Robert William Chouinard (born May 1, 1972) is a

Filipino-American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

former

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 (A ...

right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

. He is the only person born in the Philippines to play Major League Baseball. Chouinard played high school baseball at

Forest Grove High School Forest Grove High School is a public high school in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1907, it is the only high school in the Forest Grove School District. Academics The school has been awarded the Bronze Medal in the '' U.S. News ...

Forest Grove, Oregon Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850, then incorpor ...

. Drafted 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 ...

in the fifth round of the 1990 MLB amateur draft, Chouinard made his Major League Baseball debut with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

on May 26, 1996, and appeared in his final major league game on September 9, 2001, with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

. He was traded from the Orioles to the Athletics along with Allen Plaster on January 15, 1993, for

Harold Baines Harold Douglas Baines (born March 15, 1959) is an American former right fielder and designated hitter (DH) in Major League Baseball who played for five American League (AL) teams from 1980 to 2001, and is best known for his three stints with th ...

. Chouinard was arrested on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

in 1999 following an incident in which he held a loaded gun to his wife's head and made her beg for her life. In 2000, Chouinard pleaded guilty to

aggravated assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...

and was sentenced to four increments of three-month prison terms during baseball's offseasons. He was allowed 42 hours to work out at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The ...

and visit with his family every week. He was also ordered to make a $25,000 donation to a

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partn ...

charity and appear in ten

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

References

External links

1972 births American baseball players of Filipino descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada American people convicted of assault American sportspeople convicted of crimes Arizona Diamondbacks players Bridgeport Bluefish players Colorado Rockies players Edmonton Trappers players Filipino emigrants to the United States Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Philippines Milwaukee Brewers players Oakland Athletics players People from Forest Grove, Oregon Prisoners and detainees of Arizona Sportspeople from Manila {{Philippines-baseball-bio-stub