Marty Cordova

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Martin Kevin "Marty" Cordova [cor-DOH-vuh] (born July 10, 1969 in Las Vegas, Nevada), is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Minnesota Twins (1995-99), Toronto Blue Jays (2000), Cleveland Indians (2001) and Baltimore Orioles (2002-03). He batted and threw right-handed. Before embarking on a career in Major league baseball Cordova played six seasons in the minor leagues. Cordova began his pro career in the minors in 1989 with the Elizabethton Twins of the Appalachian League. After a season in rookie ball Cordova moved up to class A and spent the 1990 season with the Kenosha Twins of the Mid West League. Cordova would then go onto spend the next two season with the Visalia Oaks of the California League 1991-1992. After spending three years in class A, Cordova made the move up to double A. In 1993 Cordova joined the Nashville Xpress of the Southern League.

A promising and talented player, Cordova was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1995. He took the honor over, among others, Garret Anderson, Andy Pettitte, Troy Percival and Shawn Green, after hitting .277 with 24 home runs and 84 RBI for the Twins. His second season saw career-highs in batting average (.309), RBI (111), runs (97) and doubles.

Cordova had the potential to hit for average and power, but was often bothered by back injuries over his career. Between 1997 and 2000, he missed 240 games while on the injured list. In January of 2000, the Boston Red Sox signed Cordova to a minor league contract after he became too pricey for the small-market Twins, especially considering his history of injuries. The 30-year-old, who had been signed to a minor-league contract, asked for his release from the Red Sox before the season even began, clearing the way for him to eventually sign with the Toronto Blue Jays.

He returned in good form with the Indians in 2001, hitting .301 with 20 home runs, and in 2002, with the Orioles, he belted 18 homers. Then, Cordova missed all of 2004 and appeared in just nine games in 2003 after two operations on his right elbow.

In January 2005, Cordova signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He retired a day after he was scheduled to report to spring training.

In a nine-season career, Cordova was a .274 hitter with 122 home runs and 540 RBI in 952 games.

He is also known for having fallen asleep in a tanning bed, which prevented him from playing several day games with the Orioles.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• BaseballLibrary.com - biography