Alfredo Claudino Baptist Read Griffin
(born October 6, 1957) is a Dominican former
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
player. He played
shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) for four teams from 1976 to 1993.
Playing career
Griffin began his career as a member of the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...
, who signed him as an amateur free agent in 1973. On December 5, 1978, before having played a full season in the majors, he was traded, along with Phil Lansford (minors), to the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
for
Víctor Cruz. Griffin made an immediate impact, sharing the
American League Rookie of the Year Award
In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...
in 1979 with
John Castino
John Anthony Castino (born October 23, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball player. Castino played as an infielder, primarily at third base and second base, with the Minnesota Twins from 1979 through 1984.
Professional career
Castino graduat ...
.
In 1980, Griffin led the majors in triples, tying
Willie Wilson of the
Kansas City Royals with 15; both Griffin and Wilson set an AL record for most triples in a single season by a switch-hitter. Five years later in 1985, Wilson himself shattered the record that he shared with Griffin by tallying 21 triples.
In 1984, Griffin was named to the All-Star team. This was explained by
John Feinstein
John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator.
Early life
Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Ge ...
of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' as: "Making the All-Star team the hard way: Major league baseball pays the expenses for each player here and for one guest. In most cases, players bring wives or girlfriends.
Dámaso García
Dámaso Domingo García Sánchez (7 February 1957 – 15 April 2020) was a Dominican professional baseball second baseman, best known for his time spent with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB), in the 1980s.
García was orig ...
, the Toronto Blue Jays' second baseman, brought his shortstop, Alfredo Griffin. When the
Tigers
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
'
Alan Trammell hurt his arm and could not play tonight, Manager
Joe Altobelli
Joseph Salvatore Altobelli (May 26, 1932 – March 3, 2021) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played for the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball. He was also a manager for the San Fr ...
named Griffin to the team, partly because he's a fine player, but mostly because he was here."
Griffin spent six years with the Blue Jays from 1979 to 1984, playing in 392 consecutive games. He was traded after the 1984 season to the
Oakland Athletics, where, despite his reluctance to draw walks and a tendency to be overaggressive on the basepaths, he began to harness the offensive promise that he showed in 1980. Griffin won the American League
Gold Glove Award in 1985.
After establishing personal bests in most offensive categories with the Athletics, Griffin was traded to the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
for
Bob Welch prior to the 1988 season. The three-team trade, which included the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
, also netted the Dodgers
Jay Howell
Jay Canfield Howell (born November 26, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds (1980), Chicago Cubs (1981), New York Yankees (1982–1984), Oakland Athletics (1985–1987), Los Angeles Dodgers (1988–1992), ...
and
Jesse Orosco
Jesse Russell Orosco (born April 21, 1957) is a Mexican American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who holds the major league record for career pitching appearances, having pitched in 1,252 games. He pitched most notably for the New ...
. All three teams involved in the deal would go on to win their respective divisions in 1988. A
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden (born November 16, 1964), nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the N ...
fastball broke Griffin's hand in May 1988, and Griffin was disabled for much of 1988 and part of 1989. He missed most of the 1988 season, but the Dodgers won the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
, and he was awarded a championship ring.
In 1990, Griffin became the last player to finish last in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
, of those who qualified for the batting title, in
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
,
on-base percentage, and
slugging percentage.
Griffin returned to Toronto in 1992 and was a bench player as the Blue Jays won the first of two consecutive championships. On October 23, 1993, he stood on deck as
Joe Carter
Joseph Chris Carter (born March 7, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays ...
faced
Mitch Williams
Mitchell Steven Williams (born November 17, 1964), nicknamed "Wild Thing", is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1986 to 1997. He was also a studio analyst for the MLB Network from 2009 to ...
in the ninth inning of Game Six. His career came to an end moments later when Carter homered to win the World Series for Toronto.
Griffin was the first player in major league history to have started three times for the opposing line-ups in a
perfect game
Perfect game may refer to:
Sports
* Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners
* Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game
* Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...
: against
Len Barker
Leonard Harold Barker III (born July 7, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He pitched the tenth perfect game in baseball history. Barker pitched with the Texas Rangers (1976–78), Cleveland Indians (1979–83 ...
(Cleveland) in 1981 for the Toronto Blue Jays, then against
Tom Browning
Thomas Leo Browning (April 28, 1960 – December 19, 2022) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1984 to 1995, spending almost his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds. In his rookie season in 1985, B ...
(Cincinnati) in 1988 and
Dennis Martínez
José Dennis Martínez Ortiz (born May 14, 1955), nicknamed "El Presidente" (The President), is a Nicaraguan professional baseball pitcher. Martínez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos, Cleveland India ...
(Montreal) in 1991, both for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Griffin ended his 18-year playing career with a .249 batting average, 24
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s, 527
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...
, and a 67
OPS+ OPS may refer to:
Organizations
*Obscene Publications Squad, a former unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England
* Oceanic Preservation Society
*Office of Public Safety, a former US government agency
* Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg ...
in 1,962 games played. Writer
Bill James named Griffin the most aggressive baserunner of the 1980s.
[James, Bill (2001). ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract''. p. 299.]
Coaching career
Griffin coached for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1996 and 1997. He was the first base coach for the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...
in MLB from 2000 to 2018, and also for the
Estrellas Orientales
Estrellas Orientales (English: Eastern Stars), also known as Estrellas de Oriente, is a baseball team in the Dominican Winter League. Based in San Pedro de Macorís, the team has historically struggled, winning championships only in 1936, 1954, 19 ...
(Eastern Stars) in his native
Dominican Republic's Winter League.
See also
*
*
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
References
External links
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Alfredo
1957 births
Living people
American League All-Stars
Anaheim Angels coaches
Cleveland Indians players
Dominican Republic baseball coaches
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States
Dominican Republic national baseball team people
Dominican Republic people of Cocolo descent
Gold Glove Award winners
Gulf Coast Indians players
Los Angeles Angels coaches
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim coaches
Los Angeles Dodgers players
Major League Baseball first base coaches
Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic
Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
Major League Baseball shortstops
Oakland Athletics players
Portland Beavers players
Reno Silver Sox players
San Jose Bees players
Sportspeople from San Pedro de Macorís
Toledo Mud Hens players
Toronto Blue Jays coaches
Toronto Blue Jays players
Williamsport Tomahawks players