Francisco Cabrera Hernandez (born October 10, 1966) is a 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 (AL), ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who played five seasons with 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 ...

and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, from to . He also played in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

with the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

in and the now defunct

China Times Eagles The China Times Eagles () is a defunct professional baseball team belonging to the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) that existed between 1993 and 1997. History Originally formed as an amateur club Black Eagles in 1990, this club was pu ...

of the CPBL in 1997. Cabrera started his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, playing three games with them before being traded to the Braves for

Jim Acker James Justin Acker (born September 24, 1958) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from to . He played college baseball at the University of Texas. Acker was drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Braves in the 1980 Major Leagu ...

in the middle of the 1989 season. Cabrera was a reserve for most of his career and had his best season in in which he played sixty-three games and had 137 at-bats, getting 38 hits, with seven

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 ...

Career highlights

August 21, 1991

Cabrera is credited with hitting the home run that marked the turning point in the history of the

. On Wednesday, August 21, 1991, the Braves played the Reds and entered the ninth inning trailing, 9–6. Reds ace reliever

Rob Dibble Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ...

was on the mound with two outs. Cabrera had started the game to give Braves starter Greg Olson a much-needed rest. With two outs,

David Justice David Christopher Justice (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball who played for the Atlanta Braves (1989–1996), Cleveland Indians (1997–2000), New York Yanke ...

doubled, and Brian Hunter walked to bring Cabrera to the plate with the tying run. He responded with a three-run homer off Dibble to tie the game, which the Braves eventually won in 13 innings. The game kept them 2.5 games behind the Dodgers in a race they eventually won by one game. The Braves went 29–12 after Cabrera's home run and eventually reached 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 ...

before losing to the

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

in seven games.

1992 National League Championship Series

Cabrera is best known for his two out game-winning pinch hit off

Stan Belinda Stanley Peter Belinda (born August 6, 1966) is a former Major League Baseball player. A right-handed relief pitcher who also batted right-handed, Belinda is tall and weighs 187 pounds. He pitched from a three-quarters arm slot (sometimes categor ...

in the 9th inning of the 7th and deciding game of the

1992 National League Championship Series The 1992 National League Championship Series was played between the Atlanta Braves (98–64) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (96–66) from October 6 to 14. A rematch of the 1991 NLCS, Atlanta won the 1992 NLCS in seven games to advance to their seco ...

that put the

Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

into the

. Cabrera hit a line drive over shortstop

Jay Bell Jay Stuart Bell (born December 11, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop and former manager of the Rocket City Trash Pandas of the Southern League. He played for the Cleveland Indians (1986–88), Pittsburgh Pirates (1989� ...

on a 2–1 pitch to left field that scored

and a slow footed

Sid Bream Sidney Eugene Bream (born August 3, 1960) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. From 1983 through 1994, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1983–85), Pittsburgh Pirates (1985–90), Atlanta ...

, who barely beat a left-field throw from

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

to win the pennant for the Braves. Amazingly, before this pinch hit, Cabrera had batted only ten times during the 1992 season. This marked the end of the three-year divisional championship run of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, who after the 1992 season lost Bonds,

Doug Drabek Douglas Dean Drabek (born July 25, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Pitching Coach for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, ...

, and other key players from those championship teams. The Pirates did not have another winning season until 2013.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrera, Francisco 1966 births Living people Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs players Atlanta Braves players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States London Monarchs baseball players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Orix BlueWave players Richmond Braves players Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks players Toronto Blue Jays players Acereros de Monclova players China Times Eagles players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Dunedin Blue Jays players Knoxville Blue Jays players Myrtle Beach Blue Jays players Olmecas de Tabasco players St. Catharines Blue Jays players Syracuse Chiefs players Ventura County Gulls players