Manuel De Jesús Alexander (born March 20, 1971) is a Dominican 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 t ...

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. ...

. He has played for 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 ...

(–, –),

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 ...

(),

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 locate ...

(1997–),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

(), Texas Rangers () and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

(–). He bats and throws

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 subjecti ...

Career

Baltimore Orioles

Alexander was signed as a 16-year-old amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

by the

on February 4, 1988. Alexander made his big league debut with the Orioles at the age of 21 on September 18, 1992, during a 12–4 loss to the

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 ...

. Alexander appeared as a defensive replacement for Cal Ripken Jr. in the bottom of the seventh inning and struck out in his only

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 batt ...

of the game. Alexander made a brief pitching appearance in an April 19, 1996 game against the Texas Rangers. The Orioles entered the bottom of the 8th inning down 10–7.

Armando Benítez Armando Benítez (born November 3, 1972) is a Dominican former major league relief pitcher. Benítez debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 1994 and within a few years became their closer. He was a reliever for several other organizations after Ba ...

surrendered a single and two walks before being replaced by Jesse Orosco. Orosco then gave up two walks, six hits, and a

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

, giving the Rangers a 17–7 lead. With the game now out of reach, manager Davey Johnson brought in Alexander to pitch. Alexander walked the first three batters he faced (all with the bases loaded), allowed a sacrifice fly, walked another hitter, and then surrendered a grand slam to Kevin Elster before finally getting a groundout to end the 16-run inning.

New York Mets

Alexander was traded by the Orioles along with Scott McClain to the New York Mets for Héctor Ramírez on March 22, 1997. He appeared in many games that spring, hitting .248 with two

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 14 RBI, stealing 11 bases in 11 attempts, in 54 games with the Mets before being named on August 14 as the player to be named later in an earlier trade. The Mets sent Alexander, Lance Johnson, and Mark Clark to the Chicago Cubs for Brian McRae,

Mel Rojas Melquíades Rojas Medrano (born December 10, 1966) is a Dominican former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher. From 1990 to 1999, he played for the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League a ...

, and Turk Wendell.

Chicago Cubs

Alexander hit .293 with a homer and seven RBI in 33 games with the Cubs in his six weeks with the team in 1997. In , he hit .227 in 108 games with Chicago, belting out a career-high five home runs. In 1999, Alexander appeared in 90 games with the Cubs and hit .271, the highest batting average of his career. His relative success in the regular season did not translate to post-season glory as Alexander went 0-for-5 in two games during the

1998 National League Division Series The 1998 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1998 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, September 29, and ended on Sunday, October 4, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team� ...

against 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 ...

. The Cubs traded Alexander on December 12, 1999, to the Boston Red Sox for

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Damon Buford Damon Jackson Buford (born June 12, 1970) is an American former professional baseball center fielder with the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1993 and 200 ...

Boston Red Sox

Alexander hit .211 with four home runs and 19 RBI in 101 games with the Red Sox in 2000, his lone season in Boston. On June 30, 2000, during a traffic stop, police discovered a bottle of anabolic

steroids 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 ...

and two hypodermic needles in a

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarte ...

owned by Alexander that had been loaned to team bat boy Carlos Cowart, a high school student. Cowart was arrested for driving without a license and previous charges of driving without a license and failing to stop for police. Massachusetts State Police initially sought steroid possession charges against Alexander, but opted not to after the ballplayer's lawyers provided evidence that at least five people had access to the vehicle. Alexander's name appeared in the Mitchell Report, released on December 13, 2007, as a result of the incident.

Texas Rangers

After the 2000 season and steroids incident, Alexander bounced around with minor league affiliates of 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 ...

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 ...

, and

- as well as a brief stint playing in Mexico - before being purchased by the Texas Rangers on March 24, 2003. He spent the 2003 season in the Rangers' minor league system before returning to the big leagues after a three-season absence in 2004. His return was brief, however, as Alexander appeared in 21 games with Texas, hitting .238 (5-for-21) with three RBI and a pair of

doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...

San Diego Padres

He started the 2005 season in the minor leagues before he was traded by the Rangers on August 31 to the San Diego Padres for minor leaguer Juan Jimenez. Alexander appeared in 11 games with San Diego in 2005, hitting just .111 (2-for-18) with a double, playing each infield position at least once. He was released at the end of the season, but re-signed less than a month later. In 2006, Alexander reported late 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 ...

with the Padres due to visa problems in the

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 ...

. Upon joining the team, he was optioned to San Diego's Triple-A affiliate, the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

. He split the 2006 season between Portland and San Diego, but was released by the Padres on October 12, 2006. In 2007, Alexander attended spring training with the Padres, but did not make the major league club. Assigned to Triple-A Portland for the third straight season, he played just 7 games before being released.

Washington Nationals

He then signed a minor league deal with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

playing for their Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. Alexander became a minor league free agent at the end of the season. In an eleven-season career, Alexander has posted a .231 batting average with 15 home runs and 115 RBI in 594

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 ...

with six teams.

Philadelphia Phillies

On July 23, 2009 Alexander signed a minor league contract with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. Alexander became a free agent after the 2009 season. He has not played professionally since.

Italy

In 2008, Alexander signed to play with

Telemarket Rimini The Rimini Baseball Club is a team that played in Serie A1 Italian Baseball League. The team is based in the city of Rimini and plays its home games at the Stadio dei Pirati since 1973. Rimini has won 13 national championships and three European ...

in Italy's Serie A1. In his first season in Italy, he hits .331 with 2 home runs and 20 RBI. In 2009, he signed to play with Caffè Danesi Nettuno in the Italian Baseball League.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Manny 1971 births Living people Azucareros del Este players Baltimore Orioles players Bluefield Orioles players Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Columbus Clippers players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Italy Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Frederick Keys players Hagerstown Suns players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Nettuno Baseball Club players New York Mets players Oklahoma RedHawks players Sportspeople from San Pedro de Macorís Portland Beavers players Rimini Baseball Club players Rochester Red Wings players San Diego Padres players St. Lucie Mets players Tacoma Rainiers players Texas Rangers players Wausau Timbers players