MVP Profile: Miguel Tejada, 2002

Shortstop, Oakland Athletics

Age:  28 (May 25)

5^th season with Athletics

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 5’9”    Weight: 220 

Prior to 2002:

A native of the Dominican Republic, Tejada grew up in the small town of Bani, a backwater in terms of uncovering Dominican baseball talent. Helping his family by performing construction work from a young age, he joined a baseball clinic run by Oakland scout Enrique Soto. Physically unimpressive with his slight build, he displayed a tremendous drive. Shaving two years off of his actual age to appear to be younger than he was, he signed with the A’s for $2000 in 1993. Debuting in the Dominican Summer League in 1994, Tejada batted .294 with 18 home runs and 62 RBIs over the course of 67 games. Moving on to Southern Oregon in the low Class A Northwest League in 1995, the young shortstop hit .245 with 15 doubles, 5 triples, 8 home runs, 44 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases while appearing in 74 games. Advancing to Modesto of the advanced Class A California League in 1996, he batted .280 with a .352 on-base percentage, 20 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases. Assigned to the Huntsville Stars of the Class AA Southern League in 1997, Tejada hit .275 with a .344 OBP, 20 doubles, 22 home runs, and 97 RBIs resulting in an August call-up to the A’s in which he appeared in 26 games and batted only .202 for the last-place club. A broken finger kept him from starting the 1998 season with Oakland where he wasn’t expected to start. Still, he quickly established himself with the A’s with his bat and glove, producing 20 doubles, 11 home runs, and 45 RBIs with a .233 average and .298 OBP as he struggled against lefthanded pitchers. In 1999 he performed reasonably well for a much-improved team by batting .251 with 33 doubles, 21 home runs, and 84 RBIs. Defensively he led AL shortstops with 292 put outs and was second with 471 assists. 2000 was a division-winning season for the Athletics and Tejada contributed 30 home runs and 115 RBIs while hitting .275 with a .349 OBP, and his defense remained solid. He placed sixteenth in league MVP voting. In his first taste of postseason action, a five-game ALDS loss to the Yankees, Tejada hit .350 with two doubles and an RBI. He had another strong season in 2001, batting .267 with 31 doubles, 31 home runs, 113 RBIs, and a .326 OBP. A streaky hitter and dependable fielder, Tejada entered 2002 as a player on the verge of joining the elite at his position.

2002 Season Summary

Appeared in 162 games

SS – 162, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 715 [6]

At Bats – 662 [2]

Runs – 108 [10]

Hits – 204 [3, tied with Bernie Williams]

Doubles – 30

Triples – 0

Home Runs – 34 [7, tied with Eric Chavez]

RBI – 131 [3]

Bases on Balls – 38

Int. BB – 3

Strikeouts – 84

Stolen Bases – 7

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .308 [9]

OBP - .354

Slugging Pct. - .508 [17]

Total Bases – 336 [5]

GDP – 21 [2, tied with Magglio Ordonez]

Hit By Pitches – 11 [9, tied with A.J. Pierzynski, Tony Batista & Damion Easley]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 4

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 19, HR - 15, RBI - 59, AVG - .294, SLG - .472, OBP - .334

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 6 AB) at Tampa Bay 5/31, (in 5 AB) at Seattle 9/26 – 10 innings

Longest hitting streak – 24 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. Minnesota 9/1, (in 3 AB) at Texas 9/28

HR at home – 17

HR on road – 17

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 6 at Texas 7/28

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 1 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 752

Put Outs – 229

Assists – 504

Errors – 19

DP – 106

Pct. - .975

Postseason Batting: 5 G (ALDS vs. Minnesota)

PA – 23, AB – 21, R – 3, H – 3, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 4, BB – 1, IBB – 0, SO – 7, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .143, OBP - .174, SLG -.333, TB – 7, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 1

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star

 

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Miguel Tejada, Oak.: 356 points – 21 of 28 first place votes, 91% share

Alex Rodriguez, Tex.: 254 points – 5 first place votes, 65% share

Alfonso Soriano, NYY: 234 points – 2 first place votes, 60% share

Garret Anderson, Ana.: 184 points – 47% share

Jason Giambi, NYY: 162 points – 41% share

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Athletics went 103-59 to finish first in the AL West by 4 games over the Anaheim Angels. In making it to the postseason for the third straight year, the A’s were in fourth place on May 23, 10 games behind the division-leading Seattle Mariners, before going 83-33 the rest of the way to take over first place on August 22 and held off the Angels down the stretch. Lost ALDS to the Minnesota Twins, 3 games to 2.

