Top Blue Jays Player #39: Alfredo
Griffin
Position: Shortstop
Seasons With the
Jays: 8 (1979-84, 1992-93)
MLB Awards: AL
Rookie of the Year (1979)
All-Star Game
Selection: 1984
Stats: Games Played 982 Batting Average .249
Base Hits 844 Runs
Scored 382
Home Runs 13 RBIs 231
Doubles
127 Triples 50
Stolen Bases 79 Walks 146
Alfredo Griffin was the first in
a long line of shortstops born in the Dominican Republic that found themselves
playing with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was the typical shortstop of the 1970s
and 1980s in that he was all-glove and no hit.
He was indeed a light-hitter as
his stats would bear out. In his five full seasons as the Jays’ regular
shortstop he only hit for an average higher than .260 once. That was in his
rookie season when he managed .287. He never hit more than four home runs in a
season but his speed and quickness allowed him to collect his fair share of
triples and stolen bases.
Originally signed by the
Cleveland Indians in 1973, he was traded to Toronto at the conclusion of the
1978 season. Although he had played a handful games for the Indians over the
previous three seasons (a total of 31 games), he qualified as a rookie in his
first year for the Blue Jays. And it was the best year any rookie had in 1979 as
he became the first Toronto player to win the American League Rookie of the
Year Award.
Griffin batted .287 in 153
games, collecting 22 doubles, ten triples and two home runs among his 179 hits.
He also added 31 RBIs and stole 21 bases while posting a .956 fielding
percentage.
His numbers dipped a bit in
1982, particularly his batting average which fell to .254 but he did lead the
American League in triples with 15. And while his numbers didn’t improve during
the rest of his years with the Blue Jays, his defensive skill kept him in the
line up. He played in all 162 games in 1982 and 1983. However, by the end of
the 1984 season, Griffin was no longer being looked at as the team’s starting
shortstop as another Dominican-born player, Tony Fernandez, had come along with
even better defensive prowess and much better offensive potential.
During the off-season, Griffin
was traded to the Oakland Athletics, where he would play for three seasons. In
1985, he won his first and only Gold Glove Award while playing for Oakland.
Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1987 season, Griffin would play
four years in LA, helping the team to the World Championship in 1988.
For the 1992 season, he would
return to the Blue Jays, signing as a free agent to be the back-up shortstop to
Manuel Lee. He played two more years with Toronto, and played sparingly but
contributed to the back-to-back World Series Championship teams before retiring
following the 1993 season.
Griffin is currently the first
base coach for the Los Angeles Angels, a position he as held since 2000.
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