The Players

[Yankee4Life]

Lefty O’Doul

 

 

Few have eclipsed Lefty O’Doul as a baseball legend in San Francisco. He was known first as a pitcher and then as one of the game’s best hitters. Later, he managed the local Seals club for 17 years. He was always readily identifiable for his attire and was nicknamed “The Man in the Green Suit” for his penchant of wearing such an outfit daily. Even today, his sports bar is a city landmark.

 

In the majors O’Doul won two batting titles and nearly hit .400 in 1929. He finished with a .349 career batting average, fourth-best in history. After leaving the majors, he returned to the west coast and managed for more than 20 years, amassing more than 2,000 wins, a total surpassed by only eight men in minor league history. He was recognized as one of the game’s great hitting instructors. Men would travel from far and wide to have the Seals’ manager critique their skills.

 

O’Doul may have made his greatest contributions to baseball with his many trips to Japan. He trained countless Japanese in the skills of the game and fostered communication and interaction between those in the Japanese and American games both before and after the Second World War. He is also credited as one of the founders of Nippon Professional Baseball. For his efforts, O’Doul was the second American elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

Francis Joseph O’Doul was born on March 4, 1897, in San Francisco. O’Doul, known as Frank, grew up in the Butchertown district of San Francisco, the center of the city’s meat-packing industry, an area now known as Bay View-Hunter’s Point. 

 

O’Doul’s road to baseball began in 1912 at the Bay View School. The school’s baseball coach, a woman named Rosie Stoltz, helped develop his fundamentals. As O’Doul, a lefthander, later noted, Stoltz “taught me the essential fundamentals of the game. She taught me to pitch, field and hit.” Their club won the city championship that first year. The following year, at age sixteen, O’Doul quit school to join his father in the slaughterhouse. He worked six days a week, playing baseball on Sundays for amateur and semi-pro clubs. Late in his teen years, O’Doul made a name for himself locally as a member of the undefeated Native Sons team.

 

At the end of 1916 O’Doul, a lefthanded pitcher, was plucked off a semi-pro club by his hometown San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. He appeared in three games for the Seals in 1917, recording no decisions, before he was farmed out to Des Moines of the Western League in May, where he pitched in 19 games with an 8-6 record. With San Francisco again in 1918, O’Doul pitched in 49 games, posting a 12-8 record and a 2.63 ERA. He enlisted in the Navy, and was drafted by the New York Yankees on September 21, 1918. O’Doul and George Halas were the only two Yankees to enter camp in shape and ready to play in 1919. O’Doul was fresh from playing winter ball, and Halas kept in shape with naval training teams playing football and basketball.

 

O’Doul impressed quite a few in camp, posting a mark of 8 3/5 seconds sprinting 75 yards; however, he hurt his arm during a throwing contest. He appeared in only 19 games for New York, pitching only three times, but remained with the club all season pinch-hitting, tossing batting practice and doing whatever was needed. His day-to-day services that year though went mostly unnoticed. For example, prior to a doubleheader one day, rain was pouring down. Figuring the games would be cancelled, O’Doul and teammate Chick Fewster took off for Belmont Park race track. Returning home later, they noticed a newspaper which posted the score of the first game with an update of the second game. Fearing reprisal, the two quietly slipped into the clubhouse the following day. Manager Miller Huggins never said a word; he hadn’t missed them.

 

O’Doul played winter ball at the end of the season to get his arm in shape. Just a few days before Babe Ruth was traded to the Yankees, he and O’Doul met in an exhibition game in California. O’Doul struck Ruth out in his first two at bats, but Ruth homered the next time up. O’Doul appeared in only 13 games for the Yankees in 1920, but again stayed on the roster all season. In January 1921 he was optioned to San Francisco, by way of the Vernon club. O’Doul had his breakout season for San Francisco that year. In 47 games and 312 innings, he posted a 25-9 record and a 2.39 ERA. He also batted .338 in a total of 74 games. On December 6 the Yankees exercised their option on O’Doul, and brought him to spring training.

