Rafael Leonidas Belliard Matias (born October 24, 1961) is a retired

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 professiona ...

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 ...

who played 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 (A ...

(MLB) from 1982 to 1998 with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

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 ...

. He was a member of Atlanta's 1995 World Series winning team against the

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) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

. He served as the infield and first base coach for the

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 ...

from 2006 to 2013.

Playing career

Belliard won a silver medal with the Dominican Republic at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

, then signed with the

as an amateur free agent in 1980. He played in the Pirates' minor-league system, reaching the Double-A level in 1982. He made his major-league debut as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been subs ...

against the

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 ...

on September 6, 1982. It was not until 1986 that Belliard became a regular in the Pirates' lineup,

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

.233 in 117 games. He remained a versatile yet seldom used player until 1990, when he left Pittsburgh and signed a free agent contract with the

. Belliard arrived in Atlanta just as the team was emerging as a

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

powerhouse. The team made

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 Worl ...

appearances in 1991 and 1992 before finally winning the championship in . Though he had appeared in only 75 games that season, Belliard played shortstop in all six of Atlanta's World Series games. Belliard made his final major-league appearance on April 9, 1998, in a 4–3 Braves win over the Pirates. He concluded his playing career with the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs of the independent

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

in 1999. Overall during his professional career, Belliard played in 464 minor-league games over seven seasons, batting .247, and played in 1155 major-league games over 17 seasons, batting .221. Despite being a weak hitter and below-average base stealer, he was an excellent and reliable fielder during his career.

Post-playing career

After his retirement as a player, Belliard served five seasons in the Braves' minor-league system as a roving fielding instructor. He was named infield coach for the

on October 11, 2005. He was a uniformed member of Detroit's major league coaching staff through the 2013 season. On December 5, 2019, Belliard was named a special assignment coach for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Personal life

While coaching with Detroit, Belliard, his wife Leonora, and son Kevin resided in

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

. His cousin

Ronnie Belliard Ronald Belliard (born April 7, 1975) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 to 2010 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Card ...

was also a major-league player.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belliard, Rafael 1961 births Living people Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs players Alexandria Dukes players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Detroit Tigers coaches Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Gulf Coast Pirates players Harrisburg Senators players Hawaii Islanders players Lynn Pirates (1983) players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball shortstops Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the Dominican Republic Pittsburgh Pirates players Richmond Braves players Shelby Pirates players Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games