Richard Louis Amaral (born April 1, 1962) is a former utility player 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), ...

who played with 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 team ...

(-), and

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(-). He batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. He has been a scout with the Orioles since the middle of the 2018 season. Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1983, Amaral was claimed by 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 ...

in the 1988 Rule 5 Draft. After becoming a

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 is a ...

after the 1990 season, he signed with the Seattle Mariners and made his major league debut on May 27, 1991. Amaral played with the Mariners through 1998, and signed as a free agent with the

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

on December 21, 1998. Released by the Orioles on July 28,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, he signed with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

on August 25, 2000. Amaral played seven games for their Triple-A affiliate, the Richmond Braves and became a free agent after the season. In his 10-year career, Amaral was a .276 hitter with 493 career hits. He was a college standout at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

earning nod as second baseman on the college All-American team. After being drafted in the second round by the Chicago Cubs, he spent his next nine years in Minor league baseball, and it appeared that he might be a career minor leaguer. After hitting .346 at Triple-A Calgary in 1991 ( PCL batting champion) and .318 in 1992, Amaral got his chance to become a full-time Major League player at age 31 under new manager

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

. A versatile player, Amaral played at least forty games in the majors at every position except

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 ca ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Amaral was a baserunning guest instructor for the Mariners in spring training of as part of Mariners

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

John McLaren's offseason emphasis on baserunning. Amaral's son Beau played outfield for the

team that went all the way to the 2010 College World Series Championship games. Beau was named to the All Tournament Team. Beau was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and in 2014 played with High Class-A affiliate in the California League, the Bakersfield Blaze.

References

External links

Rich Amaral
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaral, Rich Living people 1962 births Baseball players from Visalia, California Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Seattle Mariners players Baltimore Orioles players Kansas City Royals scouts Richmond Braves players Calgary Cannons players Pittsfield Cubs players Quad Cities Cubs players Geneva Cubs players Birmingham Barons players Vancouver Canadians players American expatriate baseball players in Canada UCLA Bruins baseball players Mat-Su Miners players