David Cárdenas Cortés (born October 15, 1973) is a Mexican former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

(),

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 , the team ...

(), and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

(–). Cortés was a member of the

Mexicali, Mexico Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area i ...

, team who were the runners-up of the

1985 Little League World Series The 1985 Little League World Series took place between August 20 and August 24 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The National Little League of Seoul, South Korea, defeated the Mexicali Little League of Mexicali, Mexico, in the championship gam ...

. As a teenager, he left his family to attend high school and play baseball in

El Centro, California El Centro ( Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the most populous city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core ...

. He was undrafted out of high school and next played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Imperial Valley College Imperial Valley College is a Public college, public Community colleges in the United States, community college in Imperial County, California. It was founded in 1962 and enrolls around 7,000 students per year. The main campus is located on a si ...

where he did not attract any attention from scouts. His grades were too poor for a four-year school and, after finishing junior college at 19, took a job at a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

for $4.75 per hour () while pitching for an amateur team in

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

. Three years later, in 1996, with a three-month-old daughter at home, he was convinced to attend a

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

tryout in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The Reds did not sign Cortés on the grounds that he was too short at but he was referred to an amateur team in San Diego, which he could afford to join only after being given $20 in gas money. Playing in San Diego, he impressed a Braves scout who was monitoring

Marcus Giles Marcus William Giles (born May 18, 1978) is an American former Major League Baseball player. He was a second baseman and batted right-handed. His older brother, Brian Giles, was an outfielder who also played in the Major Leagues. Marcus and Brian ...

; he received a signing bonus of $2,500 from the Braves. On December 8, 2006, Cortés signed with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, but before pitching for the Giants, he was loaned to the Triple-A

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

where in he made the midseason All-Star team. Cortés signed with the

Lotte Giants The Lotte Giants () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Busan. They are a member of the KBO League. The Lotte Giants are owned by Lotte Corporation. From 1982 through 1985, they played at Gudeok Baseball ...

of the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League () and KBO Futures League ( (F ...

in August and served as their closer until the end of the season.

References

External links

David Cortés
at Baseball Almanac 1973 births 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players Living people Major League Baseball players from Mexico 20th-century Mexican sportsmen Mexican expatriate baseball players in South Korea Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Atlanta Braves players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Rockies players Major League Baseball pitchers Lotte Giants players Eugene Emeralds players Macon Braves players Durham Bulls players Greenville Braves players Richmond Braves players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Tucson Sidewinders players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Toledo Mud Hens players Baseball players from Mexicali Junior college baseball players in the United States World Baseball Classic players of Mexico {{mexico-baseball-pitcher-stub