Willy Taveras

Willy Taveras
Taveras with the Cincinnati Reds
Pericos de Puebla – No. 60
Center fielder
Born: (1981-12-25) December 25, 1981 (age 35) Tenares, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 6, 2004, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics (through 2010 Season)
Batting average	.274
Home runs	8
Runs batted in	128
Stolen bases	195
Teams
Houston Astros (2004–2006) Colorado Rockies (2007–2008) Cincinnati Reds (2009) Washington Nationals (2010)
Career highlights and awards
NL stolen base leader (2008)

Willy Taveras (born December 25, 1981) is a Dominican professional baseball player for the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican Baseball League. A center fielder, Taveras has played in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Nationals

Taveras played in 10 games at the end of the 2004 Astros season, mostly as a pinch runner.

In 2005, he led the majors in infield hits (71), bunt hits (31), and singles (152), and was tops among rookies in runs (82), hits (172), and stolen bases (34; 6th in the NL). He hit .291. Taveras was the Astros' starting center fielder during his rookie season (2005), replacing Carlos Beltrán, who signed with the New York Mets in the offseason. In Game 4 of the 2005 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, he made a catch while running up Tal's Hill in Minute Maid Park's deep center field to end the 8th inning and preserve a 2-1 lead. He scored the winning run as a pinch-runner the inning before on a short sacrifice fly to center field.

After the season, Taveras was voted National League Rookie of the Year by the players (Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies won the actual Rookie of the Year Award).