BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Robert Lazaro Andino (born April 25, 1984) is a Cuban-American professional baseball infielder in the Pittsburgh Piratesorganization. Prior to joining the Baltimore Orioles in 2009, he spent parts of four seasons with the Florida Marlins from 2005 through2008. He is of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent.
Baseball career
Florida Marlins
Andino was selected in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2002 MLB Draft by the hometown Florida Marlins out of Miami Southridge High School.[1][2]
He was promoted to the Marlins for the first time on September 2, 2005.[3] He made his major-league debut two days later on September 4 when he replaced Álex González at shortstop in the eighth inning of a 7–1 loss to the New York Mets at Dolphins Stadium. His only at bat was a groundout to shortstop José Reyes to end the game.[4] His first hit in the majors was a ground-rule double off Vicente Padilla in the fourth inning of a 10–2 defeat at home to the Philadelphia Phillies on September 17.[5]
The Marlins initially saw him as their "shortstop of the future." Other players, including Hanley Ramírez, knocked him out of that role.
On April 1, 2008, Andino hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning off New York Mets reliever Matt Wise for his first career home run.[6]
Baltimore Orioles
In an exchange of players out of options, Andino was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Hayden Penn on April 1, 2009.[7] He made his first appearance for the Orioles on April 9, 2009, pinch-hitting for César Izturis.
He made a barehanded catch of a Justin Morneau pop fly in foul territory during the sixth inning of a 6–1 win over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on August 24, 2011. He had slightly overran the ball while approaching the tarpaulin roll parked against the fence on the third-base side.[8]
During the last two weeks of the 2011 campaign, Andino made three clutch hits that helped prevent the Boston Red Sox from clinching theAmerican League Wild Card. The first was a two-out bases-clearing double down the right-field line off Jonathan Papelbon in the eighth inning of a 7–5 win at Fenway Park on September 20.[9] Six nights later on September 26, he became the first Oriole to achieve an inside-the-park home run at Camden Yards with a three-run shot off Josh Beckett in the sixth inning of a 6–3 triumph. With runners on second and third and two outs, he sent the ball to deep straightaway center field where it initially landed in Jacoby Ellsbury's glove. It was jarred loose when Ellsbury collided with the fence. Andino was able to score standing up when the relay throw skipped past Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.[10] The feat was witnessed by his father Robert Sr. who was attending a professional game involving his son for the first time.[11] Andino struck against Papelbon again with a two-out game-winning single to left field in the ninth inning of the regular-season-ending 4–3 victory at home on September 28.[12] His clutch performances were dubbed by the Boston sports media as "The Curse of the Andino," an obvious pun on the Curse of the Bambino.[13]
On September 7, 2012, Andino hit his career-high seventh home run of the season against New York Yankees pitcher Cody Eppley.
Seattle Mariner
On November 20, 2012, Andino was traded to the Seattle Mariners for Trayvon Robinson. On May 24, 2013, he was designated for assignment to make room for catcher Jesús Sucre. He was outrighted to the Tacoma Rainiers on May 27.[14]
Pittsburgh Pirates
On July 31, 2013, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later or cash.[15] He was assigned to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.
On January 7, 2014, the Pirates signed Andino to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.[16]
No comments:
Post a Comment