Robinson Canó

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Robinson Canó
New York Yankees — No. 24
Second baseman
Born: October 22, 1982 (1982-10-22) (age 27) San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 3, 2005 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics (through 2009)
Batting average	.306
Home runs	87
Hits	875
Runs batted in	394
Teams
New York Yankees (2005–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2006) Silver Slugger Award winner (2006) World Series champion (2009)

Robinson José Canó (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈno]; born October 22, 1982, in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican baseball player who currently plays as second baseman for the New York Yankees.

He was named after baseball legend Jackie Robinson.^[1]

[edit] Family & early life

His father, José Canó, was signed by the Astros in 1980, and played in the major leagues in 1989, pitching in 6 games for the Houston Astros.^[2]

Robinson Canó, who was named after Jackie Robinson by his father, grew up in the Dominican Republic, where he played both baseball and basketball at San Pedro Apostol High School in San Pedro de Macoris.^[2] In the Dominican Winter Baseball League he plays for his hometown team Estrellas Orientales.

After graduating, he was signed by the Yankees in 2001 and began playing in their minor league system.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] 2005

Canó was called up to the Major Leagues on May 3, 2005, while hitting .333 in 108 at bats in AAA, and took over second base from Tony Womack. He hit .297 with 14 home runs, 62 RBI, with 34 doubles, and finished second in American League Rookie of the Year balloting to Huston Street of the Oakland Athletics.^[2]

Canó finished the year, however, with the 3rd-worst walk percentage in the league, 3.0%.^[3]

During 2005, manager Joe Torre took some heat for comparing Canó to Hall of Famer Rod Carew. When pressed, Torre clarified that he only meant that Canó "reminded" him of Carew, in terms of his build, presence at the plate, and smoothness in his swing. Torre assured the media that he did not necessarily expect Canó to become as great a player as Carew.^[4]

[edit] 2006

In 2006 Canó led the AL All-Star balloting at second base, but could not play after being placed on the disabled list for a strained hamstring. After his return from injury, however, on August 8, 2006, Canó led the league in batting average, doubles, and runs batted in.^{[citation needed]} During late September 2006 Canó accumulated enough at-bats to once again qualify for the AL batting race. Canó was rewarded the AL Player of the Month award for September.^[2]

Canó finished 2006 with the third best batting average in the AL (.342, just 2 points behind teammate shortstop Derek Jeter and five points behind Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer), and 9th in the league in doubles (41). He also led the AL in batting average on the road (.364; 96/264) and after the 6th inning (.353; 55/156). He had the third-worst walk percentage in the league at 3.6%.^[5]

Canó finished 22nd in American League MVP voting with 3 votes. Derek Jeter finished second.^[6]

[edit] 2007

Canó offered to give up his number 22 to Roger Clemens in the event that the Yankees signed him.^[7] He has chosen to wear the number 24, which is a reversal of Jackie Robinson's number 42, which has been retired by Major League Baseball, and is currently only worn by teammate Mariano Rivera. After a slow start to the 2007 season which saw him hit a meager .249 through May 29, Cano found his stroke batting .385 in the month of July with 6 HR and 24 RBI to raise his season average to .300 by the end of the month. He finished 2007 6th in the league in games (160), 9th in triples (7), and 10th in hits (189), doubles (41), and at bats (670). He was the only batter in the top 10 in doubles in the AL in both 2006 and 2007. On January 24, 2008 Robinson Canó signed a contract extension for up to six years and $55 million dollars. In the new deal, Canó will make $28 million dollars over the next four years in the 2008 through 2011 seasons. The deal also includes options for the Yankees for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, during which Canó could earn an additional $27 million dollars^[8]. If the Yankees decline his contract option for the 2011 season, he will receive an additional 2 million.

[edit] 2008

Canó batting for the Yankees in 2008.

Canó struggled early in the 2008 season, hitting .151 in April with just 7 RBIs. He improved later in the year, hitting .300 from May through August.

Notably, in Yankee Stadium's final season, Canó recorded the final walk off game winning hit in Yankee Stadium history by singling in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning in the Yankees 1–0 victory over the Orioles on September 20, 2008. In the final game at Yankee Stadium the next night (September 21, 2008), Canó recorded the final RBI in Stadium history with his sacrifice fly in the 7th inning, scoring Brett Gardner with the Stadium's final run. Canó missed only five games over the 2007 and 2008 seasons, and was one of only three Yankees to hit a home run while serving as a pinch hitter.^[9]

[edit] 2009

Cano played well in the 2009 season, hitting .320 ^[10] with 204 hits^[10], 25 home runs^[10] and 85 ^[10] RBIs at the end of 2009. ^[10]. It was his first year hitting over 20 HRs. His 200th hit against the Boston Red Sox to clinch the AL East Division made him and Derek Jeter the first middle infield duo in MLB history to both have 200 hits in the same season. ^[11]

He also hit a 3-run walk-off home run on August 28 against the White Sox. This was his first career walk-off home run.

[edit] Awards

• 2002 - South Atlantic League All-Star SS
• 2004 - NY Yankees Minor League Player of the Year
• 2005 - MLB All-Rookie All-Star 2B
• 2005 - This Year in Baseball Awards: Rookie of the Year
• 2006 - Selected to the 2006 American League All Star team
• 2007 - Had his Class A (Staten Island Yankees) uniform number (17) retired.

[edit] See also

• List of second generation Major League Baseball players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Yahoo! profile