Ángel Berroa
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| Los Angeles Dodgers — No. 13 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: January 27, 1978 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 18, 2001 for the Kansas City Royals | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through June 11, 2008) |
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| Batting average | .263 |
| Home runs | 45 |
| Stolen bases | 50 |
| Teams | |
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Ángel Maria Berroa Selmo (born January 27, 1978) is a Dominican professional baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Berroa is notable for having been selected as the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year.
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[edit] Early career
Berroa was acquired in 2001 by the Kansas City Royals from the Oakland Athletics in a three-way trade also involving the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Kansas City acquired Berroa, relief pitcher Roberto Hernández, and backup catcher A.J. Hinch in exchange for fan favorite Johnny Damon and infielder Mark Ellis. Berroa was handed the starting shortstop job at the start of the 2003 season after the departure of Neifi Pérez (despite hitting a disappointing .194 in the previous season's Dominican Winter League). Berroa started the season hitting ninth in the batting order and committing 19 errors in his first 63 games. However, he finished the season with a .287 batting average with 17 home runs, 73 RBI, and 21 stolen bases, and committed only five more errors the rest of the season. Late in the season, manager Tony Peña moved Berroa to the top of the batting order, and Berroa's performance sparked a media debate over who should be the American League Rookie of the Year: Berroa, Devil Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli, Cleveland Indians outfielder Jody Gerut, or New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui, a former star in the Japanese Baseball Central League.
[edit] Rookie of the Year
Berroa became the fourth member of the Royals to win the Rookie of the Year award, following Lou Piniella (1969), Bob Hamelin (1994), and Carlos Beltrán (1999). The decision was controversial as Berroa beat out both Baldelli and Matsui in the closest vote since 1980, prompting criticism from Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. While some players and sports writers believe veteran Japanese players who come to play baseball in the United States should not be considered rookies, Major League Baseball rules allow them to win the award. Debate over the definition of a rookie aside, Berroa's backers pointed to their identical batting averages and Berroa's greater home run total while hitting in a weaker Kansas City lineup and playing a more demanding position. Matsui's backers pointed to his higher RBI total and on-base percentage while playing in the media spotlight of New York City, and previous Rookie of the Year Awards having been given to countrymen Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki.
[edit] Career status
Following his rookie year, Berroa's performance went down annually in on-base percentage, runs, slugging percentage, and stolen bases. His fielding statistics included 77 errors from 2003–2005 (24, 28 — leading all Major League shortstops while he had the lowest fielding percentage among shortstops — .955, 25) that were the most among starting American League shortstops in that time span. Berroa has also produced declining walk totals in the years after his Rookie of the Year award. Berroa walked once very 21 plate appearances in 2003, but had fallen to a 36-to-1 PA/BB ratio in 2005. In both 2005 and 2006, he walked only 2.9% of the time, the second-worst and then the worst percentage in Major League Baseball.[2]
The disappointment in Berroa's development may be related to being caught up in the "Age-gate" fiasco in early 2002 when many Latin American players, subjected to greater scrutiny by the United States government, turned out to be older than they claimed. Berroa was two years older than thought when he was drafted by Oakland and traded to Kansas City.[1]
After a disappointing 2007 spring training, the Royals traded for another shortstop, Tony Peña, Jr.. Berroa, having lost his starting shortstop role, spent most of the 2007 season in Triple-A Omaha, appearing in only nine games for the Major League club.[2]
On June 6, 2008, he was traded along with cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Juan Rivera, and was added to the major league roster the following day.
[edit] Personal
Berroa is the son-in-law of current Royals coach and former Major League player Luis Silverio.[3]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
| Preceded by Eric Hinske |
American League Rookie of the Year 2003 |
Succeeded by Bobby Crosby |
| Preceded by Eric Hinske |
Players Choice AL Most Outstanding Rookie 2003 |
Succeeded by Bobby Crosby |
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