Topic: Eugenio Velez

Eugenio Vélez Vancomper (born May 16, 1982 in San Pedro de Macorís) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder and outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball.

Vélez's career began when the Toronto Blue Jays signed him on August 27, 2001. He had to beg his mother, who wanted him to be an engineer, to sign for him (because he was only 19), but she reluctantly did. He began his professional career with the Pulaski Blue Jays in 2003. After three solid years in the minors, he was selected by the San Francisco Giants from the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2005 minor league Rule 5 Draft.

In 2006, the Giants assigned Vélez to the A Augusta GreenJackets. He had a great year, winning the South Atlantic League's Most Valuable Player award. He won the award by batting .315 with 63 extra base hits, 64 stolen bases and organization-high 91 runs batted in. Next year, he was placed on the Giants 40-man roster. He started the year with the AA Connecticut Defenders, but he played so well he earned a promotion to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies. However, he only played four games with Fresno before the Giants called him up for the first time ever. He made his debut on September 5, as a pinch hitter, as the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3. He finished the year with four stolen bases, although he only had three hits in 11 at-bats (in addition to two walks). In 2008, Vélez made the Giants out of spring training, but he was sent down to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies in May for Travis Denker. After playing well at Fresno, though, he was recalled on July 8, 2008. On August 30, 2008, he hit his first career home run against the Cincinnati Reds. In 2009, Vélez once again made the Giants out of spring training. He would play in both San Francisco and Fresno during the year, but he spent more time with the Giants. He finished the year with a very good .267 batting average. Vélez made the Opening Day roster in 2010. His first appearance of the season came in the Giants' 10-4 victory to complete a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on April 7. He entered the contest replacing Mark DeRosa in left field as part of a double switch in the seventh inning. The front of his jersey read "SAN FRANCICSO." It was the second year in a row that Majestic Athletic, MLB's official uniform supplier, committed a jersey misspelling. Vélez' poor play during the start of the '10 season led to his removal from the Giants active roster when the Giants acquired Pat Burrell. He was called up at times during the later part of the '10 season. On July 26, while sitting in the dugout during a Giants' 10-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Vélez was struck in the head by a foul ball and hospitalized briefly. He was on the disabled list for a short time after that, but he was fine. Vélez was frequetly used as a pinch hitter during the final weeks of September '10, during the Giants' play off push against the San Diego Padres, but he failed to approach the numbers posted by the Giants' normal pinch hitter, Travis Ishikawa.