Enrico Aliceno Washington (born May 30, 1978) is an 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. 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), ...

(MLB) for 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 ...

and in the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL) for the

Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

. He graduated from

Jones County High School The Jones County High School, now known as the W.E. Knox Civic Center is a public high school in Gray, Georgia, United States. It was also formerly known as Gray High School, and was built in 1936 as a Public Works Administration project, to be a ...

in 1996.

Career

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 ...

selected Washington in the 10th round of the

1997 Major League Baseball Draft The 1997 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1997. A total of 1607 players were drafted over the course of 92 rounds. First round selections ...

out of Jones County High School. Washington played six seasons in the Pirates organization, but was unable to make the team. In 2002, he was left off the Pirates' big-league roster and thus was available for selection in baseball's Rule 5 draft, where he was taken by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. Washington played in the Padres' system in 2003 and 2004, advancing to Triple-A, but did not make the big-league club and in 2004 was granted

free agency 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 ...

. He then signed with the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

and played in their farm system in 2005, then was released by Tampa Bay and signed by the Cardinals, where he spent 2006 and 2007 in the minors. In 2008, just shy of his 30th birthday, after ten years and 3,980

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s in the minor leagues, Washington finally made the majors when the Cardinals selected him to be on their big-league roster as a backup

. He was optioned to Triple-A Memphis on April 21, 2009.Transactions - April
/ref> Washington signed with the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League before the start of the 2009 season. At the start of the 2010 season, Washington signed with the

Kansas City T-Bones The Kansas City Monarchs are a professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Kansas. Formerly known as the Kansas City T-Bones, they are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball; which, in 2020, became designated as a Majo ...

of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

, and re-signed with them for 2011. Washington played for the

Gary SouthShore RailCats The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a professional baseball team based in Gary, Indiana, in the United States. The RailCats are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. The Rai ...

of the American Association in 2012.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Rico 1978 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Major League Baseball infielders St. Louis Cardinals players Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions players Gulf Coast Pirates players Erie SeaWolves players Augusta GreenJackets players Hickory Crawdads players Lynchburg Hillcats players Altoona Curve players Portland Beavers players Mobile BayBears players Montgomery Biscuits players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players Gulf Coast Cardinals players Kansas City T-Bones players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Gary SouthShore RailCats players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Career

See also

References

External links