Fernando Viña (''VEEN-ya'') (born April 16, 1969) is a Cuban-American former

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 (A ...

second baseman and former MLB analyst for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. His parents Andres and Olga emigrated from Cuba in 1968. From through , Viña played 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 ...

(1993),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

(),

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) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(-),

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 ha ...

(-), and

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 ...

().

Career

Viña was acquired by the Brewers on December 22, 1994 to complete a transaction that began three weeks earlier on November 30 when Doug Henry was traded to the Mets and also included minor-league catcher Javier Gonzalez being sent to Milwaukee on December 6. On May 31, 1996, while attempting to tag the runner and make a throw to first to complete a double play, Viña was bodyslammed by

Albert Belle Albert Jojuan Belle (born August 25, 1966), known until 1990 as Joey Belle, is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from 1989 to 2000, most notably for the Cleveland Indians. Known for his fierce, competitive temperame ...

, an incident which led to Belle receiving a 5-game suspension from the American League. In a 2018 interview, Viña good-naturedly laughed about the incident, claiming "that put me on the map," meaning that the play was regularly featured in highlight footage on television. Viña was a two-time

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in b ...

winner (-), and a National League All-Star in , becoming the first ever NL representative from the Brewers, who had moved to the league that year. In 2004, he was limited to 29 games for the Tigers—a serious leg injury ended his first season with Detroit, and Viña missed the entire 2005 season because of a strained right hamstring and

patella The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as ...

r tendinitis in his left knee. Many believe Viña concealed the extent of prior injuries from the Tigers in order to obtain a lucrative contract from them, but his signing was the first of several major acquisitions that led to the Tigers' resurrection to a playoff contender. In 2006, Viña was invited to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

by the Seattle Mariners but was cut before the start of the season due to a labrum tear in his right hip, in effect bringing an end to his 12-year career. Viña retired with a .282 batting average, 40

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 343 RBI in 1148

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. In 2007, Viña joined ESPN as an analyst for '' Baseball Tonight'' to do about 60 shows during the 2007, 2008, and 2009 seasons. He was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame in 2011 and Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor in 2014. He hit the first inside-the-park home run ever in both

AT&T Park Oracle Park is a Major League Baseball stadium in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the home of the San Francisco Giants. Previously named Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park, the stadium's curren ...

and Miller Park.

Mitchell Report

On December 13, 2007, Viña was mentioned in the Mitchell Report in connection with

steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...

use."Mitchell report: Baseball slow to react to players' steroid use"

2007-12-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-14 The report cited an interview with former Mets clubhouse attendant Derek Sprang, who claimed Viña purchased anabolic steroids from him six to eight times between 2000 and 2005. The two first met in 1993 when Viña was in the Mets minor league system, and Viña's personal contact information was listed in Radomski's address book seized by federal agents investigating Radomski. Three checks from Viña to Kirk Radomski for purchases of

HGH Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in h ...

and steroids were included in the Mitchell Report itself as further evidence of Viña's steroid use. Viña later confirmed during an airing of ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...

'' that he used HGH in 2003 to recover from injuries, but denied ever using steroids or purchasing them from Radomski.

Popular culture

Viña was featured in the music video for

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

's Welcome To Atlanta (Coast to Coast Remix) with

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

, Murphy Lee and the

St. Lunatics St. Lunatics was an American hip hop group formed in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1993. The group consisted of childhood friends Nelly, Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, City Spud, and Slo Down. Career After graduating from high school, the band members w ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vina, Fernando 1969 births Living people Baseball players from Sacramento, California Major League Baseball second basemen Cosumnes River Hawks baseball players Columbia Mets players St. Lucie Mets players Tidewater Tides players Norfolk Tides players Stockton Ports players Tucson Toros players Beloit Snappers players Memphis Redbirds players Seattle Mariners players New York Mets players Milwaukee Brewers players St. Louis Cardinals players Detroit Tigers players American people of Cuban descent National League All-Stars Gold Glove Award winners Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Sacramento City Panthers baseball players

Career

Mitchell Report

Popular culture

See also

References

External links