Stan Javier

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Stan Javier bigraphy, stories - Dominican Republic baseball player

Stan Javier : biography

January 9, 1964 –

Stanley Julián Antonio (Negrin) Javier [hah-ve-ERR] (born January 9, 1964 in San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is the son of long time St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Julián Javier, and was named after his father’s teammate and close friend, Stan Musial.

A switch-hitter with good production from both sides of the plate, he also had a strong arm with the ability to play all three outfield positions exceptionally well.

Los Angeles Dodgers

With Kirk Gibson out due to surgery on his torn left hamstring, Javier was immediately inserted into the starting line-up in center field. Upon Gibson’s return, Javier settled into a pinch hitter and fourth outfielder role, and immediately became one of the hottest bats in the Dodgers’ line-up. Over the remainder of the season, Javier batted .316 with seventeen runs batted in. Most of those RBIs seemed to come in clutch situations, as they did against the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos and Philadelphia Phillies.

In Spring training , the Dodgers experimented with Javier at third base, but the idea was abandoned by the time the season started. His numbers fell off in 1991, as he batted just .205 with one home run and eleven RBIs, but he still had a knack for big hits. On September 29, his pinch hit single in the ninth inning ignited a come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Career stats

Games PA AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO Avg. OBP TB Fld%
1763 5755 5047 781 1358 225 40 57 503 246 578 839 .269 .345 1834 .987

Having made the post season six times in his career, Javier batted .253 in the post season, with eight RBIs. He finished tenth in the AL in stolen bases in 1994, with 24, and seventh in the AL in steals in 1995, with 36.

While playing Winter ball in the Dominican Professional Baseball League, Javier won two batting titles back to back years and was named the all-time center fielder for the Aguilas Cibaenas. His father was named the all time second baseman for the team. Javier was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2011.

He was named the general manager of the Dominican Republic national baseball team in the first World Baseball Classic in , and named again the general manager for the series. He currently works for the Major League Baseball Players Association.

See also

  • List of players from Dominican Republic in Major League Baseball
  • List of second generation MLB players

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros were decimated by injuries, but still holding on to a slim 1.5 game lead in the National League Central division when they acquired Javier from the Giants for pitching prospect Joe Messman just before the waiver deadline of August 31, . Inserted into the number two slot in manager Larry Dierker’s batting order, Javier batted .328, and scored twelve runs in just twenty games to help guide the Astros into the post season. After the season, he signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners.

Oakland A’s

Javier spent his first season in the Oakland Athletics’ organization with the Huntsville Stars, with whom he won the Southern League baseball championship. He made his Oakland A’s debut in May , and remained with the club as a fourth outfielder through the season in which the A’s captured the American League West crown. Javier batted .500 in his first post season, going two-for-four in both the 1988 American League Championship Series with the Boston Red Sox and World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In , Javier saw quite a bit of playing time in right field when Jose Canseco was kept out of the line-up for the first half of the season by an injured left wrist. Javier played well enough to keep his team within 1.5 games of the first place California Angels in their star slugger’s absence, and they stormed to their second straight division crown upon his return. Though Javier logged just two plate appearances in his second post season without getting a hit, Oakland’s sweep of the San Francisco Giants in the 1990 World Series made Javier and his father just the third father and son combo to each win a World Series (Julián won with the St. Louis Cardinals in & ).