José Lind Salgado, nicknamed "Chico", is a Puerto Rican 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 ...

(MLB)

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

and former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the Atlantic League's Bridgeport Bluefish. He is the cousin of Onix Concepción, another former MLB player. Primarily a

, Lind was highly regarded for his defensive skills, winning a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

award in 1992.

Playing career

In 1982, Lind began his professional career by signing with the

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

as an undrafted

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 ...

. He did not hit for much power as a prospect, totaling only 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 five minor league seasons, but his strong defense helped him ensure a place in the organization's plans. Lind made his major league debut with the Pirates on August 28, , and the next day the Pirates traded incumbent second baseman Johnny Ray to the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

, clearing the full-time role for Lind. Lind would go on to play regularly for the Pirates for five more seasons, including the 1990–1992 squads that were the champions of the NL East. He never again equaled his rookie

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 ...

of .322, but he contributed a strong defensive presence, winning a

in 1992, which broke

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach (baseball), coach, and manager (baseball), manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second bas ...

's string of nine consecutive National League Gold Glove awards at second base and was the first by a Pirate second baseman since

Bill Mazeroski William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936), nicknamed "Maz" and "the Glove", is an American former second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1956 to 1972. A seven-time All- ...

's string of five consecutive awards from 1963–1967. He also acquired a reputation for whimsical behavior, as one might expect from a man nicknamed "Chico" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "Boy"). The photo on his 1991 Upper Deck baseball card shows him jumping over the head of 5'11" teammate Mike LaValliere, and he often surprised fellow players in the clubhouse by playfully brandishing one of the many knives he kept in his locker. In the ninth inning of the 7th game of the 1992 National League Championship Series (NLCS), Lind committed a crucial fielding error that led to a come-from-behind victory for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

. He did, however, receive a

award for his otherwise stellar defensive play that year. After the 1992 season, the Pirates traded Lind to the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

for Dennis Moeller and Joel Johnston. His performance declined in Kansas City, and at some point, he began to use

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

. He walked out on the Royals in the middle of 1995 after his wife filed for divorce, and they placed him on waivers shortly thereafter. The

put in a claim, and he struggled to a .163 batting average over 15 games with them, before getting released on August 31. 1995 was Lind's last major league season. He finished his career with a .254 batting average, a .295

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

, and a .316

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

in 3,677

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. Defensively, he recorded a .988

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

, playing every inning at second base.

Off-field problems

Lind's personal life remained troubled after his MLB career ended. Police were called to the home of his ex-wife, Lizza Lind, in July 1996, when he visited in violation of a

restraining order A restraining order or protective order is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation often involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and perso ...

and the situation escalated to physical violence, which was witnessed by his daughters. They arrested him for possession of cocaine, and he pleaded guilty to that charge in February of the next year. On November 21, 1997, highway police in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

stopped Lind for leaving the scene of an accident. They discovered that he was visibly intoxicated and that he had been driving while naked from the waist down. A search of his car revealed seven cans of beer and one gram of cocaine. Lind ended up spending a year in jail.

Managing career

Lind underwent rehabilitation for his addiction, and after his release from prison he signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. When manager Duffy Dyer left to take a position with the

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 ...

in February 2003, Lind was promoted to fill the vacant position. He managed the team to two second places finishes in three seasons before a 55–85 record in 2005 resulted in his dismissal. He went 200–192 as manager. He was replaced as manager of Bridgeport by former MLB pitcher Dave LaPoint.

References

External links

José Lind
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Lind, José 1964 births Living people Bridgeport Bluefish players California Angels players Gold Glove Award winners Gulf Coast Pirates players Kansas City Royals players Macon Pirates players Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball second basemen Nashua Pirates players People from Toa Baja, Puerto Rico Pittsburgh Pirates players Prince William Pirates players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Vancouver Canadians players