Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Player Profile: Tony Batista

I have 35 cards of Tony Batista. This one is from 2001 Fleer Showcase.

Playing career: Third baseman Tony Batista played eleven seasons in the major leagues for six teams, hitting 221 career home runs. A two-time all-star with six consecutive seasons of 20+ home runs, his best season was 2000, when he hit .263 with 41 HR and 114 RBI for Toronto.

Interesting stories: There is a great video of Batista from the 2005 season, which he spent in Japan. He gets hit by a pitch and fakes charging the mound for two steps before jogging to first. The Japanese pitcher is completely fooled and starts running to second base to avoid the big scary Dominican.

My memories: I remember him having the most extreme open batting stance in baseball. It almost looked as if he was standing with both feet pointed to the pitcher.

Where he is now: Anyone know where Tony Batista is now?

Google Autocomplete results: He is first when you type Tony Bat, ahead of Tony Bates, EVP, Business Development at Microsoft. Another prominent Tony Batista is the owner of CDC Computers in Winnipeg.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Kevin Batiste.

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