Danilo Tartabull Mora (born October 30, 1962) is a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

– Puerto Rican 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 professional ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. He played 14 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), ...

(MLB) for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(1984–1986), Kansas City Royals (1987–1991),

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 of ...

(1992–1995), Oakland Athletics (1995),

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 ...

(1996), and Philadelphia Phillies (1997).

Early life

Tartabull was born on October 30, 1962, in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

, the son of Cuban parents. His father, José Tartabull, played in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1970. Tartabull attended

Miami Carol City Senior High School Miami Carol City Senior High School (MCCSH) is a public high school located at 3301 Miami Gardens Drive in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. It was established in 1963. The school is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. The sc ...

Miami Gardens, Florida Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located north of Downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th and Northwest 57th Avenues to its w ...

where he played baseball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. As a senior, he was an all-state second baseman. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of the

1980 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation Picks Other notable players * Tim Teufel, 2nd round, 38th overall Minnesota Twins *Dan Plesac, 2nd round, 41st overall ...

Playing career

Tartabull played for the

(1984–86), Kansas City Royals (1987–91),

(1992–95), Oakland Athletics (1995),

(1996), and Philadelphia Phillies (1997). Originally a

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

, Tartabull broke into the majors for good in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

with the Mariners, who moved him to right field after briefly experimenting with him at second base. He responded by hitting .270 with 25

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 ...

s and 96

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the ba ...

, but his rookie season was overshadowed by those of

Wally Joyner Wallace Keith Joyner (born June 16, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for four major league teams during a 16-year career, most notably for the California Angels, for whom he was an All-Star. He was a member of ...

and

José Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oaklan ...

. The Mariners traded him to Kansas City for prospects Scott Bankhead, Mike Kingery, and Steve Shields before the start of the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

season, where Tartabull avoided the sophomore jinx, improving to .309/34/101. Although sometimes slowed by injuries, Tartabull had five productive seasons with Kansas City, culminating with an All-Star selection in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. That same year, Tartabull led the major leagues in slugging percentage (.593). He became a free agent after the 1991 season and signed a deal with the Yankees worth more than $5 million a year (the deal being the first piece of news on ESPN Radio), but he never again matched his production in Kansas City. In July

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

the Yankees traded Tartabull for

Rubén Sierra Rubén Angel Sierra García (born October 6, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Sierra goes by the nicknames ''El Caballo'' and ''El Indio''. Over 20 seasons, Sierra played for the Texas Rangers (1986–92, 2000–01, 2003), ...

and Jason Beverlin. Following his trade out of New York, Tartabull expressed his disdain for Yankees owner

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

, saying that getting out of New York was like having been "released from jail". The Athletics traded him to the White Sox the following winter for Andrew Lorraine and minor leaguer Charles Poe. He had 101 RBI but scored 58 runs, fewer runs than all but one player in history with at least 100 RBI. Tartabull wound down his 14-year career with the Phillies in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, appearing in just three games. Tartabull retired following the 1997 season with a career batting average of .273, 262 home runs, and 925 runs batted in.

Personal life

A warrant was issued for Tartabull's arrest on May 12, 2012 after he failed to appear for a 180-day jail sentence, and is on the Most Wanted List for Los Angeles County Child Services Department. He has been named the top deadbeat dad in Los Angeles after allegedly failing to pay more than $275,000 in child support for his two sons.Most Wanted Flyer
/ref> Tartabull was arrested July 24, 2017 on suspicion of unpaid child support after he called police to report his car was broken into. His son, Quentin, had set him up by breaking into his car. He played football at Cal.

Other media

During the 1994-95 MLB strike, Tartabull and a handful of other striking players appeared as themselves in the November 27, 1994 episode of ''

Married With Children ''Married... with Children'' is an American television sitcom created by Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt for Fox. Originally broadcast from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997, it is the longest-lasting live-action sitcom that aired on Fox. ''Marr ...

'' (Season 9, Episode 11.) Tartabull made a cameo appearance on TV sitcom '' Seinfeld'' as himself in the episodes " The Chaperone" and " The Pledge Drive".

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tartabull, Danny 1962 births Living people American League All-Stars Billings Mustangs players Calgary Cannons players Chattanooga Lookouts players Chicago White Sox players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball right fielders New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players Pacific Coast League MVP award winners Philadelphia Phillies players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Puerto Rican people of Cuban descent Salt Lake City Gulls players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from Miami Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Waterbury Reds players Miami Carol City Senior High School alumni