José Vizcaíno
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| St. Louis Cardinals — No. 13 | |
| Infielder | |
| Bats: Both | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 10, 1989 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through October 2, 2006) |
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| Hits | 1453 |
| Batting average | .270 |
| Runs scored | 633 |
| Former teams | |
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José Vizcaíno is an infielder who plays for the St. Louis Cardinals. He has been a backup infielder for most of his Major League Baseball 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 N.L. with 9 sacrifice flies.
The following year he claimed a starting shortstop job with the New York Mets. 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.
He was a valuable backup for the Houston Astros. During the 2004 season, when 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, (game 3 in the Astros vs. White Sox series).
He was not offered arbitration following the 2005 season from Houston. He later 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."
