Top Blue Jays Player #3: Roberto
Alomar
Position: Second
base
Seasons With the
Jays: 5 (1991-1995)
MLB Awards: Silver
Slugger (1992)
Gold Glove (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)
ALCS MVP (1992)
All-Star Game
Selection: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
MLB Hall of Fame: Inducted
2011
Stats: Games Played 703 Batting Average .307
Base Hits 832 Runs
Scored 451
Home Runs 55 RBIs 342
Doubles
152 Triples 36
Stolen Bases 206
Walks 322
The only thing keeping Roberto
Alomar from being at the top of this list is the fact that he only played five
years with the Blue Jays. But what a five years it was! Undoubtedly the most
talented player ever to put on a Toronto uniform, Alomar was the sparkplug that
helped the team with three straight division championships and two straight
World Series in the early 1990s. Every year he was with the Jays, he was an
All-Star. Due to his superlative defensive play, he won Gold Gloves all five
years he was with the club as well.
Originally signed by the San
Diego Padres in 1985, he made his debut in 1988 and played three seasons with
the Padres. He was acquired by the Blue Jays along with Joe Carter in exchange
for Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez after the 1990 season. While Alomar was on
the verge of becoming one of the elite players in baseball, he turned the curve
his first year with Toronto.
Playing in 161 games in 1991,
Alomar batted .295 (that would be his worst average in his five years with the
Jays), hit nine home runs and added 69 RBIs while stealing 53 bases. He also
picked up his first Gold Glove. While it’s true that he committed his fair
share of errors while at second base, his exceptional range allowed him to get
to the ball more often than any of his peers. In the ALCS five-game loss to the
Twins, Alomar still managed to pick up nine hits for a .494 batting average.
In 1992, he was just as good, if
not better. His average jumped to .310, while hitting eight homers and driving
in 76. He also stole 49 bases. In the ALCS against Oakland, Alomar earned
series MVP honours in batting .423 with two home runs and stealing five bases.
The most memorable of the home runs happened in the ninth inning in Game 4.
With the Jays trailing by two runs in the ninth, and Oakland closer and 1992 AL
MVP Dennis Eckersley on the mound, Alomar smacked a game-tying, two-run home
run into the right field stands. Toronto would eventually win the game in extra
innings.
In the World Series victory over
Atlanta, Alomar hit a rather low .208 but still managed to score the winning
run in both Game 3 and the series-clinching Game 6. He also stole three bases
in the series.
His best offensive season with
Toronto came in 1993. He finished third in the batting race (behind teammates
John Olerud and Paul Molitor) with a .326 average. He also hit 17 home runs and
had 93 RBIs while stealing 55 bases. In the ALCS against the White Sox, he hit
.292 with four RBIs and four stolen bases in the six-game series. He had 12
hits in the World Series against Philadelphia for a .480 batting average with
six RBIs and five runs scored.
The Jays struggled in the
strike-shortened 1994 season, but Alomar still put up good numbers. In 107
games he batted .306, hit eight home runs with 38 RBIs. He also did well in
1995 (.300, 13, 66) but the team finished in last place. While still in the
playoff hunt during July, the Jays traded their ace pitcher, David Cone (who
they had picked up in Spring Training) to the division rival New York Yankees,
virtually throwing in the towel on the season. This angered Alomar and he
voiced his displeasure. He was becoming a free agent after 1995, and after the Cone
trade, it was evident he would not be returning to Toronto in 1996.
He signed with the Baltimore
Orioles for three seasons and was an All-Star in each of those years, winning
two more Gold Gloves (1996 and 1998). He then signed with the Cleveland Indians
so he could play on the same team with his brother, Sandy. Three years in
Cleveland produced three more All-Star selections, three more Gold Gloves and
two Silver Slugger Awards.
After signing with the New York
Mets for the 2002 season, Alomar’s skills began to erode. Midway through the
2003 season, New York traded him to White Sox. In 2004, he split time between
Chicago and Arizona. He signed with the Tampa Bay Rays for 2005 but after a few
miserable outings on defense in Spring Training, he realized that his best days
were behind him and retired before the season started.
For his career, he earned 12
consecutive All-Star Game selections, won ten Gold Gloves and four Silver
Slugger Awards. He became the first player to enter Baseball’s Hall of Fame
with a Blue Jays’ hat when he was inducted in 2011. A week after the induction
ceremony, the Toronto organization honoured him by retiring his number 12 (the
first and only retired number in the club’s history.) Other post-career honours
include induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (2010) and the
Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (2015).
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