Santos "Sandy" Alomar Velazquez, Jr. (born June 18, 1966 in Salinas, Puerto Rico) is a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers. He has also played for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox. He is the son of former major leaguer Sandy Alomar, Sr., and the brother of former second baseman Roberto Alomar.
Alomar was a highly regarded catcher in the San Diego organization after being named minor league player of the year in both 1988 and 1989, but he was stuck behind Benito Santiago at the major league level. After two short call-ups with the Padres, he finally got his chance at an everyday job after being traded to Cleveland before the 1990 season along with Carlos Baerga, in exchange for Joe Carter. Once in Cleveland, he established himself immediately, becoming the first rookie catcher to start an All-Star game and winning both Rookie of the Year honors and a Gold Glove. Despite All-Star appearances in each of the next two years, Alomar began to lose more and more time to injuries and failed to realize his potential for several seasons. He came back strong in the first half of 1996 to make his fourth All-Star team, but then faded in the second half.
In 1997, everything finally came together for Alomar. He batted .324, was the MVP of the All-Star game, put together a 30-game hitting streak (one short of Nap Lajoie's Indians record and four short of Santiago's record for catchers), and helped lead Cleveland to their third straight postseason appearance. In the Division Series against the New York Yankees, Alomar hit .316 with two home runs, including a game-tying shot off Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning of Game 4. Though he was less effective against the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS, he still provided a game-winning hit in the ninth inning of Game 4. The Indians lost the World Series to the Florida Marlins, but not on account of Alomar who hit .367 with two home runs.
Although Alomar was selected to his sixth All-Star team in 1998, he turned in a mediocre season overall and then had injury problems again in 1999. He was granted free agency by the Indians after the 2000 season and has played in a limited role with the White Sox and Rockies since then.
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Last updated: 05-23-2005 14:14:47
