Michael Anthony Diaz (born April 15, 1960) is a 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 ...

player. He played all or part of four seasons 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), ...

between 1983 and 1988, for 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 located ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

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 ...

. He also played four seasons in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) from 1989 to 1992. After starting his career as a catcher, he split his time about equally between first base and the outfield. Following his major league career, he played four seasons in Japan, from 1989 until 1992, for the

Lotte Orions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

(who in 1992 became the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

). He was nicknamed "Rambo" there due to a perceived resemblance to

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

.Japan Baseball Daily foreign batters page, D through F
In 1990, he became the first foreign player to catch a game in NPB in 12 years.

References

External links

1960 births American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from California Chiba Lotte Marines players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Geneva Cubs players Gulf Coast Cubs players Hawaii Islanders players Iowa Cubs players Living people Lotte Orions players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Midland Cubs players Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Quad Cities Cubs players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1960s-stub