| César Izturis | |
|---|---|
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| Baltimore Orioles — No. 3 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born:
February 10, 1980 Barquisimeto, Venezuela |
|
| Bats: Switch | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| June 23, 2001 for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
|
Career statistics (through 2009) |
|
| Batting average | .259 |
| Hits | 921 |
| Home runs | 14 |
| Runs batted in | 261 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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César David Izturis (pronounced /ɪsˈtʊərɪs/) (born February 10, 1980, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela) is a shortstop in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles. He is the half-brother of shortstop Maicer Izturis, who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Julio Izturis, who plays in the minor leagues in the San Francisco Giants organization.
Izturis' greatest strengths are spectacular defense and solid contact hitting. He is a switch hitter with good speed, but very little power.
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Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent in 1996, Izturis made his debut with Toronto in 2001 and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the season.
Coming from a long tradition of Venezuelan shortstops, which includes Chico Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillén, Omar Vizquel, Álex González and Carlos Guillén, Izturis has the defensive skills to rank in such distinguished company. After showing some hitting potential with a .269 average in his rookie season with Toronto, the Dodgers were enthusiastic to trade for him.
Izturis was designated as the everyday starting shortstop from Opening Day of the 2002 season, and he quickly established himself in the Dodgers' infield. But he showed no patience at the plate, resulting in a decline in average and very few walks. After two years of barely adequate hitting (though compensated by his stellar glovework), he improved markedly in 2004, when he hit .288 with 62 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 159 games. At the end of the season, he earned his first Gold Glove.
In 2005, Izturis started playing as well as any shortstop in the Major Leagues, hitting .348 through June 1 and leading the entire Majors in hits, was selected for the National League All-Star team, but dipped all the way down into the .250 range. Curiously, his defense also seemed to suffer. After two trips to the disabled list, Izturis underwent Tommy John surgery in his right elbow, and returned in mid-June, 2006.
With the uncertainty around Izturis, the Dodgers acquired shortstop Rafael Furcal in the off-season. That move seemed to have put Izturis' future with the Dodgers in doubt. With a $13 million dollar annual salary, Furcal did not seem a likely candidate to be benched.
At the 2006 trade deadline, Izturis was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Greg Maddux and cash considerations.
On July 19, 2007, Izturis and cash were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later.
On November 16, 2007, the Pirates declined an option on Izturis, and he became a free agent. Shortly thereafter on November 30, 2007, Izturis signed a one-year, $2.85 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.[1]
On December 16, 2008, Izturis signed a two-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles[2] He gives stability at shortstop a position the orioles used 6 players at last year after they traded Miguel Tejada.
In 2009 he led all major league starting shortstops in range factor, at 4.89.[3]
Izturis resides in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in the offseason with his wife Liliana and their two children; his son Daniel (born 11-11-1999) and daughter Daniella (born 7-17-2006)[4].
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