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Omar Enrique Vizquel Gonzalez (born April 24, 1967 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball shortstop playing for the San Francisco Giants. Previously, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners (1989-1993) and the Cleveland Indians (1994-2004). Vizquel is considered one of baseball's all-time best defensive shortstops, winning nine consecutive Gold Gloves (1993-2001) and two more in 2005 and 2006. He also tied Cal Ripken's AL record, since surpassed, for most consecutive games at shortstop without an error (95 between September 26, 1999 and July 21, 2001). As of 2007, his .984 career fielding percentage is the highest of all-time for a shortstop in Major League history. On May 25, 2008, Vizquel became the all-time leader in games played at that position, passing Luis Aparicio. He remains second all-time (behind Aparicio) in hits recorded while playing shortstop.
[edit] Career
Vizquel underwent arthoscopic knee surgery on February 27, 2008. He started the 2008 season on the disabled list and played in his first game on May 10, 2008. Vizquel again stole home against Oakland Athletics pitcher, Greg Smith, on June 13, 2008.
Vizquel is also known for often fielding balls with his bare hand, causing his teammates to joke that he should be winning Gold Barehands instead of Gold Gloves. This is evident in Vizquel's 1997 Fleer Ultra baseball card, showing him holding a bowling trophy with a mannequin's hand on top.
On June 23, 2007 the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame inducted Omar Vizquel into their Hall of Fame during an on-field, pre-game ceremony before taking on the New York Yankees. He, along with former San Francisco Giants outfielder, Matty Alou were inducted in front of over 43,000 fans.
He is the only player to have won the Hutch Award, Willie Mac Award, and Heart & Hustle Award. Only one other player, Dave Dravecky, has won more than one of these awards, although Willie McCovey himself won the Hutch Award before having the Willie Mac Award named for him.
[edit] Feud with Jose Mesa
A long-running and well-publicized feud erupted between Vizquel and former teammate and friend José Mesa in 2002, following the publication of Vizquel's autobiography, Omar! My Life On and Off the Field. In the book, Vizquel criticized Mesa's performance in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series: "The eyes of the world were focused on every move we made. Unfortunately, Jose's own eyes were vacant. Completely empty. Nobody home. You could almost see right through him. Not long after I looked into his vacant eyes, he blew the save and the Marlins tied the game." Mesa reacted furiously, pledging to hit Vizquel upon every subsequent opportunity: "Even my little boy told me to get him. If I face him 10 more times, I'll hit him 10 times. I want to kill him."
On June 12, 2002, Mesa made good on his promise and hit Vizquel the first time he faced him, in the ninth inning. Oddly, Mesa was not ejected and finished the game, which featured five other ejections, including both managers.[1] They did not face each other again until 2006; by then, Vizquel was with the San Francisco Giants and Mesa was playing for the Colorado Rockies. When Vizquel came to bat against Mesa in Denver on April 22, Mesa hit him again. Meeting three more times in 2006, however, Vizquel escaped being hit by his former teammate, with two groundouts and an RBI single. In his career, Vizquel is batting .333 (7-for-21) against Mesa.[2]
[edit] Personal
Vizquel is an avid painter and sculptor, and plays the guitar, drums and sings. He is a fan of salsa music and loves to dance. He has a son Nicholas Enrique (born September 12, 1995) with his wife Nicole. Along with his artistic pursuits, Omar also is a collector of fine art and owns several modern art pieces. Included in his collection is a glass chandelier for his home made by Seattle artist Dale Chihuly worth over $100,000.
Vizquel has a home in Issaquah, Washington. His wife Nicole and son live in Washington. Nicole is a direct descendant of Chief Seattle. Vizquel and Nicole met while in their 20s. They have an adopted daughter Caylee Rae born June 3, 2007.
Omar is known as a "Renaissance Man" as he is very talented in many areas. He also has a love for fashion.
Omar is also active in community service, having served as an honorary spokesperson for "Young Audiences", an arts education organization in Cleveland, and "Schools Now", which raises funds through the sale of entertainment booklets. Following the 1999 Vargas mudslide disaster that killed 25,000 in his native Venezuela, Vizquel not only donated his time to the relief effort but also helped to raise over $500,000 for the cause. Vizquel also has various charitable events in downtown Cleveland such as Tribe Jam, where he and some other teammates get together with each other or with retired singers and sing some of their favorite songs.
His 2002 autobiography, Omar!: My Life on and Off the Field, which he co-wrote with Bob Dyer, spent four weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. It was also released in paperback in 2003. The accounts in the book about the Mesa scenario continue to fuel angst and misunderstandings between Mesa and Vizquel.
Vizquel is referenced in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Bart's Friend Falls in Love". In the episode, Bart takes a distracted Milhouse's Carl Yastrzemski baseball card in exchange for one of Vizquel with the head cut out.
[edit] Baseball records and accomplishments
[edit] Offense
- Second-most hits-while-playing-shortstop all-time (behind Luis Aparicio)
- Fourth-most runs-while-playing-shortstop all-time (behind Herman Long, Derek Jeter and Bill Dahlen)
- Seventh-most stolen-bases-while-playing-shortstop all-time (behind Bert Campaneris, Ozzie Smith, Herman Long, Luis Aparicio, Honus Wagner, and Bill Dahlen)
- The 83rd major league player to reach 2500 career hits (May 6, 2007)
- Most hits by an active (roster) player
- Most at-bats by an active (roster) player
- American League record holder (tie) for most hits in a nine inning game (6) - Went 6-7 on August 31, 2004 in the Indians 22-0 win over the Yankees, the worst shut-out loss in league history
[edit] Overall
- All-time leader in games played at shortstop
- Most games played by an active (roster) player
- 3-time All-Star (1998, 1999 & 2002)
- Won 2 American League Championships (with Cleveland, 1995, 1997)
- Won 6 American League Central Division Championships (with Cleveland, 1995-9, 2001)
- Won the Hutch Award (1996), the only non-American player ever to do so
- Won the Willie Mac Award (2006) for spirit and leadership
- Won the Heart & Hustle Award (2007) for embodying "the values, spirit and tradition of the game"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- "Vizquel an artist at work" by Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports, May 24, 2006
- "Older players make final bids for Hall of Fame" by Mel Antonen, USA TODAY, July 27, 2006
- "Last call for the Hall" by Gary Kaufman, Salon.com, July 26, 2000
- "ALL SYSTEMS O!" by Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer, September 26, 2004
- Omar Vizquel and Bob Dyer (2002). Omar!: My Life on and Off the Field. Gray & Company Publishers. ISBN 9781886228559
- Hits/runs/games-while-playing-shortstop calculated using statistics at BaseballReference.com
[edit] External links
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| Persondata |
| NAME |
Vizquel, Omar |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
Vizquel, Omar Enrique |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Venezuelan baseball shortstop |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
1967-4-24 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
Caracas, Venezuela |
| DATE OF DEATH |
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| PLACE OF DEATH |
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