Israel Crisóstomo "Izzy" Alcántara (born May 6, 1971) is a former

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 ...

player for 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 ...

and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Minor leagues

Alcántara 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 ...

by the

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 ...

in 1990. In the minor leagues, Alcantara was very successful, with at least 27 home runs and an

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of .940 or higher in each of his seasons from 1997 to 2001. He led the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

in home runs twice, with 36 in 2001 and 27 in 2002. His

of 1.023 in 2000 was the best in the International League. In all his minor league years he batted .283 with 239 home runs and 988 runs batted in.

Boston Red Sox

Alcántara's minor league success did not carry over to the little time he spent in the Major Leagues, as he played parts of two seasons for the

, debuting in the major leagues on June 25, 2000. That season, he hit .289 with four

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 in 45

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. Despite some success at the plate, Alcántara quickly found himself deep on the Red Sox bench after irking Boston manager

Jimy Williams James Francis Williams (October 4, 1943 – January 26, 2024) was an American professional baseball infielder, Coach (baseball), coach and Manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1966 ...

by a perceived lack of hustle during a game against 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 ...

. For a time, Williams refused to play Alcántara despite general manager Dan Duquette's insistence the outfielder be put in the lineup of a team that suffered from low power numbers. In , Alcántara's average declined to .263 with no home runs in 38 at bats in Boston although he continued to smash AAA pitching. Alcántara is remembered for an incident while he was playing with the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

, Boston's AAA affiliate of the

. On July 3, 2001, after being brushed back a second time by

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders, are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the S ...

pitcher Blas Cedeño, Alcántara turned around, kicking catcher Jeremy Salazar,

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

-style, in the mask before charging the mound, throwing an unsuccessful punch at Cedeño before turning around as other players joined the fight until he was tackled by Kevin Orie. Alcántara was suspended for six games and lost his spot on the

's All Star squad over the incident.

Milwaukee Brewers

Before the season, he was signed as a free agent by the

, where he hit .250 with 2 home runs in 32 at bats. His final Major League game was on August 22, 2002, and he was released by the team after that season.

Later career

2003

Alcántara then played in 2003 with 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 ...

team

Vaqueros Laguna The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

but after agreeing a release with his Mexican team, he moved to the Korean league after he played 61 games with 14 home runs and a .341 batting average. He signed a US$100,000 contract with

LG Twins The LG Twins () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul, South Korea. They are a member of the KBO League. The Twins play their home games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which they share with their rivals, the Doosan Bears. ...

including a US$30,000 signing bonus.

2004

He came back to Vaqueros Laguna for the 2004 season, but this time Vaqueros arranged a high

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

to his contract in order to have him the whole season. On 24 March 2004 he tied a Mexican league record after hitting 8 home runs in six games, tying the previous record set by the Mexican Héctor Espino in 1969. He was selected to play the Mexican home run derby where he made it to the final round losing to the American Morgan Burkhart 7-8. He finished the season leading the Mexican league in home runs with 27. After the Mexican league imposed a

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

starting in the 2004 season, that Alcántara refused to accept, his was then suspended. He returned to the Korean baseball for the 2004 season with

Doosan Bears The Doosan Bears () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and play their home game ...

. Playing the Korean playoff against the Kia Tigers and winning 2–0 but losing to Samsung Lions 1–3 and winning the league third place.

2005

He played for

Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

in , where he was nicknamed "

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". He hit 15 home-runs in 44 games, with a batting average of .330, but was released for reasons never fully explained by the management. He later played with the Mexican team Rojos del Águila de Veracruz, posting a .281 with five home runs and 15 RBI in just 27 games. He then joined Rojos del Águila de Veracruz in July in the late part for the league playoffs fight but his team was disqualified by Tigres de la Angelópolis. Alcántara also played four games for the

New Jersey Jackals The New Jersey Jackals are a professional baseball team based in Paterson, New Jersey. The Jackals compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the East Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was founded in 1998 by Floyd Hall and is ...

of the independent Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, homering on 10 August before being released on 15 August.

2007

Alcántara contributed with the Colombian team Caimanes de Barranquilla 2007–08 league championship, when he hit a home run in the 10th inning of the fourth game of the best-of-7 series that his team swept.

Winter league

Alcantara played for the Dominican team

Tigres del Licey Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tigres is the oldest team in LIDOM and ...

from 1994–95 to the 2004–05 season, winning the 2004 Caribbean Series and the All-Star team selection. He led 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 ...

in home runs in the 1999-00 season with six, and had 10 HR with 34 RBI and the 2002–03 when he hit 9 HR and had produced 21 RBI. He was released by Licey after hitting .171 with only 4 homers, but surpassing Alonzo Perry with 47 home runs with the Licey uniform and played with

Leones del Escogido Leones del Escogido (English: ''Chosen One Lions'' or ''Lions of Chosen One'' or ''Picked Lions'') is a professional baseball team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Established in , Leones are the third most successful team in the Dominican Pr ...

in the 2005–06 and finally with

Estrellas Orientales Estrellas Orientales (English: Eastern Stars), also known as Estrellas de Oriente, is a baseball team in the Dominican Winter League. Based in San Pedro de Macorís, the team has historically struggled, winning championships only in 1936, 1954, ...

and later for

Gigantes del Cibao The Gigantes del Cibao (English language, English: Cibao Giants) are a baseball team that plays in the Dominican Winter League. The team was founded in 1996 as ''Gigantes del Noroeste ''then with a change of ownership the name was changed severa ...

for the 2006–07 season, retiring in fourth place with 52 HR in the Dominican league. He acted as assistant coach for Tigres del Licey in the 2009–10 season. Since 2015, Alcantara acted as assistant coach for Leones del Escogido and became a Christian.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcantara, Izzy 1971 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players Boston Red Sox players Burlington Bees players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in South Korea Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Doosan Bears players Dominican Republic Protestants Gigantes del Cibao players Gulf Coast Expos players Harrisburg Senators players Indianapolis Indians players Leones de Yucatán players LG Twins players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball right fielders Mexican League baseball first basemen Mexican League baseball outfielders Milwaukee Brewers players New Jersey Jackals players Orlando Rays players Pawtucket Red Sox players Baseball players from Baní Reading Phillies players Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players St. Petersburg Devil Rays players Trenton Thunder players Uni-President Lions players Vaqueros Laguna players West Palm Beach Expos players