Fernando Tatís | |||
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Tatis with the New York Mets
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Third baseman | |||
Born: San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic |
January 1, 1975 |||
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MLB debut | |||
July 26, 1997, for the Texas Rangers | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
July 4, 2010, for the New York Mets | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .265 | ||
Home runs | 113 | ||
Runs batted in | 448 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Fernando Tatís, Jr. (born January 1, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball third baseman. Over his 11-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles, and the New York Mets. Tatis holds the Major League record for RBIs in an inning, a feat that he achieved by hitting two grand slam home runs in one inning during a game on April 23, 1999, becoming the only player in Major League history to do so.
At 17 years old, Tatís was signed as an amateur free agent by Omar Minaya and the Texas Rangers on August 25, 1992. He played his first game in Major League Baseball with the Rangers, at third base, almost five years later on July 26, 1997, and went on to play 60 games with the Rangers in his rookie season. At the trade deadline on July 31, 1998, the Rangers traded Tatís along with Darren Oliver and Mark Little to the St. Louis Cardinals for Royce Clayton and Todd Stottlemyre.
Tatís had the best season of his career in 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit 34 home runs with 107 RBIs and 21 stolen bases, with a .298 batting average. On April 23, 1999, Tatís made baseball history when he hit two grand slams in one inning. As of 2016, he is still the only batter to accomplish this. Tatís hit both of his grand slams against the pitcher Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With his home run feat, Tatís also set a Major League record with eight runs batted in during a single inning.