Israel Crisóstomo "Izzy" Alcántara (born May 6, 1971) 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), ...
player for 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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
.
Minor leagues
Alcántara was signed as an amateur
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...
by the
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 ...
in 1990. In the minor leagues, Alcantara was very successful, with at least 27 home runs and an
OPS
In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea.
Iconography
In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...
of .940 or higher in each of his seasons from 1997 to 2001. He led the
International League
The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
in home runs twice, with 36 in 2001 and 27 in 2002. His
OPS
In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea.
Iconography
In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...
of 1.023 in 2000 was the best in the International League. In all his minor league years he batted .283 with 239 home runs and 988 runs batted in.
Boston Red Sox
Alcántara's minor league success did not carry over to the little time he spent in the Major Leagues, as he played parts of two seasons for 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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
, debuting in the major leagues on June 25, 2000. That season, he
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...
.289 with four
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 in 45
at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s. Despite some success at the plate, Alcántara quickly found himself deep on the Red Sox bench after irking Boston manager
Jimy Williams
James Francis Williams (born October 4, 1943) is an American former professional baseball infielder, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born in Santa Maria, California, and briefly appeared in two MLB seasons as a seco ...
by a perceived lack of hustle during a game against 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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
. For a time, Williams refused to play Alcántara despite general manager
Dan Duquette
Dan Duquette (born May 26, 1958) is an American baseball executive. He is the former general manager of the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. He is also the founder of the Dan Duquette Sports Academy ...
's insistence the outfielder be put in the lineup of a team that suffered from low power numbers. In , Alcántara's average declined to .263 with no home runs in 38 at bats in Boston although he continued to smash AAA pitching.
Alcántara is remembered for an incident while he was playing with the
Pawtucket Red Sox
The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...
, Boston's AAA affiliate of the
International League
The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
. On July 3, 2001, after being brushed back a second time by
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the ...
pitcher Blas Cedeño, Alcántara turned around, kicking catcher Jeremy Salazar,
karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
-style, in the mask before charging the mound, throwing an unsuccessful punch at Cedeño before turning around as other players joined the fight until he was tackled by
Kevin Orie
Kevin Leonard Orie (born September 1, 1972) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He is an alumnus of Indiana University, where he was a standout for the Hoosiers baseball team.
Career Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs selected ...
. The incident cost Alcántara a six-game suspension and his spot on the
International League
The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
's All Star squad.
Milwaukee Brewers
Before the season, he was signed as a free agent by the
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
, where he hit .250 with 2 home runs in 32 at bats. His final Major League game was on August 22, 2002 and he was released by the team after that season.
Later career
2003
Alcántara then played in 2003 with the
Mexican League
The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country.
The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...
team
Vaqueros Laguna
The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...
but after agreeing a release with his Mexican team, he moved to the
Korean league after he played 61 games with 14 home runs and a .341 batting average. He signed a US$100,000 contract with
LG Twins
LG Corporation (or LG Group) (), formerly Lucky-Goldstar from 1983 to 1995 (Korean: ''Leokki Geumseong''; ), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is ...
including a US$30,000 signing bonus.
2004
He came back to Vaqueros Laguna for the 2004 season, but this time Vaqueros arranged a high
buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...
to his contract in order to have him the whole season. On 24 March 2004 he tied a Mexican league record after hitting 8 home runs in six games, tying the previous record set by the Mexican
Héctor Espino
Héctor "El Niño" Espino (6 June 1939 – 7 September 1997) was a Mexican professional outfielder, first baseman and manager. He has been called "The Mexican Babe Ruth". Born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Espino he played from 1960 through 1984 in b ...
in 1969. He was selected to play the Mexican home run derby where he made it to the final round losing to the American Morgan Burkhart 7-8. He finished the season leading the Mexican league in home runs with 27. After the Mexican league imposed a
salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
starting in the 2004 season, that Alcántara refused to accept, his was then suspended.
He returned to the Korean baseball for the 2004 season with
Doosan Bears
The Doosan Bears ( ko, 두산 베어스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and ...