 

Once again the Yankees gave O’Doul little playing time. He appeared in only eight games in 1922; however, he was with the pennant-winning club the entire season. On June 23 the Yankees traded Chick Fewster, Elmer Miller, Johnny Mitchell, $50,000 and a player-to-be-named to the Red Sox for Joe Dugan and Elmer Smith, one in a slew of tranasactions between the two clubs during the era. O’Doul found out on September 29 that he was the player-to-be-named. Miller Huggins decided to leave him off the postseason roster despite the fact he was the Yankees’ only lefthanded pitcher. He remained with the club to pitch batting practice and sit on the bench during the World Series. The Yankees formally released him to Boston on October 12.

 

O’Doul spent all of 1923 with the Red Sox, pitching in 23 games, including his only major league start on April 21, the fourth game of the season. Five days later, O’Doul notched his only big league victory, a 5-4 win over the Yankees. But on July 7, as Cleveland was clobbering Boston 27-3, he gave up a record 13 runs in the sixth inning. On February 2, 1924, the Red Sox sent the 26-year-old O’Doul to Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League. He appeared in 140 games, showcasing a .392 batting average and a 7-9 won-loss record. Suffering chronic arm trouble, he gave up pitching and became a full-time outfielder, but he acknowledged his deficiencies with the glove. One of his favorite stories, true or not, concerned a man who signed O’Doul’s name to a bad check in a bar. O’Doul told the bartender, “The next time somebody comes in here and says he’s me, take him out in the back and have somebody hit a few balls to him. If he catches them you know he’s a phony.”

 

In 198 games for Salt Lake in 1925, O’Doul hit .375 with 309 hits and 24 home runs. On September 12 he was purchased by the Chicago Cubs for $50,000, but he never played for the club. With Hollywood in the PCL in 1926 he batted .338 with 223 hits and 20 home runs. Back with San Francisco in 1927, O’Doul won the first-ever PCL most valuable player award, batting .378 with 278 hits and 33 home runs. On October 4 he was drafted by the New York Giants. Returning to the majors at age 31, O’Doul broke his ankle in the seventh game of the 1928 season and missed six weeks. He managed to hit .319 in 94 games in left field. On October 29 he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies with cash for Freddy Leach.

 

O’Doul, a lefthanded hitter, was among the elite in 1929, finishing second in the MVP voting to Rogers Hornsby, 60 votes to 54. He played in every game for the Phillies, hitting a league-leading .398, and adding 122 RBI and 32 home runs. He also led the league with 254 hits and a .465 on-base percentage. He had another outstanding year in 1930, batting .383 with 97 RBI and 22 home runs. Nevertheless, he was traded to the Dodgers after the season with Fresco Thompson for Clise Dudley, Jumbo Elliott, Hal Lee, and cash. O’Doul hit .336 for Brooklyn in 1931. On January 21, 1932, he signed a new contract for $4,000, even though it called for a 5 percent pay reduction. He even enclosed a note with it thanking Brooklyn management for treating him nicely during 1931 when he was in a batting slump. (Salaries were being cut all around the majors because the Depression was hurting attendance.)

 

O’Doul hit .368 in 1932 to capture his second batting title. But when his average dropped to .252 in the first 43 games of 1933, he was traded to the Giants on June 16 with pitcher Watty Clark for first baseman Sam Leslie. He joined the Giants for the pennant drive, batting .306 in 78 games. That summer O’Doul made his only appearance in an All-Star Game, as an unsuccessful pinch-hitter. The Giants won the pennant and met the Washington Senators in the World Series. He made his only at-bat count. In the sixth inning of Game Two he pinch-hit after Mel Ott was intentionally walked to fill the bases. O’Doul singled to knock in Hughie Critz and Bill Terry and later scored. The six-run inning led to a 6-1 New York victory.

