Iván Alvarez DeJesús (born January 9, 1953) is a
Puerto Rican 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 ...
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 ...
and
coach, 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
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
,
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 ...
,
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
,
St. Louis Cardinals,
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
,
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 ...
, and
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
, for 15 seasons (–).
Career
DeJesús is noteworthy for being involved in two trades that played significantly in the fortunes of the teams involved. In 1976, he was traded along with
Bill Buckner from the Dodgers to the Cubs for
Rick Monday. In 1981, he was traded from the Cubs to the Phillies for
Ryne Sandberg
Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach (baseball), coach, and manager (baseball), manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second bas ...
and
Larry Bowa.
In 1977, he had 595 assists, the 5th highest total ever for a shortstop. In 1978 he scored the most runs in the NL, with 104. In 1981 he finished with a .194 batting average, zero home runs, and 13 RBIs garnering the unofficial anti-triple crown for having the lowest number among qualified batters in average, RBI and home runs.
In 1371 games over 15 seasons, DeJesús posted a .254
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 ...
(1167-for-4602) with 595
runs, 21
home runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...
, 324
RBI, 194
stolen bases and 466
bases on balls. Defensively, he recorded a .963
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...
.
Since retiring as a player, DeJesús has been
coaching and
managing in the
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
s – with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 1990–91,
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 ...
in 1992, and as a coach with the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...
organization starting in 1994. Since 2001 DeJesús has been a manager with various Astros minor league teams, and received the 2003 Player Development Man of the Year award.
On January 13, 2010, DeJesús was named the
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 ...
first-base coach. Previously he worked as a special assistant to Cubs manager
Lou Piniella
Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals a ...
. On August 23, 2010, DeJesús was named the Cubs third-base coach after
Mike Quade was named the interim manager of the team. On December 16, 2011, he was not renewed as third base coach for 2012.
In 2012, DeJesús returned to manage the
Legends minor league team in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
which he had managed in 2004. His son,
Iván DeJesús Jr., played for the
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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
.
In popular culture
DeJesús is mentioned in the
Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper song "Where the Hell's My Money", in which Skid takes out his
washboard, "winds up like Iván DeJesús" and hits a thieving club owner in the face with it. (Mojo pronounces the ballplayer's name the way it is spelled: "EYE-vun duh-JEE-zuss".)
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
*
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
In baseball, completing hitting for the cycle, the cycle is the accomplishment of hit (baseball), hitting a single (baseball), single, a double (baseball), double, a triple (baseball), triple, and a home run in the same game. In terms of freque ...
External links
Iván De Jesúsat SABR (Baseball BioProject)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dejesus, Ivan
1953 births
Living people
Albuquerque Dukes players
Bakersfield Dodgers players
Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players
Chicago Cubs players
Columbus Clippers players
Daytona Beach Dodgers players
Detroit Tigers players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
Louisville Redbirds players
Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente infielders
Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
Major League Baseball shortstops
Minor league baseball managers
New York Yankees players
Baseball players from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Philadelphia Phillies players
Phoenix Firebirds players
San Francisco Giants players
St. Louis Cardinals players
St. Petersburg Pelicans players
Toledo Mud Hens players
Vermont Reds players