Félix José Fermín Minaya (born October 9, 1963) is a Dominican former professional baseball

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

who 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 ...

(MLB) 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

(–),

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 ...

(–),

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

(–) and

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

().

Playing career

On August 22, 1989, Fermin tied an 87-year-old MLB record with four

sacrifice hit In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, a ...

s in one game against the

. Along with Reggie Jefferson and cash, Fermín was traded by the

to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for

Omar Vizquel Omar Enrique Vizquel González (; born April 24, 1967), nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. During his 24-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indi ...

before the 1994 season. Fermín was a regular starter in 1995 when the Mariners won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

's Western Division. He led the AL in sacrifice hits (32) in 1989; he also led the AL in most

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 upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s per

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

(34.3) in 1993. In 1996, Fermin was very nearly traded to the Yankees for

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and " ...

. In a 10-season career, Fermín played in 903 games and had 2,767 at-bats, 294 runs, 718

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, 86 doubles, 11

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 4

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 207

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, 27

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, 166 walks, a .259

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, a .305

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

, a .303

slugging average In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, a ...

, 838

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hit (baseball), hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single (baseball), single, 2 for a double (baseball), double, 3 for a triple (baseball), triple and 4 ...

. Fermín is the current manager for

Águilas Cibaeñas The Águilas Cibaeñas (; ''Cibaoan Eagles'') is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Republic's Professional Baseball League (LIDOM), based in Santiago in the northern region of Cibao. Founded in , the team has won six Caribbean Series ...

of the

Dominican Winter League The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League ( or LIDOM) is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played ...

. Since , he led the team to five championships until he was removed from the job in 2009. He was then hired to be the manager for the

Gigantes del Cibao The Gigantes del Cibao (English language, English: Cibao Giants) are a baseball team that plays in the Dominican Winter League. The team was founded in 1996 as ''Gigantes del Noroeste ''then with a change of ownership the name was changed severa ...

until the Aguilas Cibaeñas hired him back in 2011. As a player, his nickname was "El Gato", for

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan (film producer), Pat Sullivan during the silent film era. An anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, ...

and his quick reflexes and defense too.

Managerial career

On June 19, 2023, Fermín was named the manager of the

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2 ...

at the

2023 Central American and Caribbean Games The 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish language, Spanish: Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos y del Caribe San Salvador 2023), also known as the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games and commonly known as San Salvador 2023, wa ...

, held in

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. The Dominican Republic finished fourth, good enough to qualify for the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fermin, Felix 1963 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Caribbean Series managers Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Columbus Clippers players Delfines del Carmen managers Dominican Republic baseball coaches Dominican Republic expatriate baseball people in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Republic national baseball team people Generales de Durango managers Gulf Coast Pirates players Hawaii Islanders players Harrisburg Senators players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball shortstops Minor league baseball managers Nashua Pirates players People from Santa Cruz de Mao Sportspeople from Valverde Province Pittsburgh Pirates players Prince William Pirates players Rieleros de Aguascalientes managers Seattle Mariners players Sultanes de Monterrey managers Tacoma Rainiers players Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos managers Watertown Pirates players