Orlando Luis Merced Villanueva (born November 2, 1966) 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), ...

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 ...

and

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 all or parts of 13 seasons in the majors for the

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 ...

(1990–1996),

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 ...

(1997),

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

(1998),

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 ...

(1998),

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 ...

(1998),

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 ...

(1999), and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

(2001–2003). He also played one season for the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

(2000) in Japan. He is currently the hitting coach for the

Jamestown Jammers The Jamestown Jammers were a minor league baseball team based in Jamestown, New York from 1994 until 2014. The team was the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates and played in the New York–Penn League. The team playe ...

Career

Merced was signed as an amateur free agent out of high school at the age of 17 by the

in 1985. Six years later, he made his major league debut. He played for the Pirates for another six years, where he helped the Pirates win the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

Division in three consecutive seasons, from 1990 through 1992. He was part of the Astros' 2001 NL Central Division champions. He finished second in voting for 1991 National League Rookie of the Year, behind

Jeff Bagwell Jeffrey Robert Bagwell (born May 27, 1968) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Houston Astros. Originally a Boston Red Sox fourth- ...

. In thirteen seasons, he played in 1,391 games.

Personal life

Merced has four children, three brothers and three sisters.

External links

1966 births Living people Augusta Pirates players Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Gigantes de Carolina players Gulf Coast Pirates players Harrisburg Senators players Houston Astros players Indios de Mayagüez players Macon Pirates players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball right fielders Mexican League baseball managers Minnesota Twins players Montreal Expos players New Orleans Zephyrs players Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Orix BlueWave players Pittsburgh Pirates players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball people in Mexico Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Japan Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Salem Buccaneers players Toronto Blue Jays players Watertown Pirates players {{Baseball-first-baseman-stub