 

After 83 games with the Giants in 1934, O’Doul’s major league career ended with some stellar figures: a .349 batting average, .413 on-base percentage, and .532 slugging percentage in 3,264 at bats. San Francisco offered O’Doul the job managing his hometown Seals, but he was still under reserve by the Giants. He requested his release from manager Bill Terry. The Giants originally wanted $4,000 from the Seals, but O’Doul was a ten-year player who would have to clear waivers in the majors before he could be sent down. Rather than jamming him up, the Giants granted his unconditional release on February 16, 1935. 

O’Doul managed the Seals through 1951. On November 3, 1937, San Francisco owner Charlie Graham gave him a contract to manage the club “for life.” The Seals won the championship in 1935 and took four straight pennants from 1943-1946. O’Doul was mentioned many times as a potential major league manager, but it never happened. He was named Minor League Manager of the Year in 1945 by The Sporting News.

 

After leaving San Francisco, O’Doul continued managing other Pacific Coast League teams: San Diego, 1952-54; Oakland, 1955; Vancouver, 1956; and Seattle, 1957. He currently ranks ninth on the all-time victory list for minor league managers with a 2,094-1,970 record.

In 2002 O’Doul was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame for his promotion of the sport, particularly in helping to restore friendly relations between the United States and Japan after World War II. He first went to Japan, the Philippines and China at the end of 1931 as part of an exhibition tour organized by former major leaguer Herb Hunter, who had made numerous similar trips. They were joined by Frankie Frisch, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove, and Al Simmons.

 

In October 1932 O’Doul went back to Japan for nearly three months to help train ballplayers at the Big Six colleges, Hose, Imperial, Keio, Meji, Rikkio and Waseda. He coached the hitters and outfielders, Ted Lyons taught pitching, and Moe Berg showed his catching skills. The men conducted about 40 lessons at each school. Members of the royal family attended, including Prince Chichibu. The Americans also participated in exhibition games that drew crowds of well over 60,000. One day, O’Doul and Lyons were walking along Tokyo’s waterfront with a camera taking “moving pictures.” They were arrested for violating Japan’s strict espionage laws. After they were identified, the American ballplayers were cordially treated at the precinct and happily granted unlimited access with their camera; however, they were arrested again by an officer in another precinct.

 

Lefty returned to Japan at the end of 1933, and organized a tour to the country the following year. After being rebuffed by National League officials, he recruited an impressive crew of American Leaguers, including Earl Averill, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty Gomez, Connie Mack, Babe Ruth, and Earl Whitehill. In 1935 and ’36 O’Doul helped organize tours of the United States by professional Japanese players. He also helped form the Japanese professional baseball league and is credited with naming the Tokyo Giants after his last major league club. He spent months in Japan at the end of 1936 and into 1937, helping to oversee the building of Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo.

 

O’Doul was deeply distressed as Japan slipped into militarism. He stayed away from the country for a time and took the bombing of Pearl Harbor as a personal affront. In October 1949, though, O’Doul took his San Francisco Seals to Japan to foster reconciliation between the countries. He even pitched at age 52. He was roundly and enthusiastically greeted by all, including Emperor Hirohito and Prince Akihito. The club drew 500,000 to 10 games. 

 

O’Doul flew to Japan with Joe DiMaggio for a personal appearance tour in 1950 and led a group of all-stars to the country for a series of exhibition games in 1951. That group included Yogi Berra, Joe and Dom DiMaggio, Ferris Fain, Eddie Lopat, Billy Martin, Mel Parnell, and Bobby Shantz. On November 13, 1951, O’Doul’s All-Stars lost 3-1 to a Pacific League all-star squad. It was the first time an American professional team lost to a Japanese professional team.

