San Francisco Giants — No. 13
Shortstop
Bats: Both Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 3, 1989 for the Seattle Mariners
Selected MLB statistics
(through 2006)
Hits     2472
Runs scored     1283
Batting average     .276
Former teams

    Omar Enrique González Vizquel (born April 24, 1967 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball shortstop playing for the San Francisco Giants in the 2006 season. Previously, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners (1989-93) and the Cleveland Indians (1994-2004). Vizquel is considered one of baseball's best defensive shortstops, having won nine consecutive Gold Gloves (1993-2001) and two consecutive in 2005-2006. He also tied Cal Ripken's AL record for most consecutive games without an error (95 between September 26, 1999 and July 21, 2001). In Cleveland he joined Kenny Lofton as the first pair of Indians to win Gold Gloves since Vic Power and Jimmy Piersall did it in 1961. As of 2005, his .984 career fielding percentage is the highest of all-time for a shortstop in major league history.

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    [edit] Career

    Originally signed by the Mariners as a non-drafted free agent in 1984, Vizquel made his major league debut on April 3, 1989. His exceptional glovework became evident early on in his professional career, but it took Vizquel several years to master the art of hitting. Strictly a singles hitter from the beginning, Vizquel batted .220, .247, and .230 with only 39 bases in his first three seasons with Seattle. After hitting .294 in 1992, Vizquel was slated for a repeat performance the following year but despite having reached a batting average of .292 by the All-Star break in 1993, he batted only .202 for the rest of the season to finish at .252.

    Vizquel in the on deck circle with the Giants in 2006.
    Vizquel in the on deck circle with the Giants in 2006.

    It has been suggested that Vizquel's less-than-average size as a ballplayer has made him more prone to fatigue.[citation needed] Although Vizquel had never before appeared for 550 at-bats in a full season, he nonetheless contributed significantly to the Mariners' offense, mainly bunting to advance runners and drawing walks. However, by year's end, Vizquel was traded by the Mariners to the Indians for Félix Fermín, Reggie Jefferson, and cash (Fermin hit well for Seattle in 1994 but suffered an injury and retired in 1996).

    After joining the Indians, Vizquel became a stronger, more competent hitter. In 1996, he batted .297 with nine home runs, 64 runs batted in, 98 runs, 36 doubles, and a .362 on base percentage. He continued to hit consistently well over the years with the team, reaching a career-high batting average of .333 in 1999 with 191 hits, thus helping the Indians to their fifth-straight AL Central Division title. That same year, Vizquel also scored 112 runs, hit 36 doubles with 66 RBIs, and stole 42 bases while drawing more walks than strikeouts in his best offensive campaign to date. On the field, Vizquel and second baseman Roberto Alomar were recognized as one of the most decorated, keystone defensive duos with both men joining a select list of eight shortstop-second baseman combinations to hold the honor of winning three consecutive Gold Gloves over the course of their three seasons together (1999-2001). He led Cleveland to the World Series in 1995 and 1997 but came up short in both.

    Vizquel continued to reach career-highs in 2002 hitting 14 homers and 72 RBIs but his success was interrupted by the need for surgery in his right knee. As a result of the injury and a follow-up operation, he appeared in only 64 games in 2003. However, Vizquel returned in 2004 to hit .291 in 148 games and was signed by the Giants as a free agent at the end of the season. So far in his 17-year career, Vizquel has established himself as a .274 hitter with 69 home runs, 760 RBI, and 342 stolen bases in 2290 games. His exceptional defense coupled with his steady offensive output has inspired an ongoing debate among observers as to whether he will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame after he retires. [1] [2] [3] [4]

    [edit] Mesa feud

    A long-running and well-publicized feud erupted between Vizquel and former teammate and friend José Mesa in 2002, following the publication of Vizquel's autobiography, Omar! My Life On and Off the Field. In the book, Vizquel criticized Mesa's performance in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series: "The eyes of the world were focused on every move we made. Unfortunately, Jose's own eyes were vacant. Completely empty. Nobody home. You could almost see right through him. Not long after I looked into his vacant eyes, he blew the save and the Marlins tied the game." Mesa reacted furiously, pledging to hit Vizquel upon every subsequent opportunity: "Even my little boy told me to get him. If I face him 10 more times, I'll hit him 10 times. I want to kill him." On June 12, 2002, Mesa (now pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies) made good on his promise and hit Vizquel the first time he faced him, in the ninth inning. Oddly, Mesa was not ejected and finished the game, which featured five other ejections, including both managers. [5] They did not face each other again until 2006; by then, Vizquel was with the San Francisco Giants and Mesa was playing for the Colorado Rockies. When Vizquel came to bat against Mesa in Denver on April 22, Mesa hit him again. Meeting three more times in 2006, however, Vizquel escaped being hit by his former friend, with two groundouts and an RBI single. In his career, Vizquel is batting .333 (7-for-21) against Mesa.[6]

    [edit] Personal

    Although Vizquel has played shortstop almost exclusively on the field, he is known for being more well-rounded off the field. He is an avid painter and sculptor, and plays the guitar and drums. He has a son Nicholas Enrique (born September 12, 1995) with his wife Nicole. He is also active in community service, having served as an honorary spokesperson for "Young Audiences", and arts education organization in Cleveland, and "Schools Now", which raises funds through the sale of entertainment booklets. Following a flood and mudflow disaster that killed 25,000 in his native Venezuela in 1999, Vizquel not only donated his time to the relief effort but also helped to raise over $500,000 for the cause. Vizquel also has various charitable events in downtown Cleveland such as tribe jam, where he and some other teamates team up with each other or with retired singers and sing some of their favorite songs.

    [edit] Trivia

    • Won the Hutch Award in 1996, the only non-American player ever to do so.
    • Tied the American League record for most consecutive games without an error (95 between September 26, 1999-July 21, 2001)
    • 3-time All-Star (1998-99, 2002)
    • Became 230th major league player to reach 2,000 career hits on April 22, 2004.
    • Went 6-7 on August 31, 2004 to tie the American League record for most hits in a nine-inning game as the Indians rolled to a 22-0 rout of the Yankees, who endured the worst shut out loss in league history.
    • Became the 3,000th strikeout victim of Greg Maddux in 2005.
    • Stole 350th base on June 21, 2006.
    • Named Venezuelan World Baseball Classic captain for 2006.
    • Was traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for shortstop Carlos Guillen back in the 2003 offseason, but Vizquel failed his physical so the trade wasn't made. Less than 3 weeks later, Guillen was traded to the Detroit Tigers.
    • His autobiography, Omar!, spent four weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List.

    [edit] See also

    [edit] Sources

    [edit] References

    1. "Vizquel an artist at work" by Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports, May 24, 2006
    2. "Older players make final bids for Hall of Fame" by Mel Antonen, USA TODAY, July 27, 2006
    3. "Last call for the Hall" by Gary Kaufman, Salon.com, July 26, 2000
    4. "ALL SYSTEMS O!" by Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer, September 26, 2004

    [edit] External links

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