Iván Calderón Pérez (March 19, 1962 – December 27, 2003) was a Puerto Rican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

. He played in

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(MLB) for four teams from 1984 to 1993, and was named an

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in 1991. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed. Nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible", Calderón was killed in a shooting in Puerto Rico in December 2003.

Professional career

Calderón was signed by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

on July 30, 1979. He began his

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

career in 1980 with the

Bellingham Mariners The Bellingham Mariners were a Minor League Baseball team in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, based in Bellingham, Washington. The club served as the Seattle Mariners' short-season affiliate from 1977 to 1994. History Major League Ba ...

, a

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of the Mariners. Calderón reached the Triple-A level in 1984.

Seattle Mariners

Calderón made his major league debut on August 10, 1984. In 11 games with the Mariners that season, he batted .208 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and one

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI). Calderón went on to appear in 67 games with Seattle in 1985, and 37 games in 1986. Overall in parts of three seasons with the Mariners, he batted .263 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs in 115 games.

Chicago White Sox

Midway through the 1986 season, Calderón was sent to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, being the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

in an earlier trade that had sent catcher Scott Bradley to the Mariners. Calderón was a regular starter for Chicago in three seasons (1987, 1989, and 1990) with at least 144 appearances in each of those seasons. He hit a career-high 28 home runs in 1987 and a career-high 87 RBIs in 1989.

Montreal Expos

After the 1990 season, Calderón was acquired by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

, in a multi-player deal that sent

Tim Raines Timothy Raines Sr. (born September 16, 1959), nicknamed "Rock",Raines received this nickname at an Expo rookie camp when he was seventeen, based on his physique. is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played as a left ...

to the White Sox. The Expos raised Calderón's salary to over $2 million a season, and he earned a spot on the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

's roster for the 1991 MLB All-Star Game. He batted 1-for-2 in the All-Star Game, and had a

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions 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 out ...

. Calderón batted a career-high .300 during the 1991 season. Injuries during 1992 limited him to 48 games with Montreal that year. Overall in two seasons with the Expos, Calderón batted .291 with 22 home runs and 99 RBIs in 182 games.

Boston Red Sox

After the 1992 season, Calderón was traded to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in exchange for major-league pitcher Mike Gardiner and minor-league pitcher Terry Powers. In 73 games with the 1993 Red Sox, Calderón batted .221 with one home run and 19 RBIs. Boston released Calderón on August 17, 1993.

Chicago White Sox (second stint)

Calderón returned to the White Sox, who signed him on August 31, 1993. In nine games late in the 1993 season, his final professional appearances, he batted .115 (3-for-26) with three RBIs. During parts of six seasons with the White Sox (1986–1990 and 1993), Calderón batted .273 with 70 home runs and 284 RBIs in 554 games.

Career totals

Calderón was a career .272 hitter with 104 home runs and 444 RBIs in 924 major-league games. Defensively, he was primarily an outfielder (755 games), split nearly evenly between right field (382 games) and left field (377 games), with 11 appearances as a center fielder. He also made 32 appearances as a first baseman, and was the

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

in 105 games. As an outfielder, he had a .976

fielding average In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

Death

On December 27, 2003, Calderón was shot multiple times in the head and back, at point-blank range, with a .45 calibre weapon while at a bar in

Loíza, Puerto Rico Loíza () is a town and municipality on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico, located east of Carolina, west of Río Grande, and north of Canóvanas. An outer municipality within the San Juan metropolitan area, it is spread over 5 barrios an ...

. , his murder remained unsolved. At the time of his death, Calderón and his wife had two children; he also had five other children from other relationships. He was buried at Cementerio Municipal del Pueblo de Loíza in

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon, Ivan 1962 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Fajardo, Puerto Rico Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada National League All-Stars Boston Red Sox players Chicago White Sox players Montreal Expos players Seattle Mariners players Bellingham Mariners players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players Chattanooga Lookouts players Salt Lake City Gulls players Wausau Timbers players West Palm Beach Expos players 2000s murders in Puerto Rico 2003 crimes in Puerto Rico 2003 murders in North America Deaths by firearm in Puerto Rico Puerto Rican murder victims People murdered in Puerto Rico Unsolved murders in the United States