Juan Carlos Díaz (born February 19, 1974) is a Cuban 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 ...

player. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed. He spent part of the 2002 season 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) with 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 ...

as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

Biography

Díaz was a veteran of 14 minor-league seasons. He started his baseball career in 1997 with 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 ...

organization, playing for them two years before joining the Boston (2000–2002),

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

(2003),

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

(2004), and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

systems. In 2007, he played for the independent

Joliet JackHammers The Joliet JackHammers were a professional baseball team based in Joliet, Illinois, in the United States. The JackHammers were a member of the Northern League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From 2002 to 2010, the JackHamme ...

of the Northern League. He split 2008 between the JackHammers and the

Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (English: Two Laredos Owls), formerly known as the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo (English: Nuevo Laredo Owls), are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The Tecolotes are a binational baseball team, spli ...

of the

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 ...

. In four major-league games with the Red Sox, Díaz posted a .286

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 ...

(2-for-7) with two RBIs and two

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

. He also had one

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

, for a .375

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 ...

. His two hits consisted of a

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 ( ...

and a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, yielding an .857

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 ...

. His only home run came on June 23, when he hit a two-run shot off Dodgers

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, ...

Andy Ashby Andrew Jason Ashby (born July 11, 1967) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, and Los Angeles Dod ...

in a 9–6 loss,Boxesetc 2002 Red Sox vs. Dodgers box score from Retrosheet
/ref> in what turned out to be the final at-bat of Diaz's major-league career. From 1997 through 2008, Díaz made 936 minor league appearances, hitting for a .301 average (999-for-3209) with 230 home runs and 719 RBIs. Diaz played the 2010 baseball season for the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a professional minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of ...

in the Northern League. On January 27, 2011, it was announced that he was released by Winnipeg. Two months later, Díaz retired from baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Juan 1974 births Living people People from San José de las Lajas Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball designated hitters Boston Red Sox players Savannah Sand Gnats players Vero Beach Dodgers players San Jose Missions players Sarasota Red Sox players Pawtucket Red Sox players Trenton Thunder players Bowie Baysox players Rochester Red Wings players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players Joliet JackHammers players Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players Winnipeg Goldeyes players Major League Baseball players from Cuba 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico Estrellas Orientales players Cuban expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada Águilas de Mexicali players Águilas del Zulia players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela

Biography

See also

References

External links