Esteban Luis Yan (born June 22, 1975) is a Dominican former
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern profession ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...
. He played in all or parts of 11 seasons in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL ...
. At , , he batted and threw
right-handed
In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...
.
Early years
Yan was originally signed by the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bo ...
as an amateur free agent in 1990.
After spending time in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut with the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
on May 20, 1996.
[
]
Professional career
Yan made his major league debut on May 20, 1996 with the Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
. He appeared in just four games with the Orioles that season while making just 3 appearances the following season. In 1998, Yan pitched for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ven ...
. In 64 games, he posted an ERA of 3.86 in innings. In 1999, his ERA ballooned to 5.90 in 50 games. In 2000, Yan pitched between the rotation and the bullpen, appearing in 43 games while starting 20 of them. He was 7–8 in innings.
On June 4, 2000, Yan hit a home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
in his first major league at-bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...
, on the first pitch. His next plate appearance resulted in a sacrifice bunt
In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...
, which does not count as an official at bat. In his only other career plate appearance (on June 30, 2003, as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals), he hit a single, giving him a 1.000 batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
and a 2.500 slugging percentage
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
.
In the 2001 season, Yan served as closer for the Devil Rays, saving 22 games in 54 appearances. Yan began the 2002 season as the Devil Rays closer before being removed of the role during the season, he finished with a record of 7–8 in 55 games with 19 saves. On December 26, 2002, Yan signed a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers. In 15 games, he was 0–1 with a 6.94 ERA. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ...
on May 26, 2003, for a minor league outfielder and cash. In 2004, Yan pitched for the Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
. He rebounded from the previous three seasons, as his ERA sat at a career-low 3.83 in a career-high 69 appearances.
In 2005, Yan pitched for the Angels. He was 1–1 in 49 games. In 2006, he began the season with the Angels before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division and were a charter member of the American Associati ...
on May 30.
Asia
Yan spent the 2007 season as a pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers
The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railw ...
of Nippon Professional Baseball
or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''.
Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formatio ...
's Central League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...
. In 2008, Yan rejoined the Orioles organization, but this time with its minor league affiliate the Norfolk Tides
The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...
. Yan was released on July 18, 2008. He signed with SK Wyverns of the Korean Baseball League
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and ...
in July 2008 and spent the rest of the season with them.
Mexico
Yan spent the first half of 2009 pitching for the Bridgeport Bluefish
The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...
, an unaffiliated minor league team in the Atlantic League. On August 11, 2009, Yan signed a minor league contract with the Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The franc ...
and was assigned to the New Orleans Zephyrs
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. However, he failed the physical and stayed with Bridgeport. He signed with the Diablos Rojos del México
The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (English: Mexico Red Devils) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Mexico City, Mexico. The team was founded in 1940 by Salvador Lutteroth and Ernesto Carmona. The Diablos Rojos play their hom ...
to start 2010, then returned to the Bluefish, by whom he was activated on August 17.Bridgeport Bluefish current transactions
/ref> He returned to the Bluefish in 2011, splitting the season between Bridgeport and the Vaqueros Laguna
The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...
of the Mexican League. He signed with the Saraperos de Saltillo for the 2012 season.
Television
Yan is the first member of the Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ven ...
to be named on ''The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''. In the March 16, 2003, episode entitled " C. E. D'oh!," Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' ...
exclaims "Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...
!" while playing baseball, to which Milhouse replies "Well, I'm Esteban Yan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays!", referencing the relative obscurity of the two pitchers and their respective teams.
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yan, Esteban
1975 births
Living people
Baltimore Orioles players
Bowie Baysox players
Bridgeport Bluefish players
Cincinnati Reds players
Danville Braves players
Detroit Tigers players
Diablos Rojos del México players
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in South Korea
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States
Dominican Republic people of Haitian descent
Hanshin Tigers players
KBO League pitchers
Los Angeles Angels players
Macon Braves players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic
Mexican League baseball pitchers
Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers
Norfolk Tides players
Omaha Royals players
Orlando Rays players
Rochester Red Wings players
Saraperos de Saltillo players
Sportspeople of Haitian descent
SSG Landers players
St. Louis Cardinals players
St. Petersburg Devil Rays players
Sultanes de Monterrey players
Tampa Bay Devil Rays players
Texas Rangers players
Vaqueros Laguna players
West Palm Beach Expos players