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Julio Lugo
St. Louis Cardinals — No. 12
Second Base/Shortstop
Born: November 16, 1975 (1975-11-16) (age 34) Barahona, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 15, 2000 for the Houston Astros
Career statistics (through 2009)
Batting average	.271
Doubles	234
Home runs	80
Runs batted in	452
Stolen bases	193
OBP	.336
Teams
Houston Astros (2000-2003) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003-2006) Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) Boston Red Sox (2007-2009) St. Louis Cardinals (2009-present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2007)

Lugo batting for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006.

Lugo during his tenure with the Boston Red Sox in 2007.

Julio Cesar Lugo (born on November 16, 1975, in Barahona, Dominican Republic) is a major league shortstop who currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals. He bats and throws right-handed. Lugo is the older brother of baseball pitcher Ruddy Lugo.

Baseball career

He attended Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, New York, where he batted .350. He also played sandlot baseball for the Youth Service League in Brooklyn, New York whose alumni include Manny Ramírez and Shawon Dunston. Lugo starred at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma prior to being drafted by the Astros in the 43rd round of the 1994 amateur draft. He signed with them on May 17, 1995.

After being released by the Astros in 2003, Lugo played very briefly in Triple-A, but after a month was signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After spending three seasons with the Devil Rays, he was traded at the 2006 trade deadline, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza.^[1]

On December 5, 2006, Lugo signed a four-year, $36 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.^[2]

2007

Lugo was brought on to bat leadoff, but was moved by manager Terry Francona to the bottom part of the order primarily due to his inability to consistently get on base. From June 15 to July 3 Lugo went 0-33 from the plate. Since 1996, only one other Major League player with more than 250 at bats 80 games into the season has had a lower batting average: Greg Vaughn, .163 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2002.^[3]

After the first week of July 2007, Lugo turned his hitting performance around, completing a 14-game hitting streak on July 25, 2007. He was 24-for-54 (.444) during the career-best streak, raising his average from .189 to .226.

2008

As of July 5, 2008, Lugo had committed 16 errors, which not only led all big-league players, but was also nearly one-third of the 50 errors made by the Red Sox as a team. He was hitting .268 with one home run and 22 RBIs. The rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie had been solid in filling in for Lugo while he was on the Disabled List.

2009

On March 17, 2009, Lugo underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to repair a torn meniscus cartilage. Lugo was expected to be out for three to four weeks. Upon his return, Lugo got off to a slow start and was on a day-to-day playing rotation with fellow shortstop Nick Green.^[4]

On July 17, 2009, Lugo was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Chris Duncan and cash considerations along with a player-to-be-named-later, or cash on July 22, 2009.^[5]

Accusations of spousal abuse

On April 30, 2003, Lugo was arrested and charged with assaulting his wife. Mabely Lugo had reported that Julio had hit her in the face and had then slammed her head against a car hood. She was treated at a local hospital for injuries.^[6] His wife filed a restraining order but later rescinded it. Lugo was found not guilty of misdemeanor assault after his wife stated that she had exaggerated the story; despite having signed a sworn statement .^[7]

Personal life

Lugo and his wife Mabely have two sons: Josmael Aquiles and Julio Alejandro. The family splits the offseason between homes in Houston and the Dominican Republic.

Career statistics

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Julio Lugo Foundation