Nelson Cruz

Nelson Cruz
Free Agent
Right fielder/Left fielder
Born: (1980-07-01) July 1, 1980 Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 19, 2005 for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics (through 2013 season)
Batting average	.268
Hits	774
Home runs	157
Runs batted in	489
Teams
Milwaukee Brewers (2005) Texas Rangers (2006–2013)
Career highlights and awards
2× All Star (2009, 2013) ALCS MVP (2011) MLB postseason record for home runs (6) in a series (2011 ALCS) MLB postseason record for RBIs (13) in a series (2011 ALCS)

Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez (born July 1, 1980) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder who currently is a free agent. He has played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers. Cruz is best remembered for his dominant performance in the 2011 ALCS against the Detroit Tigers. He had 6 home runs and 13 RBIs, en route to being named the M.V.P. of the series.

Professional Career

New York Mets and Oakland Athletics

Cruz was initially signed as a free agent by the New York Mets, and after three years in the Dominican Summer League, he was traded him to the Oakland Athletics on August 30, 2000 for Jorge Velandia. Cruz spent four years in Oakland's minor league system then was traded on December 16, 2004 to the Milwaukee Brewers for infielder Keith Ginter.

Milwaukee Brewers

Cruz spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons in the Brewers organization, primarily with the Double-A Huntsville Stars, Triple-A Nashville Sounds. He made is major league debut with the Brewers in September of 2005.

Texas Rangers

On July 28, 2006, the Brewers sent Cruz and outfielder Carlos Lee to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero and minor league pitcher Julian Cordero. On August 16, Cruz hit the first grand slam of his career. On September 4, 2006, against the Athletics, he hit an inside-the-park home run in which his bat broke on impact. In spring training for the 2007 season, Cruz got off to a rough start, but finished strong by hitting three home runs in the final week, including a walk-off home run in the final game of spring training.

Cruz failed to make the major league roster prior to the 2008 season and cleared waivers after being designated for assignment because he had exhausted his minor league options. Cruz's contract was purchased from the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks by the Rangers on August 25, 2008, after batting .342 with 37 home runs and 99 runs batted in (RBI); for his efforts, he won the 2008 Pacific Coast League MVP award.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2009, Cruz was selected as an All-Star as a replacement for injured Torii Hunter.^[1] He also participated in the 2009 Home Run Derby, finishing second to Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder.

He and teammate Ian Kinsler each hit three home runs in the 2010 AL division series against the Tampa Bay Rays, marking only the second time in Major League history that two teammates each hit three homers in a postseason series of five games or fewer (joining Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, who did it in the 1928 World Series).^[2]

In Game 5 of the 2010 World Series vs. the San Francisco Giants, Cruz hit a home run off of Tim Lincecum in the 7th inning. Later in the bottom of the 9th inning, he was the final out of the series to strike out resulting in the Rangers losing the series.

In 2011, Cruz and Ian Kinsler became the first two teammates in major league history to homer in each of the first three games in a season, joining Dean Palmer (1992) as the only Texas ballplayers to ever homer in the first three games of the season.^[3] Also, in his very next game, Cruz became the third player ever to homer in each of the first four games of the season, joining Willie Mays and Mark McGwire.^[4]

Cruz became the second hitter to hit a home run into the upper deck in right field as a right-handed batter in the history of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The other was hit by former Ranger Chad Curtis, during the 2000 season.

On July 22, he had 8 RBIs in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays; it was Cruz's career high in RBIs.^[5]

In 2011, he batted .263 with 29 home runs.^[6] He led AL right fielders in range factor for the third straight year (2.29).^[6]

On October 10, 2011, Cruz hit a walk-off grand slam in Game Two of the ALCS versus the Detroit Tigers. He became the first player in baseball history to hit a walk-off grand slam in a postseason game.^[7]

On October 12, 2011, Cruz hit a 3 run home run to seal game 4 of the ALCS for the Texas Rangers against the Detroit Tigers. He became the first player to hit multiple extra-inning home runs in the same postseason series.^[8] During the 2011 ALCS, Cruz hit 6 home runs and had 13 RBIs, both postseason series records.^[9] His efforts earned him the 2011 ALCS MVP award.^[10]

On October 27, 2011, Cruz hit a solo home run to put the Texas Rangers up 6 to 4 against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.^[11] The home run allowed Cruz to tie the record for most postseason home runs in a season at 8; he shares the achievement with Carlos Beltran and Barry Bonds.^[12]

The Rangers were one strike away from winning game 6 of the 2011 World Series and holding on to a two-run lead when St. Louis third baseman David Freese hit a deep pop-up to Cruz in right field. Cruz was positioned fairly shallow and was therefore forced to sprint back to the warning track and bring in what looked like an easily catchable ball. The catch would clinch the Texas Rangers first World Series title in franchise history. Cruz made an effort to jump and make the catch, however clumsily missed the ball by mere inches, allowing Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman to score and tie the game. The Rangers were twice just one strike away from winning the World Series only to have St. Louis respond and eventually win the game in extra innings. Game 6 would eventually be regarded as one of the most memorable games in baseball history with Cruz playing a central role. The Cardinals went on to win the World Series in seven games, while the Rangers became the first team in over a decade to lose consecutive World Series.

In January 2013 Cruz, along with several other Major League stars, was linked to buying performance enhancing drugs from a clinic based out of Miami.^[13] On August 5, 2013, Cruz accepted a 50 game suspension from Major League Baseball for his involvement.^[14]

Cruz became a free agent following the 2013 season and is eligible to sign with any team.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)