 

At the end of 1952 O’Doul went to Japan on another training mission, and he joined the New York Giants on a trip to the Orient the following year. It was the first time an entire major league team traveled to Hawaii, Japan and Manila. O’Doul and family accompanied Joe DiMaggio and his new bride, Marilyn Monroe, for two weeks in Hawaii and Japan in January and February 1954. In November O’Doul returned to take a Japanese club on a tour of Australia.

 

In October 1960 O’Doul traveled to Japan with the San Francisco Giants for a series of exhibition games and personal appearances. He initiated discussions of a trans-Pacific World Series to be played every year between Nippon Professional Baseball and the American major league champions. A representative of Commissioner Frick met with leaders of the two Japanese leagues to discuss the possibility. In January 1961 O’Doul accompanied Honolulu owner Nick Morgan to Japan and Manila in an effort to recruit ballplayers for the new PCL club.

 

O’Doul retired from managing after the 1957 season at age 60. Shortly thereafter, he opened a restaurant in San Francisco. Lefty O’Doul’s is still a popular hangout and is one of the oldest continuous sports bars in the country, if not the oldest. On November 12, 1969, O’Doul suffered a stroke and was taken to French Hospital in San Francisco. He died on December 7 of a massive coronary blockage at age 72. He was interred at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

 

 

 

[Yankee4Life]

Omar Vizquel

 

 

Venezuela has been a cradle of shortstops since 1950, when Alfonso “Chico” Carrasquel made his debut in the majors with the Chicago White Sox.

In his steps followed Luis Aparicio, the only Venezuelan in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Dave Concepcion, Ozzie Guillen, and then another shortstop who played more games at that position than at any other in the majors: Omar Enrique (González) Vizquel.

Vizquel was born in Caracas on April 24, 1967, to Omar Santos Vizquel and Eucaris González, the eldest of three children. His love for baseball was instilled by his father, who passed away in 2016.

“My dad played on an amateur team and took me to the games on weekends. That began to motivate me, and I grew to love the game. I was given a Venezuelan brand Tamanaco baseball glove, blue, that was one of my favorites, and with that I started playing baseball to follow the footsteps of my father.”

 

When he was 8, Omar’s father took him to the Lyceum Gustavo Herrera to join a children’s team, Gran Mariscal, of the Leoncio Martinez League, an affiliate of the Criollitos of Venezuela Corporation, a youth movement similar to the Little League organization.

“The coach put me to play shortstop and I was on that team until I was 16 years old.”

With Gran Mariscal, Vizquel developed his skills and managed to represent Miranda state in several national and international tournaments, along with another future big-leaguer, Carlos Hernández, who caught for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

In 1977, in a Little League Baseball World Series, contested by 12 countries at Universitario Stadium in Caracas, Vizquel’s glove work began winning him fans and was instrumental in Venezuela’s winning the title. He was only 10 years old.

 

“At that age you do not feel that you are famous or anything. You are simply playing sports, and not looking to see if you are in newspapers or anything like that,” he said. “But the organizers noticed, and when you went to a national or other World Series, your name would stand out. Two years after that World Series, I went to a national tournament, where I won the award for the best infielder. Every two years I was going to a National and I represented Miranda state a couple of times, and I won the best infielder award, and I was invited to numerous competitions.”

 

These tournaments were played in one of the stadiums of the Venezuelan professional baseball league before winter league games, so Vizquel had the opportunity to meet some of his predecessors, Chico Carrasquel, Aparicio, and Concepcion, his main idol and the starting shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, who also played in Venezuela with Tigres de Aragua.

 

“We did not go often to the stadium to watch the winter ballgames, just when Dave Concepcion was going to play with Tigres de Aragua. My dad, who was a big fan of Dave Concepcion, took me to see him play and we sat in the third-base stands to see him play ball,” he recalled. “I really liked his style and I followed in his career when he was with the Cincinnati Reds. That’s why I wore the famous number 13 in my career, in honor of Dave Concepcion.”

The shortstop of the Big Red Machine was a big influence and motivation to Vizquel when he decided to pursue the dream of becoming a professional baseball player.

“When I was 14, I knew I had skills to play the sport, and this was actually when I started to get serious with baseball. Back then I worshipped Dave Concepcion. I followed his games, was more aware of the details of how he made a double play, how he fielded a grounder, to get the right position when fielding, all these little things that could help me to develop my own game. I also went to a clinic that Alfonso Carrasquel gave and I began attending activities that had to do with baseball to learn a little bit more about it.”

 

One of his teammates on the Gran Mariscal team was Luis Morales, son of Pablo Morales Chirinos, one of the owners of Leones del Caracas, the Venezuelan Winter League team to which he was invited to attend practices at age 16.

“When I went to train with Leones del Caracas, I met Marty Martínez that afternoon, a scout for the Seattle Mariners. In two days I had signed a contract. I was very lucky, because there were players who were training three to four months and had not been offered a contract. But with me it was different. I had just two days’ training and Marty had offered me a contract to go play with the Mariners. I was very lucky.”

 

Vizquel signed as a free agent with a non-guaranteed bonus of $4,500, in 1984. He received $2,500 up-front with the rest to come in installments of $500 at each step up the ladder.

 

He immediately went to America and played Rookie League ball with the Butte Copper Kings; he hit for a .311 average in 15 games.

 

“The minor-league process was normal. Every year I had the opportunity to move to a different league. I started in rookie league, because I was 16, and then I was promoted to Class-A short-season ball (1985 Bellingham Mariners), then to Class A (1986, Wausau Timbers), and then switched to Class A Advanced (1987, Salinas Spurs). At each level, I was able to develop further.”

That experience helped Vizquel on his journey through Double-A (Vermont Mariners) and Triple-A (Calgary Cannons), in 1988, when he became a switch-hitter on the recommendation of Mariners hitting instructor Bobby Tolan.

 

“In 1988 they took me to the Instructional League to learn to bat left-handed, because they saw that my right-side numbers were a little weak. They thought that batting lefty I could exploit a little more speed and batting skills; it was a change that benefited me a lot and maybe was the key to success for me in the big leagues.”

During 1989 spring training the Mariners had Rey Quiñones as first-string shortstop, but he reported late because of a contract dispute, which began to open the doors of the majors to the young Venezuelan shortstop.

 

“Supposedly that year I had to go to Triple-A, but with Quiñones out, Mario Díaz had to play,” Vizquel recalled. “He was the shortstop in Triple-A and had good numbers, but was injured during spring training and there was nobody else to play shortstop so they threw me into the ring to see what I could do and I surprised the manager, Jim Lefebvre.”

 

Díaz injured his right elbow and Vizquel had the opportunity to display his defensive talents, and he impressed Lefebvre, despite his weaknesses as a batter.

“He liked the way I played, how I defended, and he knew I was learning to bat from the left side that year, but I knew it was going to get difficult to stay in the big leagues, but they made the decision, traded Rey Quiñones to the Pirates, and left Mario Díaz as the utility player, because he continued to suffer arm problems. That left me as the shortstop.”

Vizquel’s first campaign was not his most productive. He finished with a .220 batting average, the lowest of his career, but he learned how to handle the pressure of playing as a shortstop in major-league baseball.

 

“I had many things against me. First, I was learning to bat from the left side; it was not going to be easy to learn to bat left-handed against big-league pitchers. The Mariners knew that I wasn’t really ready to play in the majors, but I got the job and they gave me the opportunity. By asking questions, and working all day every day with the guys who were there, like Alvin Davis, Harold Reynolds, who were regulars in the organization, learning the little things they were always telling me — how to bat from the left side, it all helped me gradually to become a better player.”

Vizquel began the 1990 season on the disabled list after suffering a sprained MCL in the left knee; he played in only 81 games, batting .247 and making seven errors. He played 142 games in 1992; his batting average slipped to .230. Nevertheless, Seattle remained confident in his abilities.

