Fernando Gabriel Tatís Medina Sr. (; born January 1, 1975) is a Dominican former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

who is the manager of the Estrellas Orientales of the

Dominican Professional Baseball League The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League ( or LIDOM) is a professional baseball winter league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played in the Dominican Repub ...

. Over his 11-year

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) career, Tatís played for the Texas Rangers,

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

, and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

. He holds the major league record for

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(RBI) in an inning, a feat that he achieved by hitting two grand slams in one inning during a game on April 23, 1999, becoming the only player in MLB history to do so. His son, Fernando Jr., plays for the

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

Playing career

At the age of 17, Tatís was signed as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

Omar Minaya Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sánchez (born November 10, 1958), whose nickname is O, is a Dominican baseball executive. He is the special assistant to the general manager of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He previously served as ...

and the Texas Rangers on August 25, 1992. Tatís played his first game in

with the Rangers, at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, almost five years later on July 26, 1997, and went on to play 60 games with the Rangers in his rookie season. At the trade deadline on July 31, 1998, the Rangers traded Tatís along with Darren Oliver and Mark Little to the

for

Royce Clayton Royce Spencer Clayton (born January 2, 1970) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Colo ...

and Todd Stottlemyre. Tatís had the best season of his career in 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit 34

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s with 107 RBI and 21

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, with a .298

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. On April 23, 1999, Tatís hit two grand slams in one

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

, against starting pitcher Chan Ho Park of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He is the only batter in MLB history to accomplish this feat, which also set the MLB record for runs batted in during a single inning: eight. After playing only 96 games for the Cardinals in 2000 because of an injury, Tatís was traded to the

along with Britt Reames for Dustin Hermanson and Steve Kline. Tatís played just 208 games over three seasons with the Expos because of injuries. The

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

invited Tatís to spring training in 2004, but he did not make the team and was released. Tatís next did not play professional baseball for two seasons and resided in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. The

signed Tatís to a minor-league contract on November 25, 2005. He returned to baseball to raise money to build a church. He played most of the season for the AAA baseball

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal Exp ...

, eventually playing in 28 games for the Orioles after being called up on July 21, 2006. In 2007, Tatís was invited to spring training with the

. After being assigned to minor-league baseball camp, Tatís was granted his request to be released from his contract on March 14. Just nine days later, he signed a minor-league contract with the

, and spent the 2007 season with its AAA affiliate, the

New Orleans Zephyrs New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

. On May 11, 2008, Tatís was called up from the Zephyrs to replace Ángel Pagán. Tatís had started playing

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

in the minor leagues to become a more versatile player. On May 28, Tatís hit a walk-off double against Justin Miller to defeat the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

in the bottom of the 12th inning. This was Tatís's first career walk-off hit. Tatís played most of his time with the Mets in left field and right field because of injuries to usual starters Moisés Alou and

Ryan Church Ryan Matthew Church (born October 14, 1978) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Career Mi ...

. On September 16, 2008, Tatís separated his shoulder diving for a fly ball in a game against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

. The Mets team physician diagnosed the injury as a Grade III separation, a complete separation of the joint from the socket. Due to this, Tatís missed the rest of the 2008 regular season. Despite missing the end of the season, on October 23, 2008, Tatís received the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award for the National League. Tatís was named to the

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2 ...

for the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an International Baseball Federation, international baseball competition. It began on March 5 and finished March 23. Unlike in 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2006, when the Round-robin tournament, round- ...

as a replacement for

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

, who was injured. Tatís played intermittently for the Mets in 2009 and 2010. His last Major League game was on July 4, 2010. He was also the latest New York Met to wear uniform number 17, which was taken out of circulation as a mark of respect for

Keith Hernandez Keith Hernandez (born October 20, 1953) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, and Cleveland Indians. Hernandez was a five-time Major League ...

, who wore it for the Mets from 1983 to 1989. On April 1, 2014, Tatís signed with the Vaqueros Laguna of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He was released on May 1. In 23 games he hit .241/.348/.367 with 2 home runs and 10 RBIs. On October 5, 2014, Tatís announced his retirement as a player. For his career, he batted .265 with 113 home runs and 448 RBI.

Post-playing career

In January 2018, 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

announced that Tatís had joined their minor league organization as manager of one of their two

rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Dominican Summer League Red Sox teams. He returned for the 2019 season, but was no longer with the organization entering the 2020 season.

Personal life

Tatís's father, Fernando Antonio Tatís, was also a professional baseball player. He was an infielder in the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

system from 1969 through 1978, reaching as high as

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

before retiring and moving on to

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

and

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

Houston's minor leaguers. The elder Tatís disappeared from Fernando's life when he was four years old. The two were not reunited until 1997 when the younger Tatís was a rookie with the Texas Rangers. Rangers scout

, whom Tatís described as a

father figure A father figure is usually an older man, normally one with power, authority, or strength, with whom one can identify on a deeply psychology, psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. Despite the literal t ...

, related the story of Tatís's search for his father to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' national baseball writer Murray Chass. Chass wrote about the search and that article led to the reunion of Tatís and his father. His mother is Yudelca Tatís. Tatís' older son Fernando Tatís Jr. is a

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

and

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 catch ...

for the

. His younger son Elijah is a middle infielder playing in the

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

farm system .

References

External links

Fernando Tatis Sr.
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatis, Fernando 1975 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players Brevard County Manatees players Caribbean Series managers Charleston RiverDogs players Charlotte Rangers players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Estrellas Orientales players Gulf Coast Rangers players Leones del Escogido players Major League Baseball utility players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Mexican League baseball third basemen Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos players New Orleans Zephyrs players New York Mets players Oklahoma City 89ers players Ottawa Lynx players Baseball players from San Pedro de Macorís St. Louis Cardinals players Texas Rangers players Tulsa Drillers players Vaqueros Laguna players World Baseball Classic players of the Dominican Republic 2009 World Baseball Classic players

Playing career

Post-playing career

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading

External links