In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Vizquel and the second or maternal family name is González.
Baseball player
Omar Vizquel
Vizquel with the Chicago White Sox in 2011
Shortstop
Born: (1967-04-24) April 24, 1967 (age 57) Caracas, Venezuela
Batted: Switch
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 3, 1989, for the Seattle Mariners
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 2012, for the Toronto Blue Jays
MLB statistics
Batting average
.272
Hits
2,877
Home runs
80
Runs batted in
951
Teams
As player
Seattle Mariners (1989–1993)
Cleveland Indians (1994–2004)
San Francisco Giants (2005–2008)
Texas Rangers (2009)
Chicago White Sox (2010–2011)
Toronto Blue Jays (2012)
As coach
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2013)
Detroit Tigers (2014–2017)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star (1998, 1999, 2002)
11× Gold Glove Award (1993–2001, 2005, 2006)
Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame
Member of the Venezuelan
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction
2018
Vote
77%
Election method
Contemporary Committee
Omar Enrique Vizquel González (Spanish pronunciation:[oˈmaɾβisˈkel]; born April 24, 1967), nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. During his 24-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays. In Venezuela he played for Leones del Caracas. From 2014 to 2017, he was the Detroit Tigers' first-base, infield and baserunning coach. He was manager for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League.
Widely considered one of baseball's all-time best fielding shortstops, Vizquel won 11 Gold Glove Awards, including nine consecutive from 1993 to 2001. Among shortstops, his .985 fielding percentage is tied for highest all-time, he is the all-time leader in games played, and the all-time leader in double plays turned. Vizquel tied Cal Ripken Jr.'s American League record for most consecutive games at shortstop without an error (95, between September 26, 1999, and July 21, 2000), since surpassed.[1] Vizquel ranked as the all-time hits leader among players from Venezuela (2,877; 44th all-time) until May 12, 2021, when he was surpassed by Miguel Cabrera.[2] Vizquel has third-most hits all time among shortstops, behind Derek Jeter and Honus Wagner. Vizquel is also the career sacrifice hits leader of the live-ball era.
At the time of his retirement, Vizquel was the oldest position player in the Major Leagues, and the only active position player with service time in the 1980s. He is one of only 31 players in baseball history to play in Major League games in four decades, and the only one who played shortstop. On May 7, 2012, Vizquel became the oldest player to play at shortstop in Major League history, surpassing Bobby Wallace, who played 12 games with the St. Louis Cardinals at the age of 44 in 1918.[3]
Vizquel was the last active player in any of the major North American professional sports leagues to have played in the 1980s.[4] Starting in 2020, various allegations of domestic abuse and sexual assault emerged against him.[5][6][7]
^"Cooperstown Bound? – Omar Vizquel". Washington Times. June 11, 2008. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
^Beck, Jason (May 12, 2021). "Miggy tops in MLB hits for Venezuelan player". MLB.com. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
^"Vizquel sets mark as oldest to play shortstop". Toronto Blue Jays. MLB. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
^"Omar Vizquel – Society for American Baseball Research". Society for American Baseball Research. November 12, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
^Rosenthal, Katie Strang and Ken. "Omar Vizquel accused of domestic abuse: 'He's not the person that you see'". The Athletic. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^"Ex-All-Star Vizquel accused of domestic violence". ESPN.com. December 16, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^Strang, Katie; James Fegan (August 7, 2021). "Omar Vizquel sued for sexual harassment by former Birmingham Barons batboy". The Athletic. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
Omar Enrique Vizquel González (Spanish pronunciation: [oˈmaɾ βisˈkel]; born April 24, 1967), nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional...
first, thanks to RBI singles by David Justice for the Indians after OmarVizquel doubled with one out and Jeff Conine for the Marlins with two on. Ogea...
basemen with 10 wins. Other players with 10 or more wins include shortstop OmarVizquel (11), catcher Johnny Bench (10), third basemen Mike Schmidt (10), and...
1990) OmarVizquel: .9954 (Cleveland Indians, 2000) Rey Sánchez: .9941 (Kansas City Royals, 2000) Rey Ordóñez: .9938 (New York Mets, 1999) OmarVizquel: ...
he captured 13 awards in his 19 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. OmarVizquel is second among shortstops with 11 wins; he won two with the San Francisco...
nine Gold Glove Awards, setting a league record since matched only by OmarVizquel; he led the AL in fielding percentage eight consecutive years, and in...
runs and hits by a Venezuelan player, surpassing Andrés Galarraga and OmarVizquel respectively. He joined the 500 home run club in 2021 and the 3,000 hit...
and were the most by any non-first baseman in history until shortstop OmarVizquel passed him in 2009. Mazeroski led the National League (NL) in double...
Michael Jordan. Speeches were made by Willie Mays, Giants teammates OmarVizquel and Rich Aurilia, and Giants owner Peter Magowan. Mayor Gavin Newsom...
Taylor Gene Tenace Bobby Thigpen Frank Thomas Pie Traynor Robin Ventura OmarVizquel (manager) Phil Weintraub Bob Wickman Birmingham Black Barons Reitz, Ian...
temporarily unretired with his approval for fellow Venezuelan shortstop OmarVizquel. Vizquel played the 2010 and 2011 seasons with the White Sox. Date of formal...
to 2007 ranked second among active players at the time, only behind OmarVizquel. Glavine won four Silver Slugger Awards, ranking him second all-time...
citizenship. As a child, he modeled his game after native Caracas infielder OmarVizquel. In 2007, his family relocated to Davie, Florida. Guillorme attended...
runs (207), and stolen bases (132). Led by speedsters Kenny Lofton and OmarVizquel, along with Carlos Baerga at the top of the order, the Indians offense...
Carlos Beltrán 3rd Alex Rodriguez 4th Manny Ramirez 9th Chase Utley 2nd OmarVizquel 8th Bobby Abreu 6th Jimmy Rollins 4th Andy Pettitte 7th Mark Buehrle...
Scutaro Luis Sojo Gleyber Torres César Tovar Manny Trillo Guillermo Vento OmarVizquel Luis Zuloaga John Cox Carl Herrera Donta Smith Óscar Torres Gregory Vargas...
who have chosen 13 as their number, are Venezuelans Dave Concepción, OmarVizquel, Oswaldo Guillén and Pastor Maldonado due to the number being considered...
of corked bats was later given more emphasis when Cleveland teammate OmarVizquel wrote in his 2002 autobiography that it would be naive to suggest otherwise...
OmarVizquel and Andrés Galarraga. He practiced baseball in an empty two-car garage with his older brother, Michael. His favorite players were Omar Vizquel...
baseball grew watching games on TV, while idolizing his favorite player OmarVizquel. Torres also played basketball briefly in high school, but he quit the...
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