Manuel De Jesús Alexander (born March 20, 1971) 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. He has played for the

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 ...

(–, –),

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 ...

(),

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

(1997–),

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 ...

(), Texas Rangers () and

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. ...

(–). He bats and throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

Career

Baltimore Orioles

Alexander was signed as a 16-year-old 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

on February 4, 1988. Alexander made his big league debut with the Orioles at the age of 21 on September 18, 1992, during a 12–4 loss to the

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 ...

. Alexander appeared as a defensive replacement for

Cal Ripken Jr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed "the Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire 21-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). ...

in the bottom of the seventh inning and struck out in his only

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, b ...

of the game. Alexander made a brief pitching appearance in an April 19, 1996 game against the Texas Rangers. The Orioles entered the bottom of the 8th inning down 10–7.

Armando Benítez Armando Germán Benítez (born November 3, 1972) is a Dominican former major league relief pitcher. Benítez debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 1994 and within a few years became their closer. He was a reliever for several other organizations ...

surrendered a single and two walks before being replaced by

Jesse Orosco Jesse Russell Orosco (born April 21, 1957) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 2003 for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimor ...

. Orosco then gave up two walks, six hits, and a

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

, giving the Rangers a 17–7 lead. With the game now out of reach, manager

Davey Johnson David Allen Johnson (born January 30, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played as a second baseman from through , most notably in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty t ...

brought in Alexander to pitch. Alexander walked the first three batters he faced (all with the bases loaded), allowed a sacrifice fly, walked another hitter, and then surrendered a grand slam to

Kevin Elster Kevin Daniel Elster (born August 3, 1964) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. Known primarily for his fielding, Elster broke a 42-year-old Major League Baseball record by playing 88 consecutive games at shortstop without commit ...

before finally getting a groundout to end the 16-run inning.

New York Mets

Alexander was traded by the Orioles along with

Scott McClain Scott Michael McClain (born May 19, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman who is a scout in Nippon Professional Baseball. Early years A versatile athlete, he played quarterback for Atascadero High School in Atascader ...

to the New York Mets for Héctor Ramírez on March 22, 1997. He appeared in many games that spring, hitting .248 with two

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 and 14 RBI,

stealing Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

11 bases in 11 attempts, in 54 games with the Mets before being named on August 14 as the player to be named later in an earlier trade. The Mets sent Alexander, Lance Johnson, and Mark Clark to the Chicago Cubs for

Brian McRae Brian Wesley McRae (; born August 27, 1967) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays from to . McRae is the son of fo ...

Mel Rojas Melquíades Rojas Medrano (born December 10, 1966) is a Dominican former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher. From 1990 to 1999, he played for the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers of the National Leagu ...

, and

Turk Wendell Steven John "Turk" Wendell (born May 19, 1967) is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four National League (NL) teams, in all or parts of 11 seasons, between and . ...

Chicago Cubs

Alexander hit .293 with a homer and seven RBI in 33 games with the Cubs in his six weeks with the team in 1997. In , he hit .227 in 108 games with Chicago, belting out a career-high five home runs. In 1999, Alexander appeared in 90 games with the Cubs and hit .271, the highest batting average of his career. His relative success in the regular season did not translate to post-season glory as Alexander went 0-for-5 in two games during the

1998 National League Division Series The 1998 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1998 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, September 29, and ended on Sunday, October 4, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team� ...

against 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 ...

. The Cubs traded Alexander on December 12, 1999, to the Boston Red Sox for

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 ...

Damon Buford Damon Jackson Buford (born June 12, 1970) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played for the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1 ...

Boston Red Sox

Alexander hit .211 with four home runs and 19 RBI in 101 games with the Red Sox in 2000, his lone season in Boston. On June 30, 2000, during a traffic stop, police discovered a bottle of anabolic

steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...

and two hypodermic needles in a

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

owned by Alexander that had been loaned to team bat boy Carlos Cowart, a high school student. Cowart was arrested for driving without a license and previous charges of driving without a license and failing to stop for police. Massachusetts State Police initially sought steroid possession charges against Alexander, but opted not to after the ballplayer's lawyers provided evidence that at least five people had access to the vehicle. Alexander's name appeared in the

Mitchell Report The ''Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball'', informally known as the Mitchell Report, is the res ...

, released on December 13, 2007, as a result of the incident.

Texas Rangers

After the 2000 season and steroids incident, Alexander bounced around with minor league affiliates of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

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

, and

- as well as a brief stint playing in Mexico - before being purchased by the Texas Rangers on March 24, 2003. He spent the 2003 season in the Rangers' minor league system before returning to the big leagues after a three-season absence in 2004. His return was brief, however, as Alexander appeared in 21 games with Texas, hitting .238 (5-for-21) with three RBI and a pair of doubles.

San Diego Padres

He started the 2005 season in the minor leagues before he was traded by the Rangers on August 31 to the San Diego Padres for minor leaguer Juan Jimenez. Alexander appeared in 11 games with San Diego in 2005, hitting just .111 (2-for-18) with a double, playing each infield position at least once. He was released at the end of the season, but re-signed less than a month later. In 2006, Alexander reported late to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

with the Padres due to visa problems 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 ...

. Upon joining the team, he was optioned to San Diego's Triple-A affiliate, the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

. He split the 2006 season between Portland and San Diego, but was released by the Padres on October 12, 2006. In 2007, Alexander attended spring training with the Padres, but did not make the major league club. Assigned to Triple-A Portland for the third straight season, he played just 7 games before being released.

Washington Nationals

He then signed a minor league deal with 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 ...

playing for their Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. Alexander became a minor league free agent at the end of the season. In an eleven-season career, Alexander has posted a .231

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 ...

with 15 home runs and 115 RBI in 594

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

with six teams.

Philadelphia Phillies

On July 23, 2009 Alexander signed a minor league contract with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. Alexander became a free agent after the 2009 season. He has not played professionally since.

Italy

In 2008, Alexander signed to play with

Telemarket Rimini The Rimini Baseball Club, nicknamed the Pirates (), was a team that played in Serie A1 (baseball), Serie A1 Italian Baseball League. The team was based in the city of Rimini and played its home games at the Stadio dei Pirati since 1973. Rimini ha ...

in Italy's Serie A1. In his first season in Italy, he hits .331 with 2 home runs and 20 RBI. In 2009, he signed to play with

Caffè Danesi Nettuno Nettuno BC 1945 is an Italian baseball club located in Nettuno, a ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome. The club competes in the first division (Serie A) of the Italian Baseball League. Training and home matches are held at Stadio Steno B ...

in the Italian Baseball League.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Manny 1971 births Living people Azucareros del Este players Baltimore Orioles players Bluefield Orioles players Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Columbus Clippers players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Italy Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Frederick Keys players Hagerstown Suns players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Caffe Danesi Nettuno players New York Mets players Oklahoma RedHawks players Baseball players from San Pedro de Macorís Portland Beavers players Rimini Baseball Club players Rochester Red Wings players San Diego Padres players St. Lucie Mets players Tacoma Rainiers players Texas Rangers players Wausau Timbers players