Octavio Augie Ojeda (born December 20, 1974) is an American 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 ...

infielder. He played 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 the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Amateur career

A native of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Ojeda attended

Cypress College Cypress College is a public community college in Cypress, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associ ...

and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. In 1994, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Bro ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Professional career

Baltimore Orioles

Ojeda was drafted in the 13th round of the 1996 MLB Draft by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, but he did not play for the Orioles organization until 1997 due to his participation in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He shot through the Orioles system in 1997, playing for the Single-A

Frederick Keys The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team masc ...

, Double-A Bowie Baysox and Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. In total, he had a .344

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 ...

and also showed good plate discipline with 57 walks compared to only 39

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. In 1998, Ojeda played mostly for Double-A Bowie and his batting average slumped to .264, though he again showed good plate discipline, with 39 walks and 31 strikeouts. In 1999, he played 134 games for Bowie and 1 game for Rochester. He batted .267 and had a career-high 10 home runs and 60

RBIs 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 bat ...

. On December 14, 1999 he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Richard Negrette.

Chicago Cubs

Ojeda batted .280 in 113 games for Triple-A Iowa Cubs in 2000. He spent most of June in the majors, making his major league debut on June 4 and was also called up after rosters expanded in September, overall in the majors, Ojeda batted .221. He spent all of the 2001 season in the majors, where he only batted .201 in 144

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. He began 2002 in the majors, but was sent down in June after only batting .186. He again found success in Triple-A, batting .299 and again walking more than he struck out. In 2003, Ojeda batted .251 in Triple-A and spent August and September with Chicago. On November 24, 2003, he was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins.

Minnesota Twins

The Twins released Ojeda on December 21, but re-signed him two days later. He spent the next two seasons with the Twins organization. In Triple-A in 2004, he batted just .245, but hit .339 in the majors from August to the end of the season. 2005 was the first time in five seasons he did not appear in the majors; he struggled in Triple-A with a .224 batting average. He became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after the season.

Chicago Cubs

On January 3, 2006, Ojeda signed with the Cubs again. He was the starting

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 ...

for Iowa, but he hit just .248. He made his first pitching appearance in 2006, pitching 1 inning, giving up 1

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

and 1 walk, but not allowing a run. He was granted free agency at the end of the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On February 5, 2007, he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks and was a non-roster invitee for Spring Training, but started the season with Triple-A Tucson for his first season in Arizona's organization. Ojeda hit .323 with Tucson to earn a major league call up in June, where he spent the rest of the season. He batted .274 in the majors and also pitched 1 inning. On August 14, D-Backs starter

Byung-hyun Kim Byung-hyun Kim (; or ; born January 19, 1979) is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher. He had his most successful years with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox. Kim is remembered for his role in the 2001 World Ser ...

got only 1 out with 17 pitches, and gave up 4 runs. With the bullpen weary, Ojeda had to make an emergency appearance on the mound. He pitched a perfect 8th inning becoming only the 3rd D-Backs position player to ever pitch in a game. Ojeda batted .286 in 21 postseason at-bats for the D-Backs in the

NLDS In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

and NLCS, as the Rockies beat them in the NLCS. He started 2008 on the major league squad as a utility infielder.

Return to the Cubs

On January 27, 2011, Ojeda signed with the Cubs once again this time as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training. He played 18 games for the Iowa Cubs, but after hitting just .200, he was released on July 9.

Personal life

He currently resides in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojeda, Augie Living people 1974 births Major League Baseball infielders American baseball players of Mexican descent Frederick Keys players Bowie Baysox players Rochester Red Wings players Gulf Coast Orioles players Iowa Cubs players Chicago Cubs players Minnesota Twins players Tucson Sidewinders players Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball players from California Cypress Chargers baseball players Tennessee Volunteers baseball players Brewster Whitecaps players Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in baseball 2009 World Baseball Classic players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics