View source for Sandy Alomar Jr.

{{short description|Puerto Rican baseball player and coach (born 1966)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Alomar|Velázquez|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Sandy Alomar Jr.
|image=Sandy Alomar, Jr. on June 29, 2012.jpg
|image_size=250px
|caption=Alomar with the [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] in 2012
|team=Cleveland Guardians
|number=15
|position=[[Catcher]] / [[Coach (baseball)|Coach]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1966|6|18}}
|birth_place=[[Salinas, Puerto Rico]]
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=September 30
|debutyear=1988
|debutteam=San Diego Padres
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 30
|finalyear=2007
|finalteam=New York Mets
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.273
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=112
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=588
|stat4label=Managerial record
|stat4value=3–3
|stat5label=Winning %
|stat5value={{Winning percentage|3|3}}
|teams=
'''As player'''
* [[San Diego Padres]] ({{mlby|1988}}–{{mlby|1989}})
* [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|1990}}–{{mlby|2000}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|2001}}–{{mlby|2002}})
* [[Colorado Rockies]] ({{mlby|2002}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|2003}}–{{mlby|2004}})
* [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]] ({{mlby|2005}})
* [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] ({{mlby|2006}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|2006}})
* [[New York Mets]] ({{mlby|2007}})
'''As manager'''
* [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|2012}})
'''As coach'''
* [[New York Mets]] ({{mlby|2008}}–{{mlby|2009}})
* [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians / Guardians]] ({{mlby|2010}}–present)
|highlights=
* 6× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1990 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1990]]&ndash;[[1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1992]], [[1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1996]]&ndash;[[1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1998]])
* [[AL Rookie of the Year]] (1990)
* [[Rawlings Gold Glove Award|Gold Glove Award]] (1990)
* [[Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame]]
}}

'''Santos Alomar Velázquez''' ({{IPA|es|aloˈmaɾ}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|l|əm|ɑr}}; born June 18, 1966), known as '''Sandy Alomar Jr.''', is a Puerto Rican former professional [[baseball]] player, [[coach (baseball)|coach]], and [[manager (baseball)|manager]]. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] as a [[catcher]] between 1988 and 2007, most notably as a member of the [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] where he was a six-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] player and won two [[List of American League pennant winners|American League pennants]]. Alomar was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/indians/history/hall-of-fame/members|date=2019|title=Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame|publisher=Major League Baseball|work=[[mlb.com]] |access-date=December 21, 2019}}</ref>

He also played for the [[San Diego Padres]], [[Chicago White Sox]], [[Colorado Rockies]], [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]], [[Los Angeles Dodgers]], and the [[New York Mets]].<ref name="baseball-reference.com">{{cite web| url = https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alomasa02.shtml| title = Sandy Alomar Stats {{!}} Baseball-Reference.com}} </ref> He is the son of former major league player [[Sandy Alomar Sr.]] and the brother of [[Hall of Fame]] second baseman [[Roberto Alomar]].<ref name="baseball-reference.com"/>

==Major league career==
Alomar was a highly regarded catcher in the San Diego organization after being named [[Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award|''Baseball America'' Minor League Player of the Year]] in both 1988 and 1989, but he was blocked behind [[Benito Santiago]] at the Major League level. After two short call-ups with the Padres, he finally got his chance at an everyday job after being traded to Cleveland after the 1989 season along with [[Carlos Baerga]] and [[Chris James (baseball)|Chris James]], in exchange for power-hitter [[Joe Carter]]. Once in Cleveland, he established his reputation as a skilled defensive player by becoming the first rookie catcher to start an [[1990 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star game]], as well as winning both [[MLB Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year]] honors and a [[Gold Glove Award]].<ref name="paradise">{{cite web |last1=Pluto |first1=Terry |title=Another day in paradise with the Cleveland Indians for Sandy Alomar Jr.: Terry Pluto|url=https://www.cleveland.com/pluto/2013/04/another_day_in_paradise_with_t.html |website=cleveland |access-date=December 29, 2021 |language=en |date=April 8, 2013}}</ref> He became the third catcher in Major League history to win a Gold Glove Award in his [[rookie]] season, joining [[Johnny Bench]] and [[Carlton Fisk]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSsDAAAAMBAJ&q=charles+johnson+baseball+digest&pg=PA26 |title=''Charles Johnson: Marlins' Biggest Catch'', by Gordon Edes, Baseball Digest, February 1998, Vol. 57, No. 2, ISSN 0005-609X |access-date=November 20, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Sandy Alomar, Jr.jpg|280px|thumb|left|Alomar during his tenure with the [[New York Mets]] in 2007.]]
Alomar was selected as an All-Star in [[1991 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1991]] and [[1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1992]]. However, his 1991 season was largely lost due to injuries, and he finished the year with no home runs and only seven RBIs in 199 at-bats. Over the next few years, Alomar suffered several injuries and failed to realize his potential. He came back strong in the first half of 1996 to make his fourth [[1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star team]], but then faded in the second half.

In 1997, everything finally came together for Alomar. He batted .324 and was the MVP of the [[1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star game]] in his home ballpark ([[Progressive Field|Jacobs Field]]), hitting a game-deciding two-run home run off [[Shawn Estes]] to the left field bleachers in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 3&ndash;1 American League win; he was the first player to hit an All-Star game home run in his home stadium since [[Hank Aaron]] in [[1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1972]]. He also put together a 30-game [[hitting streak]] (one short of [[Nap Lajoie]]'s franchise record and four short of his former teammate Benito Santiago's record for catchers), and helped lead Cleveland to their third straight postseason appearance. In the [[1997 American League Division Series|Division Series]] against the [[New York Yankees]], Alomar hit .316 with two [[home run]]s, including a game-tying shot off [[Mariano Rivera]] in the eighth inning of Game 4. Though he was less effective against the [[Baltimore Orioles]] in the [[1997 American League Championship Series|ALCS]], he still provided a game-winning hit in the ninth inning of Game 4. The Indians lost the [[1997 World Series|World Series]] to the [[Florida Marlins]], but not on account of Alomar, who hit .367 with two home runs.

Although Alomar was selected to his sixth [[1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star team]] in 1998, he turned in a mediocre season overall and then had injury problems again in 1999. Alomar was the unofficially recognized team leader of the Indians during their 1995–99 run when they won two pennants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schneider |first=Russell |title=The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia |publisher=Sports Publishing L.L.C. |year=2001 |isbn=1-58261-376-1 |edition=2nd |pages=121}}</ref> He left the Indians as a [[free agent]] after the 2000 season and played in a limited role with the [[Chicago White Sox]], [[Colorado Rockies]], [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]], [[Los Angeles Dodgers]], and [[New York Mets]]. On August 1, 2009, the Indians inducted Alomar to the organization's [[Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]].

==Coaching career==

On February 15, 2008, Alomar was named the catching instructor for the New York Mets organization. He spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons in that role.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20080215&content_id=2374290&vkey=pr_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615145142/http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20080215&content_id=2374290&vkey=pr_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 15, 2011 |title=Mets name Sandy Alomar Jr. catching instructor |access-date=8 January 2009 |date=15 February 2008 |work=[[Mlb.com]]|publisher=Major League Baseball Advanced Media}}</ref>

Alomar was hired in November 2009 as the first base coach on manager [[Manny Acta]]'s staff of the [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]].

During the 2010 offseason, Alomar was rumored to be one of four finalists, along with [[Brian Butterfield]], [[DeMarlo Hale]], and [[John Farrell (pitcher)|John Farrell]], for the [[Toronto Blue Jays]] managerial job.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Boston-s-Farrell-wins-Jays-job-?urn=mlb-279086 |title = MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games}}</ref>

