Happy Birthday Omar Vizquel

Omar Vizquel turns 54 today. My sister turned 54 yesterday.

Omar owns 11 Gold Gloves. His first came as a member of the Seattle Mariners in 1993. To put it into perspective, the Mariners played in the Kingdome back then. Does anyone remember the Kingdome? That was one ugly building. Vizquel’s first hit was on April 6, 1989. Omar spent five years with the Mariners. In 1993, the Mariners traded him to the Cleveland for Felix Fermin, Reggie Jefferson, and some money. He spent 11 years with Cleveland, making it to the playoffs six times. After that, he went to the Giants for four seasons and has played for the Rangers and White Sox before joining the Blue Jays. He played his last season for us, giving us veteran presents and a .235/.265/.281 batting line in 60 games.

In a 24 year MLB career, Vizquel had 2877 hits, 456 doubles, 404 stolen bases, with a .272/.336/.352 slash line.He received 49.1% of the Writer’s vote in Hall of Fame balloting last year, his fourth time on the ballot. Whether he can pick up the extra 26%, he needs to make the Hall is anyone’s guess.

Happy Birthday, Omar, I hope it is a good one.