Franklin Crisostomo Taveras Fabian (born December 24, 1949), is a former Major League

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 who ...

from to for 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 ...

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 ...

and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Taveras signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent January 8, , and made his major league debut on September 25, as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

for Willie Stargell in the fifteenth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

of an extra inning marathon with the New York Mets (won 2-1 by the Mets in the bottom of the 15th). After only four appearances, mostly as a late inning defensive replacement in , and spending the entire season in the minors, Taveras made the Pirates for good in . On August 5, , he hit an inside-the-park grand slam in the second inning of the second game of a doubleheader at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Taveras led the National League in

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

in 1977 with 70, and followed that up with leading the NL in times caught stealing with 25 in 1978. In an unfortunate set of circumstances, he was not given a World Series ring in 1971 after the Pirates won because he was not listed on any post-season roster. He also didn't receive a World Series ring when the Pirates won in 1979 because he was traded just weeks into the season to the

New York Mets

Eleven games into the season, Taveras was traded to the New York Mets for Tim Foli and minor leaguer Greg Field on April 19. During his first season with the Mets, he hit his only career

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 ...

that actually went over the wall against

Mike LaCoss Michael James LaCoss (born May 30, 1956), is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Baseball career Minor Leagues LaCoss was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of the 1974 amateur draft. Cincinnati Reds LaCoss made ...

. Coincidentally, it too was in

. Taveras managed to play in 164 regular season games that year.

Montreal Expos

The Mets traded Taveras to the Montreal Expos for

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 draw ...

Steve Ratzer prior to the start of the season. With

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Taveras made his Major League debut as a second baseman. He was released on August 13 after compiling only a .161 batting average in 48 games.

References

External links