During the end of the 2011 season, Alomar was rumored to be on the shortlist of candidates for the vacant [[Chicago Cubs]] and [[Boston Red Sox]] managerial positions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Abraham|first=Peter|title=Red Sox get permission to interview Mike Maddux and Sandy Alomar Jr.|url=http://articles.boston.com/2011-11-03/sports/30355915_1_famer-greg-maddux-red-sox-mike-maddux|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531181611/http://articles.boston.com/2011-11-03/sports/30355915_1_famer-greg-maddux-red-sox-mike-maddux|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 31, 2012|newspaper=[[Boston Globe]]|date=3 November 2011|access-date=29 September 2012}}</ref> On September 28, 2011, Alomar was promoted by the Indians to the position of [[bench coach]] for the 2012 season. On September 27, 2012, the Indians promoted him to interim manager after firing Acta.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Major League Baseball Advanced Media|work=[[Mlb.com]]|access-date=29 December 2021|date=27 September 2012|title=Indians dismiss Acta; Alomar named interim|last=Bastian|first=Jordan|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/indians-dismiss-manager-manny-acta-name-sandy-alomar-jr-interim-manager-c3910090}}</ref> He finished his interim reign with a record of three wins and three losses.<ref name="managerial record">{{cite web|title=Sandy Alomar|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/alomasa02.shtml|website=Baseball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref> On October 6, 2012, the Indians announced that the club had hired [[Terry Francona]] to take over as manager.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoynes |first1=Paul |title=Cleveland Indians make it official: Terry Francona is their new manager |url=https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2012/10/cleveland_indians_terry_franco.html |website=cleveland |access-date=December 29, 2021 |date=October 7, 2012}}</ref>

On October 31, 2012, the [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] announced that Alomar would be back as the bench coach for the 2013 season under Francona. Alomar was replaced by [[Brad Mills (manager)|Brad Mills]] as the bench coach and became their first base coach.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoynes |first1=Paul |title=Sandy Alomar will stay on Indians' coaching staff |url=https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2015/10/sandy_alomar_will_remain_with.html |website=cleveland |access-date=December 29, 2021 |date=October 27, 2015}}</ref>

On August 2, 2020, Francona left the team due to gastrointestinal trouble and Alomar served as acting manager until Francona returned on August 9. Francona left the team again on August 18 to have surgery and Alomar served as the acting manager for the remainder of the season.<ref name="x504">{{cite web | last=Hoynes | first=Paul | title=Sandy Alomar returns as Cleveland Indians manager; Terry Francona undergoes procedure | website=cleveland | date=2020-08-18 | url=https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2020/08/sandy-alomar-returns-as-cleveland-indians-manager-terry-francona-undergoes-procedure.html | access-date=2025-01-26}}</ref> In 46 games with Alomar acting as manager, the Indians went {{winpct|28|18|record=y}}. The Indians were swept by the [[2020 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] in the [[2020 American League Wild Card Series|Wild Card Series]].

==Managerial record==

{{updated|September 23, 2020}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-
|-
![[2012 Cleveland Indians season|CLE]]|| {{mlby|2012}}
||6||{{WinLossPct|3|3}}|| 4th in AL Central || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|Total<ref name="managerial record"/> ||6||{{WinLossPct|3|3}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} || 
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball|Puerto Rico}}
{{div col}}
* [[Cleveland Guardians award winners and league leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career games played as a catcher leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career putouts as a catcher leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico]]
* [[List of Puerto Ricans]]
* [[List of second-generation Major League Baseball players]]
{{div col end}}
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Sandy Alomar, Jr.}}
{{Baseballstats|mlb=110184|espn=2137|br=a/alomasa02|fangraphs=221|brm=alomar002san|retro=}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{succession box | title=[[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians/Guardians]] [[Coach (baseball)|first base coach]] | before=[[Luis Rivera (infielder)|Luis Rivera]]<br />[[Mike Sarbaugh]] | years= 2010–2011<br />2014–present | after= [[Tom Wiedenbauer]]<br>Incumbent}}
{{succession box | title=[[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] [[Coach (baseball)|bench coach]] | before=[[Tim Tolman]] | years= 2012–2013 | after= [[Brad Mills (manager)|Brad Mills]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Cleveland Guardians roster navbox}}
{{MLB Base Coaches}}
{{navboxes|title=Sandy Alomar Jr.–awards and honors|list1=
{{Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame}}
{{Cleveland Guardians managers}}
{{Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs}}
{{AL C Gold Glove Award}}
{{AL Rookie of the Year}}
{{PCL MVPs}}
{{PCL Hall of Fame}}
{{Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award}}
{{Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award}}
{{The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award}}
{{Sporting News MLB Rookie of the year}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alomar, Sandy Jr.}}
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Salinas, Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball catchers]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico]]
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