Fernando Viña

Fernando Viña (pronounced VEEN-ya) (born April 16, 1969) is a retired Cuban-American Major League Baseball second baseman and current MLB analyst for ESPN. 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).

Career

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 due to a labrum tear in his right hip, 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, 2008, and 2009 seasons. Was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame in 2011 and Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Fame in 2014.Hit the 1st inside the park homerun ever in both AT&T Park and Miller Park.

Mitchell Report

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 Kirk 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]

Popular culture

Viña was featured in the Welcome To Atlanta (Coast to Coast Remix) music video with Nelly and the St. Lunatics

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube