Gabriel de Jesus Alvarez (born March 6, 1974) is a Mexican
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...
coach and 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), ...
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
for the
Detroit Tigers (1998–2000) and the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...
(2000).
Playing career
A 6'1, 205 lb right-hander, Alvarez played college baseball at USC from 1993 to 1995 for head coach
Mike Gillespie. In 1993 and 1994, he played
collegiate summer baseball with the
Chatham A's
The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League.
Alvarez was selected by the Padres in the second round of the
1995 MLB Draft
First round selections
The following are the first round picks in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft.
''*'' Did not sign
Background
Outfielder Darin Erstad of the University of Nebraska was the first pick in the 1995 Rule 4 Draft. Erstad ...
. While playing in the minor leagues for the
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 1995, he turned an unassisted triple play as a second baseman. He caught a line drive over second base, stepped on the bag to get one runner and tagged the other one coming into second from first. He told the reporter covering the game that exactly the same thing had happened to him the previous year at USC, but he threw to first instead of tagging the runner to complete the triple play. He said a teammate had pointed out that he had missed a chance at an unassisted triple play, and he had promised himself if it ever happened again, he would do it differently.
Alvarez was taken by the
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 ...
as the fifth pick in the
1997 MLB expansion draft, but was traded by the Diamondbacks with Matt Drews and
Joe Randa
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
to the Tigers for
Travis Fryman
David Travis Fryman (born March 25, 1969) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman shortstop, and a hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians farm system. He also managed the Mahoning Valley Scrappers from 2008 to 2010 and in ...
. Alvarez made his major league debut for the Tigers on June 22, 1998, going 1–4. On July 17, 2000, he was traded by the Tigers to the Padres for
Dusty Allen
Dustin R. Allen (born August 9, 1972) is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) player who primarily played first base in 2000. He played for the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres.
Early life
Allen was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He atten ...
.
He finished his major league career with 59 hits, a .222
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 ...
, 29 runs, and an .877 fielding percentage.
Coaching career
In 2010, Alvarez became the assistant baseball coach at the University of Southern California (USC).
References
External links
1974 births
Baseball players from Sonora
Birmingham Barons players
Chatham Anglers players
Chattanooga Lookouts players
Detroit Tigers players
Huntsville Stars players
Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players
Living people
Major League Baseball players from Mexico
Major League Baseball third basemen
Memphis Chicks players
Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States
Mobile BayBears players
People from Navojoa
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players
San Diego Padres players
USC Trojans baseball coaches
USC Trojans baseball players
Toledo Mud Hens players
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