Iván Calderón Pérez (March 19, 1962 – December 27, 2003) was a Puerto Rican
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professiona ...
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 cat ...
. He played 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 (A ...
(MLB) for four teams from 1984 to 1993, and was named an
All-Star 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. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...
as an undrafted
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 i ...
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 No ...
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 B ...
, a
farm team
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
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 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 ...
and one run batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the bat ...
(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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
, 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 (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 ...
, 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
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
'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 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 o ...
.[ 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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
in exchange for major-league pitcher Mike Gardiner
Michael James Gardiner (born October 19, 1965) is a Canadians, Canadian former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Montreal Expos, and Detroit Tigers. He was a switch hitter and threw right-handed.
...
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. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by t ...
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, divi ...
.[
]
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 Loiza, Puerto Rico. , 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.[
]
See also
* List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico currently has the fourth-most active players in Major League Baseball (MLB) among Latin American jurisdictions, behind the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba. More than three hundred players from the archipelago have played in t ...
* List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of u ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon, Ivan
1962 births
2003 deaths
People 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
2003 murders in Puerto Rico
Deaths by firearm in Puerto Rico
Male murder victims
Puerto Rican murder victims
People murdered in Puerto Rico
Unsolved murders in the United States