José Geraldo León Vega (born December 8, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. 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 (AL), ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

from – and has also played professionally in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Taiwan, and Venezuela. León was born in

Cayey, Puerto Rico Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Sa ...

. He was once a highly regarded power-hitting prospect, but he never lived up to his early potential. He was selected for the World team in the 2000

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. León made the Mexican League All-Star team in 2006

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.348 with 17

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 49 RBI. He made the All-Star team again in 2007 batting .300 with 14 home runs and 46 RBI. In 2008, he played in only 28 games batting .279. In 2018, León returned to the Cardinals organization as the hitting coach for the

Dominican Summer League Cardinals The Dominican Summer League Cardinals or DSL Cardinals are a rookie league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals based in the Dominican Republic. The team plays in the Boca Chica South division of the Dominican Summer League. History The team fi ...

, a rookie league affiliate based in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. León was the 2019 manager of the

State College Spikes The State College Spikes are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in State College, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on the campus of Pennsylvania State University. The ...

, the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

affiliate of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. He was to return to that position for the 2020 season. In 2021, León managed the

Palm Beach Cardinals The Palm Beach Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home games at Roge ...

, the Cardinals'

Low-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

affiliate and did not return the following season.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
1976 births Living people Arkansas Travelers players Atenienses de Manatí (baseball) players Baltimore Orioles players Bowie Baysox players Camden Riversharks players Guerreros de Oaxaca players Indianapolis Indians players Johnson City Cardinals players Leones de Ponce players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente infielders Lobos de Arecibo players Long Island Ducks players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball third basemen Mexican League baseball first basemen Mexican League baseball third basemen Navegantes del Magallanes players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New Jersey Cardinals players Olmecas de Tabasco players Ottawa Lynx players People from Cayey, Puerto Rico Peoria Chiefs players Pericos de Puebla players Piratas de Campeche players Prince William Cannons players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico Rochester Red Wings players Savannah Cardinals players Tigres de Quintana Roo players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Dmedia T-REX players Minor league baseball managers Macoto Cobras players {{PuertoRico-baseball-third-baseman-stub