Dioner Navarro

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Dioner Navarro bigraphy, stories - Baseball player

Dioner Navarro : biography

February 9, 1984 –

Dioner Favian Navarro Vivas (born February 9, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the Chicago Cubs.

Personal life

Navarro was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and married his wife, Sherley, at age 18; they have a son, Dioner Jr. (born 2005), and she has a son, Gerson, from a previous relationship. They have lived in the Tampa Bay Area during offseasons since he was drafted and first signed by the Yankees, and currently live in Riverview, Florida.

On September 27, 2003, their first wedding anniversary, Sherley suffered a cerebral aneurysm in Tampa. Doctors gave her less than a 5% chance of surviving surgery, and said it was likely she would die on September 30. She survived, and made a full recovery. Navarro has worn the #30 in her honor ever since.http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/30/news_pf/Rays/From_near_tragedy__an.shtml

On July 5, 2006, days after his acquisition by the Devil Rays, Navarro’s SUV was clipped by another vehicle, causing his SUV to roll over. He and his family escaped serious injury, but the other vehicle fled the scene.

His son, Dioner Jr., was born with multicystic dysplastic kidney. He needed to have one of his kidneys removed in September 2006, and further surgery in 2007.

His mother, who still resides in Venezuela, suffered a cerebral aneurysm in early February 2008. Navarro left the Rays’ pre-spring training workouts to be with her and returned when her condition stabilized.

Navarro is an animal lover who has five pets: Lilo (a French bulldog), Crystal (English bulldog), a chameleon called Jeffrey, and two birds that do not have names.http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=425900

Career

New York Yankees

In 2000, Navarro was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent. In 2003, with the Double-A Trenton Thunder, he hit .341 in 58 games and was selected as the Yankees minor league player of the year and was the top-ranked prospect in the Yankees organization heading into 2004.

Navarro made his Major League debut with the Yankees on September 7, 2004, playing against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays,Chuck, Bill. , The Boston Globe. Published April 2, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2009. and played in seven games, batting .429 (3-for-7) with one RBIs and two runs scored.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Before the 2005 season, Navarro was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks with Javier Vázquez and Brad Halsey for Randy Johnson. That same day, the Diamondbacks traded Navarro, Beltrán Pérez, Danny Muegge and William Juarez to the Dodgers for Shawn Green.

In 2006, both Navarro and Russell Martin were invited to spring training to compete for the starting catcher. Both played well, but at the end of the spring Navarro was named the Dodgers’ catcher, and Martin was sent to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. However, while Martin thrived in Las Vegas, Navarro played only adequately in Los Angeles, and showed signs of inexperience. On May 5, 2006, Martin was called up to the Dodgers after a wrist injury landed Navarro on the disabled list. Martin played well after the injury to Navarro, and kept the job as catcher, as Navarro was demoted to the minor leagues.

Tampa Bay Rays

Dioner Navarro at bat in a [[spring training at Progress Energy Park ]] On June 26, 2006, Navarro was traded along with pitcher Jae Seo and outfielder Justin Ruggiano to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for catcher Toby Hall and pitcher Mark Hendrickson. Navarro made his debut as a Ray on June 28, 2006, against the Florida Marlins going hitless with two walks.

In 2007 he batted only .227 and tied for the lead of all major league catchers in errors, with 14.

Navarro was much improved in 2008, after working on his hitting and his strength in the Venezuelan Winter League with Tiburones de La Guaira, leading his team with a .295 batting average and guiding his pitchers to the third-lowest ERA in the majors (3.60) as of July 10.Pedro Zayas, "," ESPN.com, 10 July 2008 On July 6, it was announced that Navarro was selected to be on the American League squad for the 2008 MLB All-Star Game.