Luis Vizcaíno Árias (born August 6, 1974) is a

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

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 for the Oakland Athletics,

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

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

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors F ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is loca ...

, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in his career.

Career

Vizcaíno was signed by the Oakland Athletics as an amateur free agent in . After gradually working his way through the Athletics minor league system, he made one relief appearance for the A's in , 12 in , and 36 in , but continued to spend significant time in Triple-A. In , he was traded to the Texas Rangers for

Justin Duchscherer, and the Rangers in turn traded him to the

for Jesús Peña. Rockies Nationals double header 420 Luis Vizcaíno

In his three years with the Brewers, Vizcaíno was a workhorse. After an outstanding 2002 (5-3, 2.99

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, 76 appearances), he slumped badly in (4-3, 6.39 ERA, 75 appearances) before having a bounce-back campaign (4-4, 3.75 ERA, 73 appearances). Milwaukee then sent him to the

along with

Scott Podsednik Scott Eric Podsednik (; born March 18, 1976) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Best known for his baserunning, Podsednik led the major leagues in stolen bases in with 70, in times caught steal ...

and Travis Hinton for Carlos Lee. With the White Sox, Vizcaíno had another solid year, going 6-5 with a 3.73 ERA in 65 appearances for the World Champions (he pitched one scoreless inning during the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Wor ...

in his only playoff appearance). After the season, Chicago traded him to the

. In , Vizcaíno went 4-6 and posted a 3.75 ERA in 70 games for the Diamondbacks. On January 9, , Vizcaíno was traded to the

with three prospects for

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "The Big Unit", is an American photographer and former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle M ...

. He achieved a rare feat on July 21, 2007, when he was credited with both wins in relief in a day-night doubleheader for the Yankees, joining about 30 other pitchers. In 2007, he pitched in 77 games, which was 4th-most in the AL. On December 21, 2007, he signed with the

. On January 6, 2009, Vizcaíno was traded to the

for

Jason Marquis Jason Scott Marquis (; born August 21, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Arizona ...

. Vizcaíno was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the play ...

and released by the Cubs on April 23, 2009. On May 8, 2009, Vizcaíno signed a minor league deal with the

. He then was signed to a major league deal on May 14. He was designated for assignment on June 23, and released on June 30 after clearing waivers. Vizcaíno performed well in the

Dominican Winter League Dominican may refer to: * Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean ** People of the Dominican Republic ** Demographics of the Domi ...

following the 2010 season. On December 19, 2010, Vizcaíno signed a minor league contract to return with

with an invitation to spring training. His contract was voided on February 9, 2011 because of a tear to his

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

. On June 29, 2011, he was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for the banned

performance-enhancing drug Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where ban ...

stanozolol Stanozolol ( abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceutical company ...

. Despite pitching 546.2 career innings in the major leagues, Vizcaino handled 83

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the tota ...

(30 putouts, 53 assists) without an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

. Vizcaino signed a minor league deal 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 ...

in January 2014. He was released in March, and ended his career with the Mexican League in 2015.

Personal life

Vizcaino was born in

Baní Baní is a capital town of the Peravia Province, Dominican Republic. It is the commercial and manufacturing center in the southern region of Valdesia. The town is located 65 km south of the capital city Santo Domingo. Baní is the headquarte ...

. Vizcaino's second cousin,

José Vizcaíno José Luis Vizcaíno Pimental (born March 26, 1968) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He was a backup infielder for most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career. He, along with Darryl Strawberry and Ricky Ledée, are the onl ...

, was a long-time MLB

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. On October 27, 2008, Vizcaíno was arrested for

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

after being pulled over for driving 71 MPH in a 45 MPH zone.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vizcaino, Luis 1974 births Águilas Cibaeñas players Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Athletics players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States EDA Rhinos players Huntsville Stars players Living people Leones de Yucatán players New York Yankees players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Mexican League baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Modesto A's players Oakland Athletics players People from Baní Sacramento River Cats players Southern Oregon Timberjacks players Sultanes de Monterrey players Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions players Vancouver Canadians players