Rookie of the Year: Rafael Furcal, 2000

Shortstop, Atlanta Braves

Age:  22

Bats – Both, Throws – Right

Height: 5’8”    Weight: 195

Prior to 2000:

A native of the Dominican Republic, Furcal played basketball as well as baseball at Jose Cabrera High School in Loma de Cabrera. He was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent in 1996 and initially was assigned to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 1997 where he played second base and batted .258 and stole 15 bases while leading the league’s second basemen with 257 total chances. Moving on to Danville of the advance Rookie-level Appalachian League in 1998, he stole a league-record 60 bases while hitting .328. Furcal played at Class A in 1999 with Macon of the South Atlantic League and Myrtle Beach of the Carolina League. Overall, he stole 96 bases in 126 games and batted .322 while also transitioning to shortstop. Thanks to an injury to Atlanta’s veteran shortstop Walt Weiss, Furcal made the jump from Class A to the Braves in 2000.

2000 Season Summary

Appeared in 131 games

SS – 110, 2B – 31, PR – 6, PH – 2

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 542

At Bats – 455

Runs – 87

Hits – 134

Doubles – 20

Triples – 4

Home Runs – 4

RBI – 37

Bases on Balls – 73

Int. BB – 0

Strikeouts – 80

Stolen Bases – 40 [5]

Caught Stealing – 14 [2, tied with Preston Wilson & Eric Owens]

Average - .295

OBP - .394 [18, tied with Mark Grace]

Slugging Pct. - .382

Total Bases – 174

GDP – 2

Hit by Pitches – 3

Sac Hits – 9 [16, tied with nine others]

Sac Flies – 2

Midseason snapshot: HR – 0, RBI – 12, SB – 12, AVG - .304, SLG PCT - .387

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Most hits, game – 3 on nine occasions

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

Most HR, game – 1 (in 3 AB) at Houston 9/2, (in 4 AB) at Arizona 9/16, (in 5 AB) vs. NY Mets 9/19, (in 5 AB) at Montreal 9/24

HR at home – 1

HR on road – 3

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 vs. San Diego 5/20, at Arizona 9/16

Pinch-hitting/running – 0 of 1 (.000) with 1 SB & 5 R

Fielding (SS)

Chances – 459

Put Outs – 147

Assists – 289

Errors – 23

DP - 54

Pct. - .950

Postseason Batting: 3 G (NLDS vs. St. Louis)

PA – 14, AB – 11, R – 2, H – 1, 2B – 0,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 3, IBB – 0, SO – 0, SB – 1, CS – 1, AVG - .091, OBP - .286, SLG -.091, TB – 1, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

NL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

NL ROY Voting (top 5):

Rafael Furcal, Atl.: 144 pts. – 25 of 32 first place votes, 90% share

Rick Ankiel, StL.: 87 pts. – 6 first place votes, 54% share

Jay Payton, NYM: 37 pts. – 1 first place vote, 23% share

Pat Burrell, Phila.: 10 pts. – 6% share

Mitch Meluskey, Hou.: 7 pts. – 4% share

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Braves went 95-67 to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 1 game over the New York Mets, for their ninth consecutive division title. The Braves battled the Mets into September, with the offense benefiting from the insertion of Furcal into the leadoff spot in July, finally securing the NL East title with a Sept. 26 win over New York. Lost NLDS to the St. Louis Cardinals, 3 games to 0.

Aftermath of 2000:

A dislocated shoulder that required surgery ended Furcal’s 2001 season in July. In 79 games he batted .275 and stole 22 bases. In 2002 he tied the modern major league record with three triples in a game against Florida. He ended up hitting .275 with 31 doubles, 8 triples, and 8 home runs. After having problems in the field during the season’s first two months (13 errors in 38 games), he ended up with 27 errors for the year. In a 2003 game against St. Louis, Furcal turned an unassisted triple play. He had a fine offensive season, batting .292 with 194 hits and 130 runs scored while tying for the NL lead with 10 triples to go along with 35 doubles, 15 home runs, and 61 RBIs. Hindered by injuries in 2004, he appeared in 143 games and hit .279 with 14 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases. Furcal hit .284 in 2005 with 31 doubles, 11 triples, 12 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 100 runs scored. In the field he led NL shortstops with 255 put outs. In the offseason he underwent minor arthroscopic knee surgery after signing a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Furcal had a fine year with his new team in 2006, batting .300 with 196 hits that included 32 doubles, 9 triples, 15 home runs, 37 stolen bases, and 63 RBIs. In the field he topped NL shortstops with 788 total chances, 269 put outs, 492 assists, and 117 double plays. Hindered by a sprained ankle at the start of the 2007 season, Furcal hit .270 over the course of 138 games. After a back injury limited him to 36 games in 2008, he came back in 2009 to bat .269 while appearing in 150 games, with 9 home runs and 47 RBIs, while stealing only 12 bases. He was still among the league leaders defensively at shortstop. Furcal was an All-Star for the second time in 2010 during an injury-plagued season in which he batted .300 with 23 doubles, 7 triples, 8 home runs, 43 RBIs, and stole 22 bases. He spent most of the first half of the 2011 season on the disabled list before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in July. For the year he hit .231 with 8 home runs and 28 RBIs while helping the Cardinals to the NL pennant and a World Series title. He contributed two triples to the NLDS victory over Philadelphia and scored 5 runs in the NLCS win against the Brewers. Furcal had an All-Star season with the Cardinals in 2012, although he finished the year on the DL and missed the postseason. He ended up batting .264 over 121 games. Furcal missed the entire 2013 season due to “Tommy John” surgery. A free agent in the offseason, he signed with the Miami Marlins. He appeared in eight games at second base in 2014 and hit .171. Furcal signed a minor league contract with Kansas City in 2015 and played in just seven minor league contests before retiring. For his major league career, Furcal batted .281 with 1817 hits that included 311 doubles, 69 triples, and 113 home runs. He also compiled 1063 runs scored, 587 RBIs, and 314 stolen bases. With the Braves he produced a .284 average, 924 hits, 160 doubles, 38 triples, 57 home runs, 292 RBIs, and 189 stolen bases. Furcal was a three-time All-Star. He played for one World Series-winning team and appeared in a total of 59 postseason games in which he batted .227 with 5 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, 16 RBIs, 33 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases.        

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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.