 

By 1992 Vizquel was considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the American League. That season he made only seven errors for a .989 fielding percentage, the best in the majors. For the first time he was a candidate for the Gold Glove Award, though Cal Ripken Jr. got the nod.

 

“I was very pleased with the work I had done, so was the organization, and that was all that interested me,” said Vizquel, who hit a strong .294 that season. “I was improving my game in both batting and fielding.”

His reward came the following year, when he turned 108 double plays, tied for the league lead. His fielding percentage of .980 and the growing appreciation of his talent combined to win him his first Gold Glove. One standout moment occurred on April 22, when he preserved Chris Bosio’s no-hitter against the Red Sox by making a barehanded grab of an Ernest Riles chopper and firing to first for the last out of the game.

 

Vizquel felt settled in Seattle, where he took up residence and married his first wife, Nicole Tonkin, but his plans changed when he was surprised with the news that he had been sent to the Cleveland Indians on December 20, 1993, in a trade for Félix Fermín, Reggie Jefferson, and cash. The Mariners were making room for a talented youngster named Alex Rodríguez.

 

“When I got the news that they traded me to Cleveland I felt pretty bad. I was down. I wanted to be on a team for 20 years. I did not want to move anywhere else,” he said. “I felt good with the Mariners. I had married that year, had bought my house. It was like they gave me a slap in the face, and I had to move to another organization where I knew no one.

 

Vizquel joined a group of Latinos who helped the Indians change their image from that of a perennial loser, which was satirized in the 1989 movie Major League. The Indians had put together a very competitive club in 1994 with Manny Ramírez, Carlos Baerga, Sandy Alomar Jr., Tony Peña, Dennis Martínez, José Mesa, Julián Tavárez, Álvaro Espinoza, Rubén Amaro Jr., and Candy Maldonado.

 

That group, together with Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Eddie Murray, Charles Nagy, and Jack Morris, helped the Indians to a 66-47 mark, just a game behind the Chicago White Sox for the American League Central lead when the season was suspended because of the players’ strike.

 

“You could tell that team was coming together well,” Vizquel said. “We had good chemistry and everyone was filled with confidence. The team chemistry was growing and we thought we had a chance to be champions that year; however the strike prevented us finishing the season.”

Vizquel, who on April 7 that year got the first stolen base in the history of Jacobs Field, the Indians’ new home ballpark, won the second of nine consecutive Gold Gloves in the American League.

There was no strike to stop the 1995 Indians, who were reinforced by veterans like Orel Hershiser and Dave Winfield, and reached their first World Series since 1954.

 

“In 1995 we felt like we were indestructible,” Vizquel said. “We felt that no one could beat us. We had offense, pitching, we ran bases. We had a great team. I was very happy that we finally got to where any player wants to go: the World Series.”

 

The Tribe swept the Red Sox in three games in the Division Series and dispatched the Seattle Mariners in six games in the American League Championship Series, after having 100 victories in a regular season limited to 144 games by the delayed start of the season.

 

“With this record we looked unbeatable. I never thought we were going to lose, even with the pitching of the Atlanta Braves, but certainly we lacked experience,” he said. “I think that was the only thing we lacked; the Braves had a team with more postseason experience.”

 

“We were like wild horses. What we did was just play ball, score runs, stole bases, and they played a different style of baseball, pitching around,” said Vizquel, who in his first postseason hit just .138. “They could score two runs and win a game with their relievers. That was what happened. We couldn’t hit. Their pitching was dominant. With these three future Hall of Famers (Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz) it was difficult for us to see the light and we lost that World Series.”

 

In 1997 Vizquel returned to the fall classic with the Indians after playing a key role in eliminating the defending champion New York Yankees in five games in the ALDS.

 

With the Yankees ahead in the series, two games to one, Vizquel forced a fifth and deciding game at Jacobs Field, hitting a single that drove in Marquis Grissom from second base in a 3-2 walk-off victory. The Tribe won the next day, 4-3. Vizquel ended the series with a .500 (9-for-18) batting average and four stolen bases.

