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.

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 .
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic
*
List of Major League Baseball single-game grand slam leaders
*
List of Major League Baseball single-inning home run leaders
*
List of Major League Baseball single-inning runs batted in leaders
*
New York Mets award winners and league leaders This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the New York Mets professional baseball team.
Team award
*1969 – National League Championship Series Trophy
* – World Series TrophyThe World Series Trophy was first awarded in 1967. In 19 ...
References
Further reading
*
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