American baseball player (born 1970)
Baseball player
Ricardo Gutierrez
(born May 23, 1970) is an American former
shortstop
in
Major League Baseball (MLB)
who played from
1993
through
2004
for the
San Diego Padres
(1993-
1994
),
Houston Astros
(
1995
-
1999
),
Chicago Cubs
(
2000
-
2001
),
Cleveland Indians
(
2002
-
2003
),
New York Mets
(
2004
) and
Boston Red Sox
(2004). He batted and threw
right-handed
. He was also the only
Houston Astros
player to get a base hit in
Kerry Wood
's 20-strikeout game.
Background
[
edit
]
Gutierrez was the
Baltimore Orioles
' second pick in the
1988 MLB Draft
, the second of four compensatory supplemental selections between the first two rounds (28th overall).
[1]
After falling behind
Manny Alexander
on the organization's depth chart at shortstop, Gutierrez was sent to San Diego on September 4, 1992 to complete a transaction made four days earlier on August 31 when
Erik Schullstrom
was also dealt to the Padres for
Craig Lefferts
.
[2]
[3]
Listed at 6'1", 195 pounds, Gutierrez started his career at shortstop and became a valuable
utility player
later in his career. In the field, he had decent range and an above-average arm. He was a sharp line-drive hitter, and spent most of his career in the
National League
.
His most productive season came in 2001 with the Cubs, when he posted career-highs in
batting average
(.290),
RBI
(66),
runs
(76),
hits
(153) and
games played
(147). He finished the year leading the
National League
in
sacrifice hits
(17). He also had the fourth most
sacrifice flies
in the league (11), and was tenth in
singles
(117).
Boston Red Sox
[
edit
]
On July 21, 2004, the
Boston Red Sox
acquired Gutierrez from the
Chicago Cubs
[4]
for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Red Sox General Manager
Theo Epstein
lauded Gutierrez as "a veteran with a tremendous makeup ... he'll fit in well as a utility guy for us." Gutierrez wore number 16, the same number as other Red Sox players such as
Jim Lonborg
,
Hank Johnson
,
Dave Sax
and
Bob Zupcic
. His greatest offensive performance came on August 28, 2004 versus the
Detroit Tigers
. Gutierrez, who filled in at second base while
Mark Bellhorn
took over at third for
Bill Mueller
, went 3 for 4 with a two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. Teammate
Alan Embree
was in awe: "He's been sitting a long time, to come off the bench and contribute like he did tonight was incredible."
After winning the
World Series
, Gutierrez carried an industrial-sized broom to remind victory parade goers of the final tally (a 4-0 "sweep" of the
St. Louis Cardinals
). While with the Red Sox, Gutierrez was a .275 hitter (11-for-40) with 3 RBI in 21 games, including 6 runs, 1 double, 1
stolen base
, and a .310
on-base percentage
. The Red Sox were 14-7 in games in which Gutierrez appeared. Over an 11-season career, Gutierrez was a .268 hitter (967-for-3632) with 38
home runs
and 357 RBI in 1074 games, including 463 runs, 138 doubles, 25
triples
, 49 stolen bases, and a .338 on-base percentage.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Gutierrez's nephew,
James Jones
, played in the
National Basketball Association
, and currently serves as the general manager for the
Phoenix Suns
.
[5]
Gutierrez is currently the third base coach of the
Washington Nationals
.
[6]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
1988 MLB Draft, Rounds 1–10 – Pro Sports Transactions.
Retrieved April 28, 2020
- ^
Henneman, Jim. "Infielder Gutierrez goes to Padres, completing trade for Lefferts,"
The Baltimore Sun
, Saturday, September 5, 1992.
Retrieved April 28, 2020
- ^
"Orioles Trade for Lefty Lefferts, Give Padres Minor Leaguer, etc.,"
News & Record
(Greensboro, NC), Tuesday, September 1, 1992.
Retrieved April 28, 2020
- ^
"Ricky Gutierrez Stats - Baseball-Reference.com"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
.
- ^
"James Jones"
. hurricanesports.com. Archived from
the original
on June 22, 2016
. Retrieved
June 21,
2016
.
- ^
"Nats finalize staff with assistant hitting coach Johnson"
. masnsports.com. 10 November 2023
. Retrieved
November 10,
2023
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia
? Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English.
ISBN
1-4027-4771-3
- Career statistics and player information from
Baseball Reference
- 2004 Gamelogs
|
---|
- 1965: S. McDonald
- 1966: Parks
- 1967:
Grich
- 1968:
Kennedy
- 1969:
Hood
- 1970: West
- 1971:
Stein
- 1972: Thomas
- 1973:
Parrott
- 1974:
Dauer
- 1975:
Ford
- 1976:
D. Williams
- 1977:
Hazewood
- 1978: Boyce
- 1979:
None
- 1980: J. Williams
- 1981:
None
- 1982: Kucharski
- 1983: Wilson
- 1984:
Hoover
- 1985:
None
- 1986:
None
- 1987: Myers, DuVall,
Harnisch
- 1988:
Olson
,
Gutierrez
- 1989:
B. McDonald
- 1990:
Mussina
- 1991:
M. Smith
- 1992:
Hammonds
- 1993:
Powell
- 1994:
None
- 1995: Shepherd
- 1996:
None
- 1997:
Werth
,
D. McDonald
,
Ndungidi
- 1998: Elder, Tucker
- 1999: Paradis, Stahl,
Bigbie
,
Reed
, Cenate,
Rice
,
Roberts
- 2000: Hale, Johnson
- 2001: C. Smith,
Fontenot
, Bass
- 2002:
Loewen
- 2003:
Markakis
- 2004:
Townsend
- 2005:
Snyder
,
Olson
- 2006: Rowell,
Beato
- 2007:
Wieters
- 2008:
Matusz
- 2009:
Hobgood
- 2010:
Machado
- 2011:
Bundy
- 2012:
Gausman
- 2013:
Harvey
- 2014:
None
- 2015:
Stewart
,
Mountcastle
- 2016:
Sedlock
- 2017:
Hall
- 2018:
Rodriguez
- 2019:
Rutschman
- 2020:
Kjerstad
- 2021:
Cowser
- 2022:
Holliday
- 2023:
Bradfield
|
|
---|
Active roster
| |
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Inactive roster
| |
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Injured list
| |
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Coaching staff
| |
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