Roberto Alomar Career Biography and Statistics

Bio:
Roberto Alomar is one of the greatest second basemen ever to play professional baseball. He has arguably set the standard by which all current and future second basemen will be judged. He possessed not only phenomenal defensive skills, but also impressive offensive capabilities.

Alomar was born on February 5, 1968 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He entered the MLB with the San Diego Padres in 1988 and showed plenty of promise defensively as well as offensively. Alomar’s hitting took off the following season (1989) when he batted .295 with 184 hits. He established himself as an excellent base stealer with 42 steals in 59 attempts. He spent one more year, the 1990 season, with San Diego before being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays before the 1991 season.

Alomar spent five years with the Blue Jays, and during that time he solidified his position as one of the best second basemen in baseball. During his time in Toronto, Alomar won the Gold Glove every year, was named to the All-Star Team every year, and batted over .290 every year. He also continued to be impressive on the base paths, recording 50 or more stolen bases two times.

Although his regular season statistics were very impressive, the greatest impact Alomar made in Toronto was in the playoffs. He was a major factor in the Blue Jays winning back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. He batted over .400 during the 1992 American League Championship Series (ALCS). He also provided a clutch home run and was named ALCS MVP. The next year proved that Alomar was not a one-time playoff wonder. He batted .292 over the entire playoffs and .480 in the World Series alone.

Alomar moved to the Baltimore Orioles after he became a free agent in Toronto after the 1995 season. He was a success from the start in Baltimore, setting career highs in 1996 with a .328 batting average, 193 hits, 94 RBIs, and 132 runs scored. He missed about 50 games during the 1997 season with a shoulder injury, but still batted .333 with 14 home runs.

The 1996 season saw Alomar get involved in major controversy, something he had been able avoid up to that point in his career. In a September game against his former club, Toronto, Alomar spit in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck after being called out on strikes and arguing the call. Alomar defended himself by saying Hirschbeck had insulted him and his family. The incident took everyone by surprise and Alomar was subject to some very cold receptions for the rest of the season and the playoffs, and he was suspended for five games to start the 1997 season. Alomar and Hirschbeck publicly apologized to and forgave each other, but Alomar still received plenty of criticism in 1997.

After the spitting incident, Alomar’s relationship with the Orioles became strained. After the 1998 season, he signed with the Cleveland Indians. This is ironic because it was in Cleveland that Alomar received perhaps his coldest receptions. Nevertheless, Alomar had a fantastic career with the Indians that included the best two seasons of his career. In 1999 he hit .323 with 24 home runs and 120 RBIs, and in 2001 he hit .336 with 20 home runs and 100 RBIs. He led Cleveland to the playoffs twice, but the Indians were eliminated in the Division Series both times. Also, 2001 marked the tenth and final Gold Glove of Alomar’s career: a MLB record for a second baseman.

Alomar split the last three years (2002-04) of his career between the New York Mets, the Chicago White Sox, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even though he was still a good ballplayer, Alomar’s defense and production numbers had begun to noticeably decline. Dealing with vision and back problems, he decided to retire in the spring of 2005. He finished his career with a .300 batting average, over 2,700 hits, 210 home runs, 1,134 RBIs, 504 doubles, 1,508 runs scored, and 474 stolen bases. He was a 10-time Gold Glover, a 12-time All-Star, and a four-time Silver Slugger.