Fernando Gabriel Tatís Medina Sr. (born January 1, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball third baseman and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) manager. Over his 11-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Tatís played for the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Mets. He holds the major league record for runs batted in (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.

Playing career

At the age of 17, Tatís was signed as an amateur free agent by Omar Minaya and the Texas Rangers on August 25, 1992. Tatís played his first game in Major League Baseball with the Rangers, at third base, 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 St. Louis Cardinals for Royce Clayton and Todd Stottlemyre. Tatís had the best season of his career in 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit 34 home runs with 107 RBI and 21

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled 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 ...

s, with a .298 batting average. On April 23, 1999, Tatís made baseball history when he 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 team ...

. He is the only batter in MLB history to accomplish this feat. Tatís hit both of his grand slams against starting pitcher

Chan Ho Park Chan Ho Park (; ; born June 30, 1973) is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher. Park was the first South Korea-born player in MLB history. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, ...

of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With these two grand slams, Tatís also set a Major League record with eight runs batted in during a single inning. After playing only 96 games for the Cardinals in 2000 because of an injury, Tatís was traded to the Montreal Expos along with

Britt Reames Britt William Reames (born August 19, 1973) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of six seasons in the major leagues, between and , for four teams. Amateur career Reames attended Seneca Senior High School in Seneca, Sout ...

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 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 Baltimore Orioles 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 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). ...

Ottawa Lynx, 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 Los Angeles Dodgers. 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 New York Mets, and spent the 2007 season with its AAA affiliate, the

New Orleans Zephyrs New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. On May 11, 2008, Tatís was called up from the Zephyrs to replace Ángel Pagán. Tatís had started playing outfield 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 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. On September 16, 2008, Tatís separated his shoulder diving for a fly ball in a game against the Washington Nationals. 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 ''The Sporting News'' Comeback Player of the Year Award is the oldest of three annual awards in Major League Baseball given to one player in each league who has reemerged as a star in that season. It was established in 1965. The winner in each le ...

for the National League. Fernando Tatis 2009 (cropped)

Tatís was named to the Dominican Republic national baseball team for the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

as a replacement for Alex Rodriguez, 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, who wore it for the Mets from 1983 to 1989. 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 announced that Tatís had joined their minor league organization as manager of one of their two rookie-level 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, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

system from 1969 through 1978, reaching as high as Class AAA before retiring and moving on to coaching and

scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

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 Omar Minaya, whom Tatís described as a father figure, related the story of Tatís's search for his father to '' The New York Times'' 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. Fernando Gabriel Tatís Medina Jr. (born January 2, 1999), nicknamed "El Niño" or "Bebo", is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop and outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB player ...

is a shortstop and outfielder for the San Diego Padres. His younger son Elijah is a middle infielder playing in the Chicago White Sox 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 infielders Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball right fielders 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 Sportspeople 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