José Altagracia González Uribe (January 21, 1959 – December 8, 2006) was a Dominican

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

from until . Most of his ten-year career was spent with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He played for the Giants in the

1989 World Series The 1989 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1989 season. The 86th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the ...

against the

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Minor leagues

Born in

San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic San Cristóbal is a city in the southern region of Dominican Republic. It is the Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipal (''municipio'') capital of the San Cristóbal Province, San Cristóbal province. The municipality is located in a ...

, Uribe was signed by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in , but was released shortly afterwards without even having played a minor league game with the club. He eventually signed with 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

in , and after four seasons in their farm system, received a September call-up in . In eight games with the Cards, Uribe batted .211 with three

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

and four

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

"The ultimate player to be named later"

In February , Uribe, David Green, Dave LaPoint and

Gary Rajsich Gary Louis Rajsich ( ; born October 28, 1954) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) scout and a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or parts of four seasons in the Majors from until , then played three additional seasons ...

were dealt to the San Francisco Giants for Jack Clark. Between the time of the initial trade and his delivery, he changed his name from José González Uribe (Uribe is his mother's maiden name; González is his father's name. (See

Spanish naming customs Spanish names are the traditional way of identifying, and the official way of registering a person in Spain. They are composed of a given name (simple or composite) and two surnames (the first surname of each parent). Traditionally, the first ...

) to just José Uribe because, as he put it, "There are too many Gonzálezes in baseball!" Thus, he was humorously referred to as "the player to be named later" and sometimes "the ultimate player to be named later", a quote attributed to coach

Rocky Bridges Everett Lamar "Rocky" Bridges (August 7, 1927 – January 28, 2015) was an American middle infielder and third baseman with an 11-year career in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1961. Bridges played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs ...

San Francisco Giants

Uribe was the Giants' principal shortstop for eight seasons, including their

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ern Division championship and

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pennant, leading the league with 85

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

s in the latter season. In the

1987 National League Championship Series The 1987 National League Championship Series took place in Major League Baseball’s 1987 postseason between October 6 and 14 at Busch Memorial Stadium (Games 1, 2, 6, and 7) and Candlestick Park (Games 3, 4, and 5). It matched the East divisio ...

he had a two-run single with the bases loaded in the fourth inning of Game 5, giving the Giants a 4–3 lead. He then stole third base and scored as the Giants won 6–3 for a 3–2 series lead, though San Francisco went on to lose the final two games. He won the 1988

Willie Mac Award The Willie Mac Award is named in honor of Willie McCovey. It has been presented annually since 1980 to the most inspirational player on the San Francisco Giants, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, and more recently, Giant ...

honoring his spirit and leadership. Uribe was also a fan favorite at

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium located in the Bayview-Hunters Point, Hunters Point area of San Francisco, California, United States. It was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 S ...

, where the home crowd had a unique chant for the relatively light-hitting infielder. When he would come to bat, fans on one side of the stadium would shout "OOH!" after which fans on the other side would respond with "REE-bay!". Giants fans would later use the same chant for

Juan Uribe Juan Cespedes Uribe Tena (born March 22, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Brav ...

, José's second cousin. He also received the uncommon nickname José "Game Winning" Uribe from

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announcer

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when the stat known as the "Game Winning RBI" was an official statistic. After an injury-plagued season, Uribe lost his starting job to

Royce Clayton Royce Spencer Clayton (born January 2, 1970) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Colo ...

in . He signed with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

as a free agent for , but only appeared in 45 games that season.

1990 Fleer baseball card

For several years, Jose Uribe's 1990 Fleer

baseball card A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, s ...

was considered a "common" in a dramatically over-produced baseball set. However, in 2018, several of these cards began selling on

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for hundreds of thousands of dollars with claims that they are rare. According to eBay sold listings data, some copies of this card have sold for enormous amounts, though according to

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, those sales are dubious at best. Beckett has stated that there is nothing rare or uncommon about the card, and its exorbitant asking price in some auctions has no definable merit.

Personal life

His first wife, Sarah, died at the age of 27 of a heart attack, two days after giving birth to their third child. Uribe was killed, at age 47, December 8, 2006, in a car crash at about 3:00 a.m. near his hometown of Juan Baron,

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD ...

, Dominican Republic. He is survived by his second wife, Wendy Guerrero, with whom he had four children. He was a second cousin of former major league infielder

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uribe, Jose 1959 births 2006 deaths Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Houston Astros players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from San Cristóbal Province Road incident deaths in the Dominican Republic San Francisco Giants players St. Louis Cardinals players Arkansas Travelers players Louisville Redbirds players Phoenix Firebirds players San Jose Giants players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Baseball players from San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic