| Fernando Viña | |
|---|---|
| Second baseman | |
| Born: April 16, 1969 Sacramento, California |
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| Batted: Left | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 10, 1993 for the Seattle Mariners | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 11, 2004 for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .282 |
| Hits | 1,196 |
| Runs batted in | 343 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Fernando Viña (pronounced VEEN-ya) (born April 16, 1969 in Sacramento, California) is a retired Cuban-American Major League Baseball second baseman and current MLB analyst for Oakland Athletics. From 1993 through 2005, Viña played for the Seattle Mariners (1993), New York Mets (1994), Milwaukee Brewers (1995-1999), St Louis Cardinals (2000-2003), and Detroit Tigers (2004).
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A National League All-Star in 1998, Viña was a two-time Gold Glove winner (2001-2002). He was limited to 29 games for the Tigers: a serious leg injury ended his first season with Detroit, and Viña missed the entire 2005 season because of a strained right hamstring and patellar tendinitis in his left knee. Many believe Viña concealed the extent of prior injuries from the Tigers in order to obtain a lucrative contract from them, but his signing was the first of several major acquisitions that led to the Tigers' resurrection to a playoff contender.
In 2006, Viña was invited to spring training by the Seattle Mariners but was cut before the start of the season, in effect bringing an end to his 12-year career. Viña retired with a .282 batting average, 40 home runs and 343 RBI in 1148 games played. In 2007, Viña joined ESPN as an analyst for Baseball Tonight to do about 60 shows during the 2007 season.
On December 13, 2007, Viña was mentioned in the Mitchell Report in connection with steroid use.[1] The report cited an interview with former Mets clubhouse attendant Derek Sprang, who claimed Viña purchased anabolic steroids from him six to eight times between 2000 and 2005.[1] The two first met in 1993 when Viña was in the Mets minor league system, and indeed Viña's personal contact information was listed in Radomski's address book seized by federal agents investigating Radomski.[1] Three checks from Viña to Radomski for purchases of HGH and steroids were included in the Mitchell Report itself as further evidence of Viña's steroid use.[1] Viña later confirmed during an airing of SportsCenter that he used HGH in 2003 to recover from injuries, but denied ever using steroids or purchasing them from Radomski.[2]
Viña was featured in the Welcome To Atlanta (Coast to Coast Remix) music video with the St. Lunatics
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