Carlos Baerga
| Carlos Baerga | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Second baseman | |||
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Born: November 4, 1968 Santurce, Puerto Rico | |||
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 14, 1990, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 30, 2005, for the Washington Nationals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .291 | ||
| Home runs | 134 | ||
| Runs batted in | 774 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Carlos Obed Baerga Ortiz (/baɪˈɛərɡə/; Spanish pronunciation: [baˈerɣa]; born November 4, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball player. After spending most of his career as a second baseman, he was used at various positions late in his career.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Puerto Rico | ||
| Men's Baseball | ||
| World Baseball Classic | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2013 San Francisco | Team |
Baseball career
Cleveland Indians
On November 4, 1985, at the age of sixteen, Baerga was signed by the San Diego Padres. On December 6, 1989, San Diego traded him to the Cleveland Indians along with Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Chris James in exchange for established power-hitter Joe Carter. Baerga debuted as a major league baseball player with the Indians, on April 14, 1990. That year, he played mostly as a third baseman and shortstop and would hit 17 doubles and seven home runs, while averaging .260 at the plate.
Over the next four years, his home run and batting averages numbers rose steadily, hitting 11 home runs, and batting for an average of .288 in 1991 while playing mostly as a third baseman and second baseman, getting 20 home runs and averaging .312 in 1992 while becoming a full-time second baseman, and with 21 home runs and an average of .321 in 1993. In 1992, he reached two hundred hits in one season for the first time, getting 205 hits that year. In 1993, he duplicated the mark of 200 hits, with exactly 200.
Baerga became the first second baseman since Rogers Hornsby in 1922 to have back-to-back 200+ hit, 20+ home run, 100+ RBI, and .300+ average seasons when he accomplished the feat in 1992–93. He was a 3 time All Star in the 1992, 1993, and 1994 seasons.
The switch-hitting Baerga was the first of three players to have ever hit one home run from both sides of the plate in the same inning. He did so on April 8, 1993, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium against New York Yankees pitchers Steve Howe and Steve Farr in the game's 7th inning. On August 29, 2002, he was joined by Chicago Cubs utility player Mark Bellhorn, who completed the feat against the Milwaukee Brewers, and on July 30, 2012, Kendrys Morales became the third player to accomplish this rare feat against the Texas Rangers. He was the Indians' most reliable pinch hitter
During the strike-shortened 1994 season, Baerga hit 19 home runs and maintained an average of .314 at the plate. In the 144-game 1995 season, Baerga had 175 hits and 15 home runs in 139 games, with a .314 average. The Indians made it to the World Series, where they fell to the Atlanta Braves in six games (Baerga flew out to Marquis Grissom for the final out).
Baerga played 100 games with the Indians in 1996, before being traded to the New York Mets on July 29, 1996, with Álvaro Espinoza, for Jeff Kent and José Vizcaíno. He collected 129 hits with twelve home runs that year, hitting only .193 after being traded to the Mets. He ended that year with an average of .254. Over the next two seasons with the Mets, Baerga had below average seasons, hitting nine home runs and batting .281 in 1997, and seven home runs and .266 in 1998. He was granted free agency on October 26, 1998.
Decline and retirement
Baerga began to develop problems with his knees. On January 27, 1999, Baerga was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and released before the season began. The Cincinnati Reds signed him, but after he hit .290 in the minors, released him midseason. The San Diego Padres put him in the minors for 21 games where he hit .286, and brought him up for 33 games where he hit .250. Bought by Cleveland in August, he hit .228 in 31 games with them.[1]
Signed briefly by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2000, Baerga did not appear in the majors that year. He felt that he could no longer perform as a major leaguer. In 2001, he played for the Long Island Ducks and in the Korea Baseball Organization, Samsung Lions(삼성 라이온즈 야구단)).[2] Then he retired, and bought the Santurce Crabbers, becoming player-manager and realizing his childhood dream.[3]
Return to major leagues
In 2002, Baerga returned to the majors. That year, he got 52 hits with the Boston Red Sox, primarily serving as a pinch-hitter and designated hitter. In 2003, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he collected 71 hits for the team. The Diamondbacks re-signed him for 2004, but the aging Baerga, now prone to injury, got hurt again and was only able to play in 20 games that season. He was signed by the Washington Nationals to a minor league contract before the 2005 season and played 93 games for them. He also played for Puerto Rico in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Baerga collected 1,543 hits in his MLB career, with 134 home runs, and a batting average of .292.
As a broadcaster, Baerga has enjoyed prominence as a color commentator for Monday Night Baseball retransmissions in Spanish on ESPN Dos for the Mexico-Caribbean-Venezuela region. He is an analyst on Beisbol Esta Noche (the Spanish version of Baseball Tonight) on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America. He is recognized by fans and fellow co-workers as "Carlos Obed".[4]
2013 World Baseball Classic
During the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Baerga served as one of the assistant coaches under Edwin Rodríguez.[5]
2013–2014: Manager for the Indios de Mayagüez
As of January 2014, Baerga is the current manager for the Indios de Mayagüez in Puerto Rico's Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League.
Personal life
Baerga became an Evangelical Christian during the early 2000s, and he took former world boxing champion and personal friend Alex Sánchez with him to church one day. The former world champion also became an Evangelical Christian on the day of the visit. In turn, Sanchez brought over Félix Trinidad to the church that Baerga attended, and Trinidad became a born-again Christian as well. Baerga joined the church where his father-in-law was a pastor. Baerga has a wife Myriam, a daughter Karla, and a son Carlos Giovanni.
Baerga agreed to sign up as a delegate for Rick Santorum in the 2012 Republican primary.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ "Indians re-acquire IF Carlos Baerga from Padres". ESPN. 2 September 1999. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ↑ "삼성라이온즈". Samsunglions.com. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ↑ Thomas, Bill (19 September 2013). "In Puerto Rico, winter baseball has deep roots". The Washington Post Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ↑ Hoynes, Paul (26 February 2010). "Matt LaPorta is aiming for March 10 to return to lineup: Cleveland Indians spring training briefing". Cleveland.com (Cleveland Plain Dealer).
- ↑ Ortíz, Joel (December 13, 2012). "Estelar el cuerpo técnico de Puerto Rico para el Clásico Mundial". El Nuevo Día.
- ↑ Summers, Juana (15 March 2012). "Rick Santorum on official language: Puerto Ricans should speak Spanish too". Politco.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Career statistics and player information from Korea Baseball Organization
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