George Alberto Arias (born March 12, 1972) is a former
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
player 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), ...
and
Nippon Professional Baseball
or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''.
Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
.
Career
Arias was drafted by the
California Angels in the seventh round of the
1993 Major League Baseball draft
The 1993 Major League Baseball draft began with first round selections on June 3, 1993. Alex Rodriguez was selected first overall by the Seattle Mariners. Other notable draftees included Chris Carpenter, Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Scott Rol ...
after graduating from the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
. He made his major league debut in , and played 84 games,
hitting .238 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 ...
s and 28
RBI. He went back and forth between the majors and minor leagues after that, and was traded to 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 ...
during the season. He played with the Padres until , before joining 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 Japan.
Arias became the regular
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 ...
in his first year with the BlueWave, and was the team's best power hitter, hitting 38 home runs in . He was a slow but solid fielder, and had a strong arm. Arias was a very streaky hitter, and had a very low
batting average with runners in scoring position. He signed with the
Hanshin Tigers
The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...
in , and hit 38 home runs with 107 RBI in , contributing to the Tigers' league championship. He also won a Golden Glove award at
first base, and the Best Nine award that year. He left the Tigers after , and signed a minor league deal with the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
in , but was cut at the start of the season. He played in the Mexican League for the rest of the year.
Arias was signed by the
Yomiuri Giants
The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...
in June , and made his debut with the Giants in July as an
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...
. He was unable to repeat his previous success, and was demoted to the minors after playing 17 games. He hit only .167 his last year, and was cut at the end of 2006.
In 639 games in NPB, Arias hit .259 with 169 home runs and 436 RBI.
See also
*
1993 College Baseball All-America Team
External links
ESPN Article on Arias
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arias, George
1972 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American expatriate baseball players in Japan
American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Anaheim Angels players
Arizona Wildcats baseball players
Baseball players from Tucson, Arizona
California Angels players
Cedar Rapids Kernels players
Hanshin Tigers players
Lake Elsinore Storm players
Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players
Major League Baseball third basemen
Mexican League baseball first basemen
Mexican League baseball left fielders
Mexican League baseball third basemen
Midland Angels players
Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen
Nippon Professional Baseball third basemen
Orix BlueWave players
Pima Aztecs baseball players
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players
San Diego Padres players
Vancouver Canadians players
Yomiuri Giants players