Rubén Angel Sierra García (born October 6, 1965) is a 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 (AL), ...

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 c ...

. Sierra goes by the nicknames ''El Caballo'' and ''El Indio''. Over 20 seasons, Sierra played for the Texas Rangers (1986–92, 2000–01, 2003), Oakland Athletics (1992–95),

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 ...

(1995–96, 2003–05), Detroit Tigers (1996), Cincinnati Reds (1997),

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

(1997),

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 ...

(1998),

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 ...

(2002) and Minnesota Twins (2006). Sierra also signed with 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

at the end of 1999, but was released towards the end of spring training in March 2000.

Early life

Sierra graduated from Liceo Interamericano Castro High School in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

in 1983, where he played

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 ...

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 ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

MLB career

In November 1982, the Texas Rangers signed 17-year-old Sierra out of

. Sierra made his major league debut on June 1, 1986 as an

and hit a

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 ...

in just his second

MLB 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), ...

at bat becoming the first Texas Rangers player to accomplish this feat. Sierra had a decent rookie year, hitting .264 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs. In 1989, Sierra hit 29 home runs and led the league in RBIs (119), triples (14), slugging percentage (.543), total bases (344) and extra base hits (78), and finished second in MVP voting to

Robin Yount Robin R. Yount (; born September 16, 1955), nicknamed "the Kid", and "Rockin' Robin", is an American former professional baseball player. He spent his entire 20-year career in Major League Baseball as a shortstop and center fielder for the Milwau ...

. He went on to have 3 years with 100+ RBIs with the Rangers. In August 1992, the Rangers traded Sierra to the Oakland Athletics for

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 ...

. He later played more years with the Rangers. In 1995, the A's traded Sierra to the

for

Danny Tartabull Danilo Tartabull Mora (born October 30, 1962) is a Cuban– Puerto Rican former professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners (1984–1986), Kansas City R ...

. After helping the Yankees reach the playoffs for the first time in 14 years in 1995, Sierra was traded to the Detroit Tigers with Matt Drews for Cecil Fielder. Sierra was considered a journeyman because of playing for numerous teams during the late-1990s, including the Reds, Blue Jays, White Sox and Indians. After making a comeback with the Rangers in late 2000, he would go on to achieve moderate success with the Rangers in 2001, winning AL Comeback Player of the Year, and Mariners in 2002. In 2003, during Sierra's third stint with the Rangers, he was traded back to the Yankees, who were looking for a power-hitter off the bench. Sierra was an important part of the 2004 Yankees, a team that hit over 240

s. Sierra himself slugged 17 of those homers as the usual designated hitter, playing in 56 games at the position. In Game 4 of the 2004 American League Division Series, with the Yankees down to the Minnesota Twins 5–2, Sierra hit a 3-run home run to tie the game at 5–5 off of reliever Juan Rincón. His clutch home run helped the Yankees rally to win the game and the series. However, he was the final out of Game 7 of the

2004 American League Championship Series The 2004 American League Championship Series was the Major League Baseball playoff series to decide the American League champion for the 2004 season, and the right to play in the 2004 World Series. A rematch of the 2003 American League Champion ...

, hitting a ground ball to

Pokey Reese Calvin "Pokey" Reese, Jr. (born June 10, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. Reese played with the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Boston Red Sox. With the Red Sox, he won the 2004 World Series over the St. Louis ...

, which secured the dramatic comeback victory of the

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 eigh ...

. Sierra had an injury-plagued 2005 season and was let go by the Yankees after hitting just 4 home runs in 61 games. In 2006, Sierra signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins, but was released on July 10. In August, Sierra was offered a chance to sign on with 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 league ...

for the September run and playoffs. However, due to family issues (illness to his mother), he opted not to play again in 2006. In January 2007, Sierra signed a minor league contract with the Mets, who invited him to spring training. However, on March 20, he requested and was granted his release by the team after being reassigned the previous Thursday.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Sierra, Ruben 1965 births Living people American League All-Stars American League RBI champions Atlantic City Surf players Burlington Rangers players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Clippers players Detroit Tigers players Fort Myers Miracle players Gulf Coast Rangers players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Mexican League baseball right fielders Minnesota Twins players New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma City 89ers players Oklahoma RedHawks players Langosteros de Cancún players Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Norfolk Tides players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico Rochester Red Wings players Seattle Mariners players Silver Slugger Award winners Sportspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico Syracuse SkyChiefs players Texas Rangers players Toronto Blue Jays players Tulsa Drillers players

Early life

MLB career

See also

References

External links