 

Vizquel was never closer to winning a World Series ring than that year against Florida and again was a key to forcing a decisive contest, Game Six of the Series.

 

The Marlins led the Series three games to two. In Game Six at Miami’s Pro Player Stadium, Cleveland had a 4-1 lead after five innings, due in large part to Vizquel’s glove. In the sixth inning, with men on second and third and two outs, the Marlins’ Charles Johnson hit a grounder in the hole and Vizquel made a spectacular diving catch to throw him out at first and prevent two runs from scoring.

 

In the deciding Game Seven, with Cleveland two outs away from winning the ultimate prize, the Marlins tied the game in the ninth inning and then won it, 3-2, in 11 innings on Edgar Renteria’s walk-off hit.

 

In 2001, Vizquel won his ninth Gold Glove, matching the American League record held by Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio. He also played in his last postseason. The golden years of the Tribe were over. Only Vizquel and Jim Thome remained from the winning core that had been formed in the mid-’90s. Thome left as a free agent after the 2002 season, in which Vizquel set career highs in home runs (14) and RBIs (72), and took part in his third and final All-Star Game, being the sole representative of the Tribe.

The Indians were rebuilding in 2003 and Vizquel, with an injured right knee, played in just 64 games. In 2004, at the age of 37, he returned with a solid .291 average, but the Indians had other plans for 2005 and gave the position to rookie Jhonny Peralta.

 

“Everybody had already left the team. I was the last that remained of that generation that made the playoffs, the World Series,” Vizquel noted. “That’s why the people of Cleveland showed me so much affection. But this is a business. I was fortunate that I lasted 11 years in the organization. They treated me great, and I will always take pride in those years.”

 

On November 16, 2004, Vizquel signed a three-year, $12.25 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, moving his magic glove and experience to the National League.

 

“I knew I still had a lot of baseball ahead. (The Indians) believed that I was going downhill. The knee operation affected me and I think that influenced their decision to let me go. When San Francisco signed me, thank God I made it to a number-one organization, one where I felt good, was offered all possible respect, and could even trust myself. That helped me win two more Gold Gloves at the age of 38 and 39 years”

 

In 2005 Vizquel had a brilliant debut in the Bay Area, winning his 10th Gold Glove to surpass Luis Aparicio’s record for the most Gold Gloves won by a Venezuelan. The following year he repeated the honor and became the oldest shortstop to obtain the distinction.

On May 13, 2007, Vizquel broke the record for most career double plays turned by a shortstop after reaching 1,591, surpassing the 1,590 of Ozzie Smith. His years as a regular shortstop ended the following season, but not until after he established a major-league record for most games for a shortstop with 2,584, surpassing another mark held by Luis Aparicio. When he retired, Vizquel’s career total at shortstop was 2,709.

 

He maintained his physical condition at the highest level, despite his 41 years, but clubs were not very interested in giving him a starting spot. He was seen as a utility player and mentor of young figures, like fellow Venezuelan Elvis Andrus when Vizquel went to the Texas Rangers in 2009.

 

Vizquel added, “It was strange to play after turning 40 and hear the comments of people saying I couldn’t keep playing baseball. They were wondering if I could be a shortstop, because a 40-year-old shortstop is not the same as a 24-year-old kid in an organization. That boy is going to be as versatile as you, but they never took into account the experience, or anything like that,” he said. “It was a stage, in which the mind began to change, to see the game different, with another vision, and I had to make changes, adjustments in every sense of the word, and thank God they were noticing some of the records I was setting and they offered me the opportunity to reach these personal records.”

 

In his one year with Texas he played only 62 games and made no errors, having his only perfect defensive year. On June 25, in Arizona, he surpassed Aparicio as the Venezuelan with the most major-league base hits, with 2,678.

