Sergio Ferrer Marrero (born January 29, 1951) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Minnesota Twins

Ferrer was born in

Santurce, Puerto Rico Santurce (, from the Basque '' Santurtzi'' which means Saint George) is a barrio or district in the municipality of San Juan. Its population in 2020 was 69,469. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the barrios in the capital city ...

, and signed with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

at nineteen years old. After three seasons in their farm system, in which he batted .280 with nine

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

and 121

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

, he was taken by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

in the rule 5 draft. Ferrer made the Twins out of

Spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

, and immediately made an impact on his new club. In the season opener, he went two-for-five with two

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

. The second came in the eleventh inning, when the speedy Ferrer scored from second base on a deep

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 ...

to centerfield by Larry Hisle. He spent the first two months of the season as the Twins' starting shortstop, batting a respectable .281 and scoring twelve runs in the lead-off spot of the Twins' batting order, however, his inconsistent fielding led Twins

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Frank Quilici to give the starting shortstop job back to incumbent

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mar ...

. He was optioned to the triple A Tacoma Twins in late May, but his glove showed no improvement, and he remained in the minors for the rest of the season. Ferrer again started the season in the majors in . He got most of his playing time early in the season backing up Hall of Famer Rod Carew at second, but the switch hitter was soon moved into a

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrol A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as Law enforcement officer, law enforcement officers, military personnel, or Security guard, secur ...

with Thompson at short. It proved effective, as Ferrer batted .333 against

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

pitchers. Regardless, he was optioned back to Tacoma at the start of June much to the dismay of Carew, who openly expressed his unhappiness with this decision. After the season, he was traded to the

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

for

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

Larry Cox.

New York Mets

With All-Stars Larry Bowa and Dave Cash in the Phillies' middle

infield Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass ...

, Ferrer was unable to crack the major league roster, and spent the season in triple A. Following Cash's departure via free agency, Ferrer went into Spring training battling Ted Sizemore for the job at second base. When Sizemore won the job, Ferrer was dealt to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

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 c ...

Kerry Dineen. After one season with the triple A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

, he went cross-town to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

in exchange for

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

Roy Staiger at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 9, 1977. When starting shortstop Tim Foli tore the outer ligament on his left knee early in the season, Ferrer saw his first major league action in nearly three years. Unfortunately for Ferrer, Mets manager

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief bas ...

opted to shift second baseman Doug Flynn to short, and added Bobby Valentine to his starting line-up at second rather than giving playing time to Ferrer. He appeared in 37 games for the Mets, mostly as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been subs ...

or late inning defensive replacement. Once Foli returned from the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

, Ferrer was optioned back to triple A Tidewater. He returned to the club in late July, but his role didn't change much. His stint with the Mets in proved even less eventful; he appeared in 32 games and logged just nine

plate appearances In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

Liga Mexicana de Béisbol

Midway through the season, Ferrer was released by the Mets. He briefly played minor league ball with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

before heading to

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

to play in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

, where he played through . In , he played for the

St. Petersburg Pelicans The St. Petersburg Pelicans were one of the eight original franchises that began playing in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. The team was managed by Bobby Tolan, while Dick Bosman, Ozzie Virgil, Sr. and Tom Zimmer served as c ...

and St. Lucie Legends in the Senior Professional Baseball Association.

References

External links

Sergio Ferrer
at Ultimate Mets Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrer, Sergio Major League Baseball shortstops Minnesota Twins players New York Mets players Indianapolis Indians players Daytona Beach Dodgers players Oklahoma City 89ers players Tacoma Twins players Tidewater Tides players Bakersfield Dodgers players Syracuse Chiefs players El Paso Dodgers players People from Santurce, Puerto Rico Waterbury Dodgers players St. Petersburg Pelicans players St. Lucie Legends players Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico 1951 births Living people Plataneros de Tabasco players Piratas de Campeche players Petroleros de Poza Rica players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico