Age: 24 (June 18)
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’5” Weight: 200
Prior to 1990:
Son and
namesake of major league infielder Sandy Alomar, the native of Puerto Rico
initially signed with the San Diego Padres in 1984 and saw action at the Class
A and AA levels from 1984 to ’87 before moving on to the Class AAA Las Vegas
Stars where he batted .297 with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs in 1988 and was named
co-Minor League Player of the Year by The Sporting News. Alomar made his major
league debut with the Padres late in ’88 and, blocked by the presence of star
catcher Benito Santiago in San Diego, returned to Las Vegas in 1989, where he
had another strong season with 13 home runs, 101 RBIs and a .306 batting average.
In the offseason Alomar was traded to the Indians along with 2B Carlos Baerga
and OF/3B Chris James for OF Joe Carter. He finally got the opportunity to play
regularly at the major league level.
1990 Season Summary
Appeared in 132
games
C – 129, PH – 11
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 483
At Bats – 445
Runs – 60
Hits – 129
Doubles – 26
Triples – 2
Home Runs – 9
RBI – 66
Bases on Balls
– 25
Int. BB – 2
Strikeouts – 46
Stolen Bases – 4
Caught Stealing
– 1
Average - .290 [Non-qualifying]
OBP - .326 [Non-qualifying]
Slugging Pct. -
.418 [Non-qualifying]
Total Bases – 186
GDP – 10
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 5
Sac Flies – 6
Midseason
snapshot: HR - 3, RBI - 31, AVG - .294, OBP - .333
---
Most hits, game
– 3 on seven occasions
Longest hitting
streak – 11 games
Most HR, game –
1 on nine occasions
HR at home – 5
HR on road – 4
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 5 vs. Chi. White Sox 4/21, at NY Yankees 5/3
Pinch-hitting –
2 of 9 (.222) with 1 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 746
Put Outs – 686
Assists – 46
Errors – 14
DP - 6
Pct. - .981
Awards & Honors:
AL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
Gold Glove
All-Star
(Started for AL at C)
AL ROY Voting (Top
5):
Sandy Alomar,
Clev.: 140 pts. – 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share
Kevin Maas, NYY.:
47 pts. –34% share
Kevin Appier,
KC: 31 pts. – 22% share
John Olerud,
Tor.: 13 pts. – 9% share
Kevin Tapani,
Min.: 9 pts. – 6% share
---
Indians went 77-85
to finish fourth in the AL Eastern Division, 11 games behind the division-winning
Boston Red Sox.
Aftermath of '90:
Alomar was beset
by injuries over the next three seasons, although he still was an All-Star
selection in 1991 and ’92. A fine defensive catcher with a good throwing arm,
he failed to hit a home run while batting a mere .217 in ’91 and had only two
to go with a .251 average in 1992. He batted .288 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs
in the strike-abbreviated 1994 season and hit .300 in the late-starting 1995
season which culminated in an AL pennant for the Indians. He was an All-Star in
1996, ’97, and ’98, years in which Cleveland topped the AL Central Division
(and won another AL pennant in 1997). A knee injury limited Alomar to 144 games
in 1999 and he joined the Chicago White Sox as a free agent in 2001. Injuries
limited Alomar to 70 games with Chicago in ’01 and 51 in 2002 until he was
traded to the Colorado Rockies. Alomar finished out the year with the Rockies
and returned to the White Sox as a free agent in 2003. He moved on to the Texas
Rangers in 2005 and was with the Dodgers in 2006 until July when he was dealt
once more to the White Sox before finishing his playing career with the New
York Mets in 2007. Overall, Alomar hit .273 with 112 home runs and 588 RBIs. He
was chosen to six All-Star Games, all with the Indians, with whom he batted
.277 with 92 home runs and 453 RBIs and appeared in 49 postseason games. Notably,
Alomar knocked in a total of 19 runs in 18 postseason games in 1997 alone. He
was named to the Indians’ Hall of Fame in 2009. His brother Roberto, put
together a Hall of Fame career as a second baseman with seven major league
teams (the brothers were teammates with the Padres, Indians, and White Sox). Alomar
became a coach with the Mets and Indians and was interim manager of Cleveland
for the last six games of the 2012 season.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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