Tony Fernndez

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This article is about the baseball player. For the English drummer, see Tony Fernandez (musician). For the Malaysian entrepreneur, see Tony Fernandes.

Tony Fernndez

Shortstop

Born: June 30, 1962 (age 51) San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic

Batted: Switch

Threw: Right

MLB debut

September 2, 1983 for the Toronto Blue Jays

Last MLB appearance

October 7, 2001 for the Toronto Blue Jays

Career statistics

Batting average

.288

Hits

2,276

Home runs

94

Runs batted in

844

Teams

Toronto Blue Jays (19831990) San Diego Padres (19911992) New York Mets (1993) Toronto Blue Jays (1993)

Cincinnati Reds (1994) New York Yankees (1995) Cleveland Indians (1997) Toronto Blue Jays (19981999) Seibu Lions (2000) Milwaukee Brewers (2001) Toronto Blue Jays (2001) Career highlights and awards

5 All-Star (1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1999) World Series champion (1993) 4 Gold Glove Award winner (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989) Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence

Octavio Antonio Fernndez Castro (born June 30, 1962), better known as Tony Fernndez, is a former Major League Baseball player most noted for his defensive skills, setting a nine-year record for shortstops with a .992 fielding percentage in 1989.[1]
Contents
[hide]

1 Career 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

Career[edit]
Fernndez was first scouted by the Toronto Blue Jays' famed Latin America scout Epy Guerrero[2] and was signed as an undrafted free agent. Promoted to the Blue Jays in 1983,[3] Fernndez became the team's fulltime shortstop in 1985,[1] and contributed significantly to the team winning its first division title that year. Fernndez continued to star for the Jays for several years afterwards. Before the 1991 season, Fernndez was traded to the San Diego Padres in a major deal that also sent Jays star Fred McGriff to San Diego in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter.[1] Fernndez played well for San Diego for two years and then began the 1993 season with the New York Mets. After a disappointing start, he was traded back to the Blue Jays.[1] He played well for the remainder of the season and was instrumental in helping the Blue Jays win the 1993 World Series. In that World Series, Fernndez drove in nine runs,[1] a record for a shortstop.[4]

Tony Fernandez is a member of theToronto Blue Jays' Level of Excellence.

In 1997, he reached the World Series again, with the Cleveland Indians, thanks in large part to his own game-winning home run against Baltimore in the American League Championship Series.[1] This is the only 1-0 game in postseason history where the run was an extra-innings home run. Playing at second base, he committed an error in the bottom of the 11th inning in Game 7of the World Series; this broke up a potential double play, and the eventual World Series-winning run was put on base.[5] He hit a two-run single in the top of the third inning for the Indians' only runs of the game, and would have been credited with the Series-winning hit for Cleveland had they won the game. In 1998, he rejoined the Blue Jays, and revitalized his hitting, batting over .300 in two seasons there.[6] In 2000, Fernndez played for the Seibu Lions in Japan[7] before returning to the majors the following year. When he returned in 2001, he briefly played for the Milwaukee Brewers but returned to Toronto late in the season,[8] and retired at its conclusion.[9] A very thin man, Fernndez had a tilted, wavering batting stance[10] that made it appear as if he might not be strong enough to hold his bat. From early in his career he carried a scar on his right cheek from a pitched ball. Fernndez was a noted fitness fanatic; he liked buying unusual home exercise machines and trying them out in the clubhouse. Early in his career, Fernndez was well known for his exceptional defensive skills at shortstop, and was described by Ivan Maisel in a Sports Illustrated article as having "the range of a Texas cattleman".[11] He was especially famous for leaping into the air while simultaneously making an underhanded throw to first base, on balls hit far to his right.[12] Fernndez was awarded four consecutive Gold Glove Awards for his defense, from 1986 to 1989.[13] Fernndez was also named to five All-Star teams. He finished his career with a .288 batting average in 2,158 games played, and batted .327 in postseason play. Fernandez hit for the cycle as a New York Yankee on September 3, 1995 playing against the Oakland Athletics. [14]

See also[edit]

List of major league players with 2,000 hits List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases List of Major League Baseball triples champions

References[edit]

1.

^ Jump up to:

a b c d e f

Porter, David; Joe Naiman (2002). The San

Diego Padres Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing. p. 235. ISBN 978-158261-058-0. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 2. Jump up^ MacNow, Glen (June 1986). "San Pedro de Macoris, Cradle of Major League Talent".Baseball Digest (Lakeside Publishing) 45 (6): 64. ISSN 0005-609X. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 3. Jump up^ Tan, Cecilia (2005). The 50 Greatest Yankee Games. John Wiley and Sons. p. 184.ISBN 978-0-471-65938-9. Retrieved 2009-0220. 4. Jump up^ Westcott, Rich; Alan Kravetz (1994). Phillies '93: An Incredible Season. Temple University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-156639-231-0. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 5. Jump up^ McKelvey, G. Richard (2001). The Bounce: Baseball Teams' Great Falls and Comebacks. McFarland. p. 218. ISBN 978-07864-0955-6. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 6. Jump up^ Porter, David L. (2000). Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Baseball, A-F. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 466. ISBN 978-0-313-31174-1. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 7. Jump up^ "Fernandez Signs With Seibu Lions". New York Times. 2008-02-08. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 8. Jump up^ "Jays sign Tony Fernandez". CBC Sports (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). 2001-06-08. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 9. Jump up^ Bastian, Jordan (2006-12-26). "Slick-fielding Fernandez seeks Hall call". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 10. Jump up^ Zaiontz, Dan. "Sportsnets baseball panel discuss the greatest Jays to ever play the game". Urban Male Magazine. p. 65. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 11. Jump up^ Maisel, Ivan (1985-06-03). "The Blue Jays Are Ruling The Roost". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2012-01-23. 12. Jump up^ Sanchez, Jesse (2005-09-25). "Who tops list of Latino shortstops?". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2009-03-04.

13. Jump up^ Shofner, Shawndra (2007). The Story of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Creative Company. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-58341-503-0. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 14. Jump up^ Baseball Digest 56 (9). Lakeside Publishing. September 1997. p. 92. ISSN 0005-609X. Retrieved 209-02-20.

External links[edit]

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
[show]

V T E

Toronto Blue Jays 1993 World Series Champions

[show]

V T E

American League Shortstop Gold Glove Award

[show]

V T E

Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence

Categories:

1962 births Living people American League All-Stars National League All-Stars Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Seibu Lions players Milwaukee Brewers players New York Mets players New York Yankees players San Diego Padres players Toronto Blue Jays players

Major League Baseball shortstops Gold Glove Award winners Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan People from San Pedro de Macors Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Kinston Eagles players Syracuse Chiefs players

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