Raúl Mondesí

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Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino (born March 12, 1971 in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball player. He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1994 as a right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was also awarded a Gold Glove Award in 1995 and 1997 as an outfielder.

Throughout his career, Mondesí was infuriating to teams he played for because, despite his very obvious physical gifts of speed, power and a rocket arm (one of the best in baseball history, often compared favorably with that of Roberto Clemente), he had poor plate discipline and a poor attitude. Examples of this includes his notorious verbal altercation with teenage fan Brody Logan during a 1995 Dodgers spring training game in Vero Beach, Florida. Despite his surly behavior, Mondesi would always hustle and would usually do a "big turn" at first base even when he had no chance of obtaining a double. By the end of his career, his effort out-weighed his physical abilities. (That all but eroded.) He seemed most at home when in the field, where his dead run into "belly buster" dives were a favorite of Dodger Stadium fans.

Since making his major league debut on July 19, 1993 with the Dodgers, Mondesí has played for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Anaheim Angels, and Atlanta Braves.

1 Turbulent 2004 Season
2 Post-baseball Career
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Turbulent 2004 Season

Mondesi will be remembered for his turbulent 2004 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He hit a respectable .272 with 24 HR and 71 RBI with the Yankees and Diamondbacks in 2003. However, Mondesi's career was clearly on the decline when he signed with the Pirates in February 2004. By May he was talking of leaving the team for personal reasons in the Dominican Republic, later known to be threats from hitting instructor Mario Guerrero.^{[citation needed]} He left the team on May 11, 2004 and his contract was terminated roughly a week later, and after another 10 days, he signed with the Anaheim Angels. The deal was investigated by Major League Baseball, as the circumstances were questionable, but the Angels were cleared of any wrongdoing.^{[citation needed]} Shortly after he signed with the Angels, he tore his quadricep and was placed on the disabled list. He was released by the Angels in July for not showing up for his rehab therapy. The Atlanta Braves signed Mondesi as a reclamation project in 2005 and proved once and for all that he was at the end of the line, appearing in just 41 games and producing 4 HR. [1]

[edit] Post-baseball Career

Raul Mondesi is currently out of baseball and living in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He was fined as a result of stealing electricity in 2006. [2]