Juan De Dios Encarnación (born March 8, 1976) is a Dominican 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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played 11 seasons 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) from 1997 to 2007 for the

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, and

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. Encarnación suffered a career-ending injury after getting hit in the eye by a foul ball on August 31, 2007.

Career

Encarnación was signed by the

as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in , at age 17, and made his Major League debut in at age 21 for the Tigers. He was the fourth youngest player in the AL that year. He had two career best 19-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pl ...

s in 2000 with

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. Encarnación played for the Tigers until , when he was traded and had his best season as a Cincinnati Red and Florida Marlin, hitting a career-high 24 home runs and driving in 85 runs. In 2003, he set two more career highs with 94 RBI and a team-leading 37 doubles on the way to a World Series ring after winning the

2003 World Series The 2003 World Series (also known as the Centennial World Series) was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2003 Major League Baseball season, 2003 season. The 99th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-s ...

with Florida. He was then traded to the

in December of that year. He was traded back to Florida midway through the season along with

Paul Lo Duca Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player and television personality. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers (–), Florida Marlins (2004–, ), New York Met ...

and Guillermo Mota for Brad Penny, Bill Murphy, and Hee-seop Choi after hitting a disappointing .235 in 86 games. Encarnación bounced back with a solid year in , batting .287 with 16 homers and 76 runs batted in. He was also on the roster for the Dominican team in the inaugural

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...

. Encarnación signed a three-year contract with

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on December 23, , worth $15 million.

2006 season

Encarnación finished the 2006 season, his first with the Cardinals, batting .278 with 19

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 and 79 RBI for the Cards, with six steals. He led the Cardinals in games played (153) and at bats (557), was third in

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 ...

(74), second in

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 ...

(155), fourth in doubles (25), tied for first with Aaron Miles in

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 ...

(5), tied for fourth with Jim Edmonds in

s (19), third in RBI (79), third in total bases (247), tied for eighth with

Chris Duncan Christopher Edwin Duncan (May 5, 1981 – September 6, 2019) was an American professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2005 through 2009. He was the younges ...

in walks (30), third in

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 ...

s (86), sixth in steals (6), second in caught stealing (5), 11th in on-base percentage (.317), sixth in slugging average (.443), and seventh in batting average (.278). He also had 265 putouts, four assists, and six errors in 275 total chances, for a .978 fielding percentage. In the playoffs, he was 8-for-44 (.182) with two triples and five RBI. He hit an RBI triple in Game 4 of the NLDS which turned out to be the game-winner, as the Cardinals went on to beat the

Padres {{About, the Roman Catholic priests' organization, other uses, Padres (disambiguation) ''Padres Asociados para Derechos Religiosos, Educativos, y Sociales'' ( Spanish for "Priests Associated for Religious, Education, and Social Rights") is a Chica ...

, 6–4, winning the series. However, he struggled the rest of the postseason and sat the final three games of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

, in which the Cardinals defeated the

4–1. Encarnación confused many fans when he, without explanation, did not appear at the Cardinals' World Series victory parade. It is rumored that he was upset over not playing in Game 5 of the World Series. This marked the second time he has won a World Series but skipped the victory parade with the winning team; he also skipped the 2003

World Series victory parade.

2007 season

The season marked Encarnación's tenth in the major leagues and his second with the Cardinals. Before the season, he had surgery on his left wrist and was not ready for opening day. He started the year on the 15-day disabled list. Encarnación rehabbed first in Florida at extended

Spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

, homering twice in three games. He did not appear in any games during regular Spring training. Next, he had a rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Springfield. He batted just .155 (9-for-58) with 4 doubles and 4

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 ...

during the assignment. He returned to the Cardinals on

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

, May 13, playing right field vs.

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, going 0-for-3. From May 30 to June 18, Encarnación had an 18-game

, just one short of his career-high of 19, which he set in 2000. He lost some playing time after the emergence of pitcher-turned outfielder

Rick Ankiel Richard Alexander Ankiel (; born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and pitcher. He spent most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals, but also played for the Kansas City Roya ...

Eye injury

On August 31, Encarnación was struck in the face by a foul ball hit by teammate Aaron Miles while he was in the on-deck circle. Encarnación suffered multiple fractures to his left eye socket and an injury to his left eye and missed the remainder of the 2007 season. On January 16, 2008 it was reported that he would miss the entire 2008 season, and the future of his career was in serious jeopardy. On May 2, 2008, during a web chat hosted by MLB and the St. Louis Cardinals for fans to talk with the team's new

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, John Mozeliak, a question was asked regarding the possibility of Encarnación returning to the team. Mozeliak stated, "I'm sorry to say that he will not. His injury will likely result in his career ending."

Life after baseball

In July 2009, a Dominican news organization reported that Encarnación was organizing a run to become a senator in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, representing his home province of

San Juan de la Maguana San Juan de la Maguana is a city and municipality in the western region of the Dominican Republic and capital of the San Juan Province (Dominican Republic), San Juan province. It was one of the first cities established on the island; founded in 15 ...

. The ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

'' later reported that the reports were unsubstantiated and without merit, and Encarnación had instead been working heavily on his charity, th
Juan Encarnación Foundation
On February 7, 2011, Encarnación inaugurated the National Campaign Headquarters in San Juan de la Maguana of his independent Political Movement, M-12 in support of the PRD Party's Presidential Candidate, Miguel Vargas Maldonado. Encarnación was also the leader of the National Sports Committee for Miguel Vargas' Presidential Project as part of the National Board of Director of Independent Movements with Vargas. In August 2021, the attorney general of

Distrito Nacional The Distrito Nacional (; D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional wa ...

in the Dominican Republic confirmed that Encarnación was being held at the Palace of Justice, due to a complaint that had been filed against him in May, alleging that he had sexually assaulted his daughter, a minor. The next day, it was announced that Encarnación would be charged, and, in the meantime, held without bail.

Records

*In 2003, he was one of just three

s without an

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

, along with

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

's Geoff Jenkins and

' Orlando Palmeiro. He was also the first Marlins

to post a 1.000

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 ...

in their history. *His stint of 227 errorless games in the outfield was the second-longest streak in baseball behind the Mets'

Joe McEwing Joseph Earl McEwing (born October 19, 1972) is an American professional baseball coach and former utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, and Houston Astros, and co ...

(228). *He hit two grand slams in April 2005 (including one off

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time Ma ...

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

), and became just the 16th player in history to record grand slams in their first two homers of the season. Encarnación only had one grand slam in his career prior to that.Juan Encarnación: Biography and Career Highlights , stlcardinals.com: Players
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Encarnacion, Juan 1976 births Living people Bristol Tigers players Cincinnati Reds players Detroit Tigers players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Fayetteville Generals players Florida Marlins players Jacksonville Suns players Lakeland Tigers players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Springfield Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals players Toledo Mud Hens players World Baseball Classic players of the Dominican Republic 2006 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players from San Juan Province (Dominican Republic)