In 2010 Aparicio graciously allowed Vizquel to wear his retired No. 11 jersey with the Chicago White Sox, after the newly acquired utilityman failed to secure his usual number 13 — that was worn by his new manager Ozzie Guillen, who was also a Dave Concepcion fan.

“That was a truly enjoyable time, because at the time I signed with the White Sox, I was giving a baseball clinic with Luis Aparicio in Venezuela, and the question came up whether I could wear #11 in tribute to him,” Vizquel said. “It was a nice gesture from him to call the owners of the White Sox and let me wear the number not only in his name but on behalf of Venezuela as well.”

 

In 2012 he signed a minor-league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and managed to make the team in spring training. This time he wore number 17, in honor of Chico Carrasquel, because Brett Lawrie had number 13. He participated in 60 games, his last game at shortstop coming on October 3 in Toronto. In his final game, he went 1-for-3 against the Minnesota Twins, getting his 2,877th hit and passing Mel Ott on the career hits list. (Two weeks earlier, on September 19, he had collected hit number 2,874, passing Babe Ruth.) He finished his career as the only player with 24 straight seasons at shortstop and, at age 45, the oldest player to play that position.

 

Just other five major-league shortstops have more career hits than Vizquel: Derek Jeter, Honus Wagner, Cal Ripken Jr., Robin Yount, and Alex Rodríguez, all with over 3,000.

 

“I think the hits record makes me proud the most. People believe that is the Gold Gloves one, a record hard to achieve as well. Winning 11 Gold Gloves is not easy at the highest level of baseball, but to connect for 2,800 hits, nearly 3,000, is something especially since I had never been considered a hitter.”

Vizquel finished with a career line of .272/.336/.352, with 456 doubles, 77 triples, 80 home runs, 1,445 runs, 951 RBIs, and 404 steals, and he is one of just 11 players to accomplish 2.800 hits and 400 stolen bases. But his trademark was his fielding excellence.

 

The Venezuelan finished his career with a .9847 fielding percentage, the best in MLB history. He the leader in games (2,709) and double plays (1,734) as a shortstop, and ranks third in assists (7,676). His 11 Gold Gloves ranked him second as a shortstop, just behind the 13 that the first-ballot Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith won, another glove wizard with whom he was often compared.

After 24 seasons playing in the majors, Vizquel decided to start a coaching career after spending his last four years mostly on the bench, as a utility player, passing his knowledge to young players while accumulating personal records when he got the chance to go to the field.

 

On January 30, 2013, Vizquel was hired as a roving infield coach by the Los Angeles Angels. The next year he returned to the majors with the Detroit Tigers, who made him their first-base coach and infield and baserunning instructor. That association ended after the 2017 season.

 

Vizquel, who was a candidate to manage the Tigers in 2018 (Ron Gardenhire was hired), got his first managerial experience with Venezuela in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but his team couldn’t pass the second round.

 

Vizquel was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame on June 21, 2014, and was chosen by the fans as one of the Tribe’s Franchise Four in 2015, alongside Bob Feller, Tris Speaker and Thome.

 

Vizquel had his first shot at election to the Hall of Fame in 2018, when Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, and Trevor Hoffman got the call, but he fell short with 37 percent of the votes.

Nevertheless, his debut on the ballot was better than that of Aparicio, who finished with 27.8 percent in his first chance and finally made in his sixth opportunity.

 

“I hope he gets into the Hall of Fame, because he deserves it, but I think the change of position (from shortstop) is going to hurt him,” said Aparicio. “It also depends on who else is on the ballots, but I think he’s going to make it. I think about the shortstops that I saw and there is none like that little fellow, because he fields grounders like nobody else.”

 

“You flip back and see how time flew,” Vizquel said. “Playing 24 seasons in the majors and having all those memories, records, and stats make me feel very humble. I never thought I could go up to the heights of a player like Luis Aparicio and get to have so many good numbers.”