Omar Vizquel |
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Omar Enrique Vizquel González (born April 24, 1967) is a Major League Baseball shortstop for the Texas Rangers. Previously, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners (1989–1993), the Cleveland Indians (1994–2004) and the San Francisco Giants (2005–2008).
Vizquel is considered one of baseball's all-time best 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, 2000). As of 2007, his .985 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. Vizquel is also the all-time leader in both double-plays made and hits recorded while playing shortstop. He also has the most hits recorded by any player from Venezula, surpassing the previous record of 2,677 held by Luis Aparicio on June 25, 2009.
Vizquel started his career in Venezuela with los Leones del Caracas together with other players like Andres Galarraga and Antonio Armas. Originally signed by the Mariners as a non-drafted free agent in 1984, Vizquel made his Major League debut on April 3, 1989. His exceptional defensive ability, along with his striking resemblance to Ozzie Smith became evident early on in his professional career, but it took Vizquel several years to master the art of hitting. Strictly a singles hitter from the beginning, Vizquel batted .220, .247, and .230 with only 39 extra base hits in his first three seasons with Seattle. After hitting .294 in 1992, Vizquel was slated for a repeat performance the following year, but despite having reached a batting average of .292 by the All-Star break in 1993, he batted only .202 for the rest of the season, to finish at .252.