.
Playing the Korean playoff against the Kia Tigers and winning 2-0 but losing to Samsung Lions 1–3 and winning the league third place.
2005
He played for
Uni-President Lions
The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...
of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
's
Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...
in , where he was nicknamed "
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
". He hit 15 home-runs in 44 games, with a batting average of .330,
but was released for reasons never fully explained by the management. He later played with the Mexican team
Rojos del Águila de Veracruz, posting a .281 with five home runs and 15 RBI in just 27 games.
He then joined
Rojos del Águila de Veracruz in July in the late part for the league playoffs fight but his team was disqualified by Tigres de la Angelópolis.
Alcántara also played four games for the
New Jersey Jackals
The New Jersey Jackals are an American professional baseball team based in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The team was founded in 1998 by Floyd Hall and is owned by Al Dorso, a businessman who also owns the Sussex County Miners, Sky ...
of the independent
Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball
The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization of ...
,
homering on 10 August before being released on 15 August.
2007
Alcántara contributed with the Colombian team
Caimanes de Barranquilla
The Caimanes de Barranquilla are a baseball team in the Colombian Professional Baseball League. They have participated in the league since the 1984–1985 season, playing in the 12,000-capacity Estadio Édgar Rentería in Barranquilla. The Cai ...
2007–08 league championship, when he hit a home run in the 10th inning of the fourth game of the best-of-7 series that his team swept.
Winter league
Alcantara played for the Dominican team
Tigres del Licey
Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is one of two LIDOM franchises based in ...
from 1994–95 to the 2004–05 season, winning the
2004 Caribbean Series
The forty-sixth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was held from February 1 through February 6 of with the champion baseball teams of the Dominican Republic, Tigres del Licey; Mexico, Tomateros de Culiacán; Puerto Rico, Leone ...
and the All-Star team selection. He led the
Dominican Professional Baseball League
Dominican may refer to:
* Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean
** People of the Dominican Republic
** Demographics of the Dom ...
in home runs in the 1999-00 season with six, and had 10 HR with 34 RBI and the 2002–03 when he hit 9 HR and had produced 21 RBI. He was released by Licey after hitting .171 with only 4 homers, but surpassing Alonzo Perry with 47 home runs with the Licey uniform
and played with
Leones del Escogido
Leones del Escogido (English: ''Chosen One Lions'' or ''Lions of Chosen One'' or ''Picked Lions'') is a professional baseball team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Established in , Leones are the third most successful team in the Dominican Wi ...
in the 2005–06 and finally with
Estrellas Orientales
Estrellas Orientales (English: Eastern Stars), also known as Estrellas de Oriente, is a baseball team in the Dominican Winter League. Based in San Pedro de Macorís, the team has historically struggled, winning championships only in 1936, 1954, 196 ...
and later for
Gigantes del Cibao
The Gigantes del Cibao (English: Cibao giants) are a baseball team that plays in the Dominican Winter League. The team was founded in 1996 as ''Gigantes del Noroeste ''then with a change of ownership the name was changed several times, being cal ...
for the 2006-07 season, retiring in fourth place with 52 HR in the Dominican league. He acted as assistant coach for Tigres del Licey in the 2009–10 season.
Since 2015, Alcantara acted as assistant coach for Leones del Escogido and
became a Christian.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcantara, Izzy
1971 births
Living people
Acereros de Monclova players
Boston Red Sox players
Burlington Bees players
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in South Korea
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Taiwan
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States
Doosan Bears players
Dominican Republic Protestants
Gigantes del Cibao players
Gulf Coast Expos players
Harrisburg Senators players
Indianapolis Indians players
Leones de Yucatán players
LG Twins players
Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic
Major League Baseball right fielders
Mexican League baseball first basemen
Mexican League baseball outfielders
Milwaukee Brewers players
New Jersey Jackals players
Orlando Rays players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Baní
Reading Phillies players
Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players
St. Petersburg Devil Rays players
Trenton Thunder players
Uni-President Lions players
Vaqueros Laguna players
West Palm Beach Expos players