Who am I? Name that Cardinal

The young 2012 baseball season has seen some great things thus far.  There have been two no hitters thrown.  I think those alone are some of the most impressive feats that occur on the major league level.  To prevent a professional baseball team from getting a hit for nine innings is amazing.  There have been some equally impressive accomplishments from the offensive side of the house as well.  Over the past two weeks Carlos Beltran has knocked in seven in one game and six in another.  His 13 RBI’s in two games is more than some players have on the season.  One of those players with less than that, I find quite entertaining!

There is also the gorilla sized batting phenom Josh Hamilton and what he accomplished.  Hamilton’s four home run game is something that has only been done sixteen times in the history of the game.  His four homeruns resulted in eight RBI’s.  St. Louis Cardinal Fans can hang their hat on one of those famous 16, Hard Hittin’ Mark Whiten.  Whiten secured his place in baseball history on September 7, 1993 against the Reds.  Whiten also tied the all time single game RBI record with 12.  In addition to that he had a RBI in the other game of that double header, giving him a one day total of 13 RBI’s which is also tied for the most in a double header.

The players that have hit four homers in a game is a club that hosts members such as Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays and Mike Schmidt.  You would expect names like that.  You might not think of members in this elite category as Shawn Green, Rocky Colavito and Mike Cameron.  It has been as long as a decade in between these monster games.

One would be remiss not to mention the five home run day that Stan Musial produced on May 2, 1954 against the New York Giants.  His numbers were put over the span of a double header.  At the end of the day, with eight at bats,  The Man had five homeruns, one single, two walks, nine RBI’s and a total of twenty one bases.  I am not sure we will ever see a day like that again.

It is just amazing to see a player rise to the level of superiority on any given day in the game of baseball.  It is even more amazing when a player rises to a plateau that no other player in history has ever reached.  There are those believe it or not times in the game when the Baseball Gods have aligned everything just right and given a player the chance to do something that has never been done.  The Cardinal faithful can hang their hat on one of these events as well.  That event and that player bring me to this week’s “Who am I? Name that Cardinal” column.  This player has accomplished something that had never been done and the probability of it happening again is slim to say the least.  Here are the clues:

I was born January 1, 1975 in San Pedro de Macoris, San Pedro de Macoris, DR

I was signed by the Texas Rangers as an amateur free agent 1992

I made my major league debut on July 26, 1997

On July 31, 1998 I was traded by the Texas Rangers with a player to be named later and Darren Oliver to the St. Louis Cardinals for Royce Clayton and Todd Stottlemyre. The Texas Rangers sent Mark Little (August 9, 1998) to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the trade.

I played third base for the Cardinals

I had a career best year in 1999. I hit 34 home runs with 107 RBI and 21 stolen bases while posting a .298 batting average.

The accomplishment that concreted my place in baseball history took place on April 23, 1999, I made history by hitting two grand slams in a single inning; the only player to do so in the history of the MLB. I hit both against Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With this feat, I also set a Major-League record with eight RBI in a single inning.

Who am I?  Click here for the answer.

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