Eliézer Alfonzo
Encyclopedia
Eliézer Jesús Alfonzo is a professional baseball
catcher
who is currently with the Colorado Rockies
. He has played all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball
, most recently in 2011 with the Colorado Rockies
. He bats and throws right-handed. Eliézer is the second cousin of former MLB star Edgardo Alfonzo
.
on July 13, 1996. Alfonzo made his professional debut as a third baseman
for St. Louis' affiliate in Dominican Summer League
he batted .325 in 24 games. He was converted to catcher
in 1997 and batted .275 in 38 contests for the Rookie-level Johnson City Cardinals
.
on June 13, 2000 to complete off-season trade that sent Fernando Viña
to the Cardinals. He spent remainder of the 2000 campaign at the Class-A Beloit Snappers
hitting a combined 26 doubles, 10 home runs and 48 RBIs in 109 games.
In 2001 he set a career high with 28 doubles for Beloit, batting .277 with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs in 106 games. He logged his final year in the Milwaukee chain in 2002, splitting time with Class-A High Desert Mavericks
and Double-A Huntsville Stars
. He was a .349 hitter in 12 games in California League
, then batted .258 with 7 home runs and 38 RBIs in the Southern League
.
in 2003, but was released March 29. Later that season he signed with the St. Paul Saints
of the independent Northern League in May. He batted .300 with 15 doubles, 9 home runs and 46 RBIs in 68 games with the Saints.
All-Star team during lone campaign in Marlins organization. He batted .281 with 112 hits, 18 home runs and 70 RBIs in 105 games for the Class-A Jupiter Hammerheads
.
in 2004. He played at the three top rungs of Giants organizational ladder during 2005 season marking his first year in system, seeing action for the Class-A San Jose Giants
, the Double-A Norwich Navigators and the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies
. He clubbed a career-high 23 home runs to tie for second most by Giants farmhands, while his .334 average was fifth. In 106 overall games he drove in career-best 79 runs. He was named to Cal League In-Season All Star team after hitting .357 with 13 HRs and 45 RBI for eventual league champion San Jose. He participated in the Venezuela Winter League
following the campaign.
After ten seasons in minor league baseball
, Alfonzo debuted with the Giants on June 3, 2006. During his debut, he hit a two-run home run
against the New York Mets
for his first major league hit
. Three days later, he caught pitcher
Jason Schmidt
's 16-strikeout
game, which matched a 102-year-old Giants franchise record.
Alfonzo filled in for veteran catcher Mike Matheny
, who was sidelined with symptoms following a concussion for the rest of the 2006 season. He hit .266 with 12 home runs, 39 RBIs and .465 slugging percentage in 87 games with the Giants. He again played in the Venezuelan Winter League. On June 3, 2006, Alfonzo made his big league debut. In his debut, his name was misspelled on his jersey (it should have ended in "zo," not "so"). Alfonzo hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning that ultimately won the game against the Mets. The following day, the jersey was still misspelled.
In 2007 he batted a combined .325 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 23 games between Arizona League Giants and Triple-A Fresno. He had three homers and 10 RBIs in 18 games for the Grizzlies after batting .462 in five contests for AZL Giants. He hit .250 with a homer and six RBIs in 26 Major League games. Alfonzo drove in a career-best three runs against the Philadelphia Phillies
on May 4.
He batted .321 with eight homers and 45 RBIs in 56 games between the Class-A Augusta GreenJackets
, Double-A Connecticut and Triple-A Fresno. He went 1-for-11 with an RBI in five games with San Francisco, he lost the competition for the backup catcher position and was sent back down to Triple-A.
On May 1, 2008, Alfonzo was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed with the San Diego Padres.
. He hit .309 with 14 home runs and 36 RBIs with the Beavers before being called up to the Padres.
.
On May 28, 2010, the Alfonzo's contract was purchased by the Mariners after Josh Bard
was placed on the DL. He made his Mariner debut two days later against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
, going 3 for 5 with a home run and 4 RBIs.
On June 29, 2010, the Mariners designated Alfonzo for assignment to make room for Josh Bard, who was coming off the disabled list.
as a minor league free agent on January 28, 2011. He was called up to the major leagues on July 15, 2011, from the Rockies' AAA farm team, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox
. On the day of his debut, the first at bat for the Rockies was a home run.
In September 2011, Alfonzo became the second major league player (Manny Ramirez
was the first) to be suspended 100 games for a second positive drug test. Alfonzo plans to appeal .
Professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....
catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
who is currently with the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...
. He has played all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, most recently in 2011 with the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...
. He bats and throws right-handed. Eliézer is the second cousin of former MLB star Edgardo Alfonzo
Edgardo Alfonzo
Edgardo Antonio Alfonzo a.k.a. "Fonzie" is a former Major League Baseball infielder who most recently played for the Yomiuri Giants. He bats and throws right-handed, and is tall and weighs...
.
St. Louis Cardinals
Alfonzo originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
on July 13, 1996. Alfonzo made his professional debut as a third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
for St. Louis' affiliate in Dominican Summer League
Dominican Summer League
The Dominican Summer League is a branch of affiliated minor league baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. The 2011 72-game season begins May 28 and ends August 20...
he batted .325 in 24 games. He was converted to catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
in 1997 and batted .275 in 38 contests for the Rookie-level Johnson City Cardinals
Johnson City Cardinals
The Johnson City Cardinals are a rookie league team based in Johnson City, Tennessee. The Cardinals are affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals organization and play with the Appalachian League, of which they are currently the two-time defending champions. The team plays its home games at Howard...
.
Milwaukee Brewers
He stayed in the Cardinals' organization until being traded to the Milwaukee BrewersMilwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
on June 13, 2000 to complete off-season trade that sent Fernando Viña
Fernando Viña
Fernando Viña is a retired Cuban-American Major League Baseball second baseman and current MLB analyst for Oakland Athletics...
to the Cardinals. He spent remainder of the 2000 campaign at the Class-A Beloit Snappers
Beloit Snappers
The Beloit Snappers are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Minnesota Twins, that plays in the Midwest League.Beloit joined the Midwest League as an expansion franchise in 1982. They were a Milwaukee Brewers farm team from its beginning through 2004; they switched to the...
hitting a combined 26 doubles, 10 home runs and 48 RBIs in 109 games.
In 2001 he set a career high with 28 doubles for Beloit, batting .277 with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs in 106 games. He logged his final year in the Milwaukee chain in 2002, splitting time with Class-A High Desert Mavericks
High Desert Mavericks
The High Desert Mavericks are a minor league baseball team in Adelanto, California, USA. Their Major League parent club is the Seattle Mariners. They are a Class A - Advanced team in the California League and had been a farm team of the Kansas City Royals since 2005 before the switch...
and Double-A Huntsville Stars
Huntsville Stars
The Huntsville Stars are a minor league baseball team of the Southern League and are the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Huntsville, Alabama and are named for the space industry with which Huntsville is economically tied .The Stars play their home games at Joe W...
. He was a .349 hitter in 12 games in California League
California League
The California League is a Class A Advanced minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth...
, then batted .258 with 7 home runs and 38 RBIs in the Southern League
Southern League (baseball)
The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...
.
Chicago Cubs and Independent League
Alfonzo signed a minor league deal with Chicago CubsChicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
in 2003, but was released March 29. Later that season he signed with the St. Paul Saints
St. Paul Saints
The St. Paul Saints are a professional baseball team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. The Saints are a member of the North Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball...
of the independent Northern League in May. He batted .300 with 15 doubles, 9 home runs and 46 RBIs in 68 games with the Saints.
Florida Marlins
In 2004 Alfonzo was selected to the Florida State LeagueFlorida State League
The Florida State League is a Class A-Advanced minor league baseball league operating in the state of Florida. They are one of three leagues currently operating in Class A-Advanced, the third highest of six classifications of minor leagues...
All-Star team during lone campaign in Marlins organization. He batted .281 with 112 hits, 18 home runs and 70 RBIs in 105 games for the Class-A Jupiter Hammerheads
Jupiter Hammerheads
The Jupiter Hammerheads are a minor league baseball team based in Jupiter, Florida, named for the hammerhead shark.The team, which plays in the Florida State League, is the Class A Advanced affiliate of the Miami Marlins major-league club....
.
San Francisco Giants
He signed with the San Francisco GiantsSan Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
in 2004. He played at the three top rungs of Giants organizational ladder during 2005 season marking his first year in system, seeing action for the Class-A San Jose Giants
San Jose Giants
The San Jose Giants are a minor league baseball team in San Jose, California, USA. They are a Class A - Advanced team in the Northern Division of the California League, and have been a farm team of the San Francisco Giants since 1988. Home games are played at San Jose Municipal Stadium...
, the Double-A Norwich Navigators and the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies
Fresno Grizzlies
The Fresno Grizzlies are a minor league baseball team based in Fresno, California. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League , is the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club. The Grizzlies play in Chukchansi Park , located in downtown Fresno and built in 2002...
. He clubbed a career-high 23 home runs to tie for second most by Giants farmhands, while his .334 average was fifth. In 106 overall games he drove in career-best 79 runs. He was named to Cal League In-Season All Star team after hitting .357 with 13 HRs and 45 RBI for eventual league champion San Jose. He participated in the Venezuela Winter League
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional is the highest level baseball league in Venezuela.-Brief history:Baseball exploded in Venezuela in 1941, following the world championship in Havana....
following the campaign.
After ten seasons in minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
, Alfonzo debuted with the Giants on June 3, 2006. During his debut, he hit a two-run home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
against the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
for his first major league hit
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
. Three days later, he caught pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Jason Schmidt
Jason Schmidt
Jason David Schmidt , is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher.Schmidt was born in Lewiston, Idaho. In his career he has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , San Francisco Giants , Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves , by whom he had been drafted in the eighth round, 206th overall, of...
's 16-strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
game, which matched a 102-year-old Giants franchise record.
Alfonzo filled in for veteran catcher Mike Matheny
Mike Matheny
Michael Scott Matheny is the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. He is also a former baseball catcher, playing for four different teams during his thirteen years in the major leagues...
, who was sidelined with symptoms following a concussion for the rest of the 2006 season. He hit .266 with 12 home runs, 39 RBIs and .465 slugging percentage in 87 games with the Giants. He again played in the Venezuelan Winter League. On June 3, 2006, Alfonzo made his big league debut. In his debut, his name was misspelled on his jersey (it should have ended in "zo," not "so"). Alfonzo hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning that ultimately won the game against the Mets. The following day, the jersey was still misspelled.
In 2007 he batted a combined .325 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 23 games between Arizona League Giants and Triple-A Fresno. He had three homers and 10 RBIs in 18 games for the Grizzlies after batting .462 in five contests for AZL Giants. He hit .250 with a homer and six RBIs in 26 Major League games. Alfonzo drove in a career-best three runs against the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
on May 4.
He batted .321 with eight homers and 45 RBIs in 56 games between the Class-A Augusta GreenJackets
Augusta GreenJackets
The Augusta GreenJackets are a minor league baseball team that plays in Augusta, Georgia, as a Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Lake Olmstead Stadium has been the home of the GreenJackets since the 1995 season, although Augusta has fielded a team in the South Atlantic League since 1988...
, Double-A Connecticut and Triple-A Fresno. He went 1-for-11 with an RBI in five games with San Francisco, he lost the competition for the backup catcher position and was sent back down to Triple-A.
On May 1, 2008, Alfonzo was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed with the San Diego Padres.
San Diego Padres
Alfonzo signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres and was sent to the Triple-A Portland BeaversPortland Beavers
The Tucson Padres are a minor league baseball team, representing Tucson, Arizona, in the Pacific Coast League . They are the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The team was formerly known as the Portland Beavers and played its last home game at PGE Park on September 6, 2010...
. He hit .309 with 14 home runs and 36 RBIs with the Beavers before being called up to the Padres.
Seattle Mariners
On December 14, 2009, Alfonzo signed a minor league contract with the Seattle MarinersSeattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...
.
On May 28, 2010, the Alfonzo's contract was purchased by the Mariners after Josh Bard
Josh Bard
Joshua David Bard is an American professional baseball catcher and designated hitter who is a free agent. Bard is a switch-hitter who throws right-handed....
was placed on the DL. He made his Mariner debut two days later against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
, going 3 for 5 with a home run and 4 RBIs.
On June 29, 2010, the Mariners designated Alfonzo for assignment to make room for Josh Bard, who was coming off the disabled list.
Colorado Rockies
Alfonzo was signed by the Colorado RockiesColorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...
as a minor league free agent on January 28, 2011. He was called up to the major leagues on July 15, 2011, from the Rockies' AAA farm team, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox
Colorado Springs Sky Sox
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox are a minor league baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team's colors are red and blue. The team plays in the Pacific Coast League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Colorado Rockies...
. On the day of his debut, the first at bat for the Rockies was a home run.
In September 2011, Alfonzo became the second major league player (Manny Ramirez
Manny Ramírez
Manuel "Manny" Arístides Ramírez Onelcida is a retired Dominican-American professional baseball outfielder. He was recognized for great batting skill and power, a nine-time Silver Slugger and one of 25 players to hit 500 career home runs. Ramirez's 21 grand slams are third all-time, and his 28...
was the first) to be suspended 100 games for a second positive drug test. Alfonzo plans to appeal .