Rafael Bournigal
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Rafael Antonio (Pelletier) Bournigal (born May 12, 1966 in Azua, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball infielder. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 19th round of the 1987 amateur draft, and played for the Dodgers (1992-1994), Oakland Athletics (1996-1998), and Seattle Mariners (1999). He was an excellent fielding shortstop/second baseman with a decent bat.
Bournigal's best years were with Oakland. In his three seasons with the A's he started about 36% of their games (173 out of 486), batted .249, and made a total of just 8 errors.
Career totals for 365 games include 234 hits, 4 home runs, 85 runs batted in, 104 runs scored, a .251 batting average, and an on base percentage of .301. In the field he recorded 469 putouts, 787 assists, 15 errors, and participated in 182 double plays. His fielding percentage was an outstanding .988.
Career highlights include:
- one 4-hit game...two singles, a double, and a home run vs. the Seattle Mariners (June 25, 1997)
- eleven 3-hit games...with the most impressive being a single, two doubles, three RBI, and three runs scored vs. the Detroit Tigers (April 29, 1999)
- home runs vs. Scott Sanders, Glendon Rusch, Kelvim Escobar, and David Wells
- hit a combined .422 (27-for-64) against All-Stars John Burkett, Roger Clemens, David Cone, Randy Johnson, Doug Jones, Derek Lowe, Mike Mussina, and Bob Wickman
