"Infielder Randy Velarde is in a catch-22. By proving he can be ready when he is needed, Velarde has earned himself a spot with the Yankees in a backup