Aftermath of ‘02:

Tejada spent one more productive season with Oakland in 2003, appearing in all 162 games for the third consecutive year and batting .278 with 42 doubles, 27 home runs, 106 RBIs, and a .336 OBP. He placed eleventh in league MVP voting, although he hit poorly in the postseason. A free agent in the offseason, he signed with the Baltimore Orioles for six years and $72 million. In 2004 he again appeared in all 162 games and hit .311 with a .360 OBP, 40 doubles, 34 home runs, and a league-leading 150 RBIs. Tejada received a Silver Slugger and finished fifth in the American League MVP race. While accused of steroid use entering the 2005 season, he put together another solid performance, batting .304 with a .349 OBP and .515 slugging percentage while leading the AL with 50 doubles to go along with 26 home runs and 98 RBIs. The Orioles started well but faded badly in the second half on the way to a 74-88 finish. After demanding a trade in the offseason that didn’t happen, Tejada had another fine season for the Orioles in 2006 despite concerns about his level of motivation. He hit .330 with a .379 OBP as well as 37 doubles, 24 home runs, and 100 RBIs. In 2007 his streak of 1152 consecutive games came to an end in June due to a broken wrist. Limited to 133 games he batted .296 with a .357 OBP, 18 home runs, and 81 RBIs. His fielding also suffered, and the Orioles traded him to the Houston Astros in the offseason. Prior to the 2008 season his age-altering prior to his initially signing with Oakland was exposed during an interview on ESPN. While it was hardly a practice unique to Tejada, combined with continuing steroid allegations, it placed the veteran star in a controversial light. Following a fast start during the 2008 season, his production dropped to .283 with a .314 OBP, 13 home runs, and 66 RBIs although he was still an All-Star selection and he played in 158 games. In early 2009 Tejada was charged for lying to the House Oversight Committee that was investigating steroid use in baseball. Pleading guilty he received a $5000 fine along with a year of probation and was required to perform 100 hours of community service. During the season the Astros did poorly but Tejada batted .313 with a league-best 46 doubles along with 14 home runs and 86 RBIs. Returning to Baltimore in 2010, he played third base and was hitting .269 when traded to San Diego in late July. He finished with a combined average of .269 with 15 home runs and 71 RBIs. Signing with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent in 2011, the fading third baseman/shortstop appeared in 91 games due to injury and hit .239 with 4 home runs and 26 RBIs. Back with the Orioles in 2012, he was assigned to Norfolk of the Class AAA International League until being released in June at his request. An unimpressive stint with the Royals in 2013 ended with his suspension for steroid use, resulting in the end of his major league career. During his time in the major leagues, Tejada batted .285 with 2407 hits that included 468 doubles, 23 triples, and 307 home runs. He scored 1230 runs and compiled 1302 RBIs with a .336 OBP and .456 slugging percentage. With Oakland he batted .270 with 968 hits, 191 doubles, 11 triples, 156 home runs, 574 runs scored, 604 RBIs, a .331 OBP, and .460 slugging percentage. Tejada appeared in 20 postseason games (all with Oakland) and hit .212 with a home run and 8 RBIs. A six-time All-Star, he placed in the top 20 in league MVP voting seven times, winning once. A player who rose from extreme poverty to become an outstanding and durable all-around shortstop, Tejada’s reputation has been stained by steroid use. Enigmatic and mercurial off the field, he appeared to be most happy when playing baseball.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.