Miguel Angel Montero Fernandez (born July 9, 1983) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n-American 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the 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 the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, and

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 ...

. Montero is a two-time

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

Professional career

Arizona Diamondbacks

The

signed Montero as an undrafted free agent in 2001 for a $13,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Since his arrival in the United States, Montero was coached by veteran manager and former catcher

Bill Plummer William Francis Plummer (born March 21, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and manager, and current hitting coach for the Redding Colt 45s. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher in 1968 and then from 1970 to 1978, ...

throughout his time with the Diamondbacks organization. Miguelmontero

Montero made his major league debut on September 6, 2006, against the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

. He went hitless in his first game, as

Aníbal Sánchez Aníbal Alejandro Sánchez Jr. (; born February 27, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the Florida Marlins and has also played for the Detroit ...

of the Marlins threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the Diamondbacks. Montero played in a total of six games that year, recording a .250 batting average. In 2007 and 2008, Montero platooned with

Chris Snyder Christopher Ryan Snyder (born February 12, 1981) is an American former professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Houston Astros and the Baltimore Oriol ...

at the catching position for the D-Backs and batted a .224 average with 10 home runs in 2007 and batting .255 with five home runs in 2008. Montero began the 2009 season slowly, hitting just three home runs and having just a .200 batting average through the first two months. However, when Snyder was put on the disabled list in June, Montero's playing time increased markedly and he finished the season with a career-high .294 batting average. Montero caught Edwin Jackson's

on June 25, 2010. He finished the season with a .266 batting average and nine home runs. In 2011, after hitting .272 with 10 home runs and 45 RBI, Montero was selected to his first All-Star Game. He also threw out 40% of baserunners trying to steal, a career high. Montero was named to his second All-Star game in July 2014, replacing the injured

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982), nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely considered one of the grea ...

for 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 ...

Chicago Cubs

Following the 2014 season, the Diamondbacks traded Montero to the

for minor leaguers Jeferson Mejia and

Zack Godley Zachary Thomas Godley (born April 21, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondba ...

. Before a hand injury in mid-July, Montero had appeared in 73 games for the Cubs with 217 at bats. He had 10 home runs and 32 runs-batted-in with a batting average of .230. On August 30, 2015, Montero caught

Jake Arrieta Jacob Joseph Arrieta (born March 6, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Diego Padres. Arrieta played college ...

's no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Miguel Montero on July 16, 2016

During Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS, Montero hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the 8th inning to break a 3–3 tie and led the Cubs to an 8–4 victory over the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

. It was the third pinch-hit grand slam in postseason history. Montero entered Game 7 of the

2016 World Series The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American Leag ...

in the bottom of the 9th inning as a defensive replacement for Cubs backup catcher David Ross. In the top of the 10th inning, having batted only .091 (1-for-11) in the postseason to that point, Montero hit a single to left field which drove in Cubs first baseman

Anthony Rizzo Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...

and improved the team's lead to 8–6. Since the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

only scored one run in the bottom of the 10th inning to make the score 8–7, Montero's RBI provided the game's decisive run and sealed the Cubs' victory. After the series, Montero expressed his disappointment in losing playing time to

Willson Contreras Willson Eduardo Contreras (born May 13, 1992) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs. Contreras made his MLB debut in 2016 ...

and David Ross. In a game on June 27, 2017, the

went seven-for-seven in

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 ...

s against Montero. After the game, he said that it was the fault of pitcher

, who took too long to deliver his pitches and failed to hold the runners at their bases. The next day, the Cubs designated Montero for assignment. Montero apologized to

Arrieta Arrieta (both in Basque and Spanish) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. Arrieta is part of the ''comarca'' of Mungialdea. It had a population of 552 inhabitants as of 2007, and a populati ...

after the incident. It was reported this was done because management felt he was a disruption in the clubhouse; Anthony Rizzo considered Montero's comments to the media unprofessional.

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 3, 2017, Montero was traded to the

for cash considerations or a player to be named later. He was placed on the disabled list with a groin strain on August 4. After a one-game rehab assignment with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen F ...

, Montero was activated on August 16.

Washington Nationals

On February 1, 2018, Montero signed a minor league contract with the

. He was added to the major-league roster on March 27, 2018. After Montero appeared in four games for Washington and went 0-for-11 at the plate, the Nationals designated him for assignment on April 11, 2018. He was released on April 14, 2018. On December 10, 2018, Montero announced his retirement.

International career

He was selected

Venezuela national baseball team The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Venezuela'') is the national team of Venezuela. It is currently ranked sixth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, directly behind the US and ahead ...

at the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

Personal life

Montero is married to Vanessa. Together, in 2017, the couple created the Miguel and Vanessa Montero Foundation, which aims to provide medical assistance to seriously ill children from Venezuela. On May 1, 2017, Montero and his wife both became United States citizens. Montero grew up in Venezuela, the youngest of three children. He credits his parents with encouraging him to stay positive and always try.

References

External links

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montero, Miguel 1983 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American sportspeople of Venezuelan descent Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Diamondbacks players Bravos de Margarita players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Caribes de Anzoátegui players Chicago Cubs players Lancaster JetHawks players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Missoula Osprey players National League All-Stars Navegantes del Magallanes players Pastora de los Llanos players People from Caracas Phoenix Desert Dogs players Reno Aces players South Bend Silver Hawks players Baseball players from Caracas Tennessee Smokies players Tucson Sidewinders players Toronto Blue Jays players Venezuelan emigrants to the United States Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Canada Washington Nationals players World Baseball Classic players of Venezuela 2013 World Baseball Classic players