Alfredo Griffin

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Alfredo Claudino Griffin (born October 6, 1957 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player. He played shortstop.

1 Playing career
2 Coaching career
3 Teams
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links
7 Notes

[edit] Playing career

Alfredo began his career as a member of the Cleveland Indians, who signed him as an amateur free agent in 1973. On December 5, 1978, before having played a full season in the majors, he was traded along with Phil Lansford (minors) to the Toronto Blue Jays for Victor Cruz. Alfredo made an immediate impact, co-winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1979 with John Castino.

In 1984 he was named to the All-Star team. This was explained by John Feinstein of the Washington Post as: "Making the All-Star team the hard way: Major league baseball pays the expenses for each player here and for one guest. In most cases, players bring wives or girlfriends. Damaso Garcia, the Toronto Blue Jays' second baseman, brought his shortstop, Alfredo Griffin. When the Tigers' Alan Trammell hurt his arm and could not play tonight, Manager Joe Altobelli named Griffin to the team, partly because he's a fine player, but mostly because he was here."^[1]

Griffin won the AL Gold Glove Award for a shortstop in 1985, and was the starting shortstop of the 1988 World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers team, and called one of the overachieving "stunt men" of that team who helped win the championship.

[edit] Coaching career

He is currently a coach for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in MLB, and also for the Estrellas Orientales (Eastern Stars) in his native Dominican Republic's Winter League.

[edit] Teams

Cleveland Indians (1976-1978)
Toronto Blue Jays (1979-1984, 1992-1993)
Oakland Athletics (1985-1987)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1988-1991)

[edit] Trivia

Griffin's signature dish is made up of diced Slim Jims and peas, which are mixed inro a bowl of mashed potatoes. Heroes Restaurant in Toronto was the first known establishment to serve the "Alfredo Griffin".
During the game in which his consecutive game streak ended, Griffin scored the winning run. This oddity happened because an official appearance in a major league game requires the player to either play an inning of defense or have a plate appearance (per Rule 10.24(c) of baseball's Official Rules). As a pinch runner, Griffin had neither.
Was on the on deck circle when Joe Carter hit game-winning home run in 1993 World Series.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Coaching Staff Rotation Bullpen Catchers Infielders Outfielders Disabled List:		Manager: Mike Scioscia • Bench: Ron Roenicke • Pitching: Mike Butcher Hitting: Mickey Hatcher • Bullpen: Orlando Mercado • First Base: Alfredo Griffin Third Base: Dino Ebel John Lackey • Ervin Santana • Joe Saunders • Kelvim Escobar • Jered Weaver Chris Bootcheck • Héctor Carrasco • Brendan Donnelly • Greg Jones Dustin Moseley • Chris Resop • Francisco Rodríguez • Scot Shields • Justin Speier Jeff Mathis • José Molina • Mike Napoli Erick Aybar • Orlando Cabrera • Chone Figgins • Maicer Izturis • Howie Kendrick Dallas McPherson • Kendry Morales • Robb Quinlan Garret Anderson • Darin Erstad • Vladimir Guerrero • Gary Matthews, Jr. • Tommy Murphy Juan Rivera • Reggie Willits Bartolo Colón • Casey Kotchman