Last year he was a skinny figure wearing No. 72 in spring training. The bespectacled native of Venezuela wasn't even expected to make the team. Instead, he became baseball's biggest success story. He hit .282, outstanding for a shortstop, and was brilliant in the field.
Now, there's no such remark as 'How can a team win with a guy named Alvaro Espinoza as its starting shortstop?' Instead, Alvaro's been penciled in as a major contributor. This season he's being asked to further solidify the shortstop position and contribute at the plate. In short, Alvaro Espinoza is one of the keys for Yankee success in 1990.
'Sometimes I don't know why it took me so long to make it,' Alvaro says. 'I just thank God for this chance, and I hope to be a regular player here for the rest of my career.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"1989 was an outstanding season for the Yankee shortstop. Entering the year he had played in 73 career games over a four-year span and hit .235 with three doubles and 10 RBIs. In 1989, Espinoza played in 146 games and hit .282 with 23 doubles and 41 RBIs.
He started out slowly, going 4-for-25 over his first 14 games. He then hit in six straight games from April 19-25, going 10-for-21 and raising his average from .216 to .296. Alvaro ended April with a .286 average and played solid defense, committing only two errors in the month.
In May, Alvaro again started the month slowly, going 6-for-38 (.158). He hit .250 for the month and again had only two errors in a month. Alvaro played in 45 of the club's 50 games through May and also had seven sacrifice hits at the end of the month. He had a season best 10-game hitting streak from May 27-June 8, going 13-for-38 (.342) and raising his average from .248 to .270.
In June, Alvaro hit in 17 of 24 games and committed five errors. He went hitless in consecutive games only once. He hit safely in the No. 2 spot in the batting order three times in June and hit safely in each game, going 3-for-11. Alvaro had a four-game hit streak from June 24-29.
He was hitting .266 with 15 sacrifice hits at the All-Star break and had an average month in July until the final seven games, hitting .245 (13-for-53) through July 23. Batting in the No. 2 slot from July 24-29, Espy hit safely in four of five games (.563, 9-for-16). For the month he hit .300 and made three errors while playing in 25 of the club's 27 games.
August was another productive month for Espy as he hit .347. Batting in the second, seventh and eighth positions in the order, he put together hitting streaks of three (5-for-12), three (5-for-12), four (7-for-17), six (13-for-24) and eight (9-for-32) games. Espinoza did not go hitless in consecutive games in August and did not commit an error while playing in 30 of 31 games.
September was up and down. Espy went 1-for-4 on September 1, bringing his average to a season high .296, and also committed his first error in 32 games. From September 5-9 he hit in five straight games (5-for-21), then went hitless in four straight games for the first time since April 6-11, when he went hitless in a season worst five consecutive games. Alvaro hit .297 after the All-Star break and ended the season by hitting in three consecutive games, going 7-for-13 with four doubles and bringing his average to a season-ending .282.
During the season he batted in four positions in the order: second, seventh, eighth and ninth. Alvaro batted second in 35 games, hitting safely in 29, and posted a .336 average, with 10 of his 23 sacrifice hits and 14 multi-hit games, including all five of his three-hit games. He batted six times in the No. 7 slot, hitting safely in four games while hitting .273 (6-for-22) with no sacrifice hits and two multi-hit games. He batted seven times in the No. 9 slot, hitting safely in four games while hitting .154 (4-for-26) with one sacrifice hit and no multi-hit games. Espy most frequently batted in the No. 8 spot, batting there 98 times, hitting safely in 60 games, while hitting .269 with 12 sacrifice hits and 23 multi-hit games.
Espinoza finished second in the majors in sacrifice hits with 23 (Felix Fermin had 32), the most by a Yankee since Bobby Meacham in 1985 and Phil Rizzuto in 1952, who each also had 23; the last Yankee with more was Rizzuto with 25 in 1951. In club rankings, he was third in hits (142) and doubles (23), fourth in games (146) and at-bats (503). Defensively among American League shortstops, Espy ranked seventh in fielding percentage (.970), second in double plays (119), fourth in games (146), fifth in putouts (237), assists (471) and total chances (730).
He had his first career three-hit game on July 24 at Cleveland, one of five he would post on the season. He scored runs in four consecutive games from June 24-29 (five total) and also scored runs in three straight games twice. Alvaro hit a team high .383 against left-handed pitching and .235 against right-handers, hit .299 at home and .267 on the road and hit .333 with men in scoring position.
Alvaro signed a contract for the 1990 season.
Espinoza was signed as a free agent by the Houston Astros on October 30, 1978, and hit .219 for Sarasota in 1979. In 1980, he hit .215 for Sarasota and led Gulf Coast League shortstops in assists (217), double plays (33) and total chances (356). He was released by Houston in September 1980 and was out of baseball in 1981.
In March 1982 Alvaro was scouted and signed by Hank Izquierdo of the Minnesota Twins organization as a free agent and that year hit .266 at Wisconsin Rapids. He had a career best .319 batting average in 1983 over 130 games with Visalia. He led California League shortstops in total chances (630).
At Toledo in 1984, Alvaro walked three times in 368 plate appearances, a ratio of once every 122.7 plate appearances. He tied for the International League in sacrifice hits with 16.
Playing 82 games at Toledo in 1985, Alvaro also played 32 games with the Twins, getting his first major league hit on August 13 against Oakland, a single off Tommy John. In 1986, he hit .214 in 37 games with the Twins and .281 at Toledo. He led International League shortstops with 159 putouts.
Alvaro played a full season at AAA Portland in 1987 and hit .275 over 91 games. He was granted free agency in October. Recommended by Yankee scout Don Lindeberg and signed by Yankee scout Fred Ferreira, Alvaro was signed by the Yankees as a six-year minor league free agent in November 1987. He hit .246 at Columbus in 1988, appearing in 119 games. He spent eight days with the Yankees (August 3-11) when Willie Randolph pulled a rib cage muscle and went 0-for-3 in three games.
He went to high school in Valencia, Venezuela where he played baseball and basketball. He played Little League in Valencia."
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