American Samoan baseball player
Baseball player
Tony Solaita
|
---|
|
First baseman
|
Born:
(
1947-01-15
)
January 15, 1947
Nu?uuli
,
American Samoa
|
Died:
February 10, 1990
(1990-02-10)
(aged 43)
Tafuna
, American Samoa
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|
|
MLB:
September 16, 1968, for the New York Yankees
|
NPB:
April 5, 1980, for the Nippon-Ham Fighters
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MLB:
September 30, 1979, for the Toronto Blue Jays
|
NPB:
October 20, 1983, for the Nippon-Ham Fighters
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|
Batting average
| .255
|
---|
Home runs
| 50
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 203
|
---|
|
Batting average
| .268
|
---|
Home runs
| 155
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 371
|
---|
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Tolia
"Tony"
Solaita
(January 15, 1947 ? February 10, 1990) was an American
first baseman
in
Major League Baseball
. He played for the
New York Yankees
,
Kansas City Royals
,
California Angels
,
Toronto Blue Jays
and
Montreal Expos
between 1968 and 1979. He also played four seasons in Japan for the
Nippon-Ham Fighters
from 1980 to 1983.
As of 2019, Solaita is still the only Major League Baseball player to have hailed from American Samoa.
[1]
Mike Fetters
,
Benny Agbayani
,
Chris Aguila
,
Matt Tuiasosopo
,
Wes Littleton
, and
Sean Manaea
are American-born major-leaguers of partial Samoan descent.
[2]
Solaita was a prolific
home run
hitter in the minor leagues, hitting 49 regular-season home runs in 1968 for High Point-Thomasville, but was mostly relegated to a backup or platoon position during his Major League playing days. He was selected by the
Royals
from the
Charleston Charlies
in the
Rule 5 draft
on December 3, 1973.
[3]
In 1975, while playing for the Royals, he hit 16 home runs in 231 at-bats, second to only
Dave Kingman
in home run to at-bat ratio.
After becoming a free agent following the 1979 season, Solaita opted for a four-year contract in the Japanese League, where he was
designated hitter
for the
Nippon-Ham Fighters
and averaged nearly 40 home runs a year. Solaita retired after the 1983 season. As of 2023, Solaita holds the Fighters' franchise single season home run record, hitting 45 in his first season with the club, 1980.
In 525 games over seven seasons, Solaita posted a .255
batting average
(336-for-1316) with 164
runs
, 50
home runs
, 203
RBI
and 214
bases on balls
. Defensively, he recorded a .993
fielding percentage
as a first baseman.
He was murdered in Tafuna, American Samoa on February 10, 1990. He was shot in a dispute over a land transaction.
[4]
References
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External links
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