José Vizcaíno

José Vizcaíno
Infielder
Born: March 26, 1968 (1968-03-26) San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Batted: Switch	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 10, 1989 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 2006 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics
Batting average	.270
Hits	1,453
Runs batted in	480
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (1989–1990) Chicago Cubs (1991–1993) New York Mets (1994–1996) Cleveland Indians (1996) San Francisco Giants (1997) Los Angeles Dodgers (1998–2000) New York Yankees (2000) Houston Astros (2001–2005) San Francisco Giants (2006) St. Louis Cardinals (2006)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2000)

José Luis Vizcaíno Pimental (born March 26, 1968 in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball player. He was a backup infielder for most of his MLB career. In 1993, he played a significant role with the Chicago Cubs, having 551 at-bats and being 9th in the National League with 131 singles as well as second in the NL with 9 sacrifice flies. He finished in the top ten in hits two other times in his career: Fifth in 1995 in the N.L. and 10th in 1997 with the N.L. as a member of the San Francisco Giants. In 1994, he claimed the starting shortstop job with the New York Mets.

He was a valuable backup for the Houston Astros. During the 2004 season, he played most of the time at shortstop during the Astros' 36-10 run, as well as most of the playoffs, because Adam Everett was out with a broken wrist.

He is most known for a hit on October 21, 2000, in Game 1 of the World Series as a member of the New York Yankees. In the bottom of the 12th inning of the then longest game in Series history, Vizcaíno hit the game winning single. Later, in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series (playing for the Houston Astros against the Chicago White Sox) he came close to repeating the feat when he hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth to tie the game. However, the Astros went on to lose when Chicago's Scott Podsednik homered in the bottom of the inning and overshadowed Vizcaíno's heroics. Vizcaíno would later play in the World Series game that broke the record for longest game in Series history on October 25, 2005, in Game 3 of that year's Series.

Later Career

He was not offered arbitration following the 2005 season from Houston. Instead, he signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants, who designated pitcher Brian Burres for assignment to make room for Vizcaíno on the roster. On August 14, 2006, Vizcaíno was designated for assignment by the Giants. On August 23, 2006, Vizcaíno was signed to a contract by the Cardinals for the rest of the 2006 season as a replacement for injured shortstop David Eckstein.

Vizcaíno, Darryl Strawberry, and Ricky Ledee are the only Major League Baseball players to have played for all four (one-time) New York teams—the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Francisco Giants.

On a humorous note, following his game tying hit for the Houston Astros, Vizcaíno stayed in the game at shortstop for the bottom of the ninth, and on the way out to his position, he realized he had forgotten his cap and had to return to the dugout to get it. After the game Vizcaíno commented "It was crazy, I ran out there without [a cap], and when I realized it, I felt funny. More camera time for me, I guess."

Post-Playing Career

He currently works in the front office of the Los Angeles Dodgers as a Special Assistant of Baseball Operations, a position he has held since the beginning of the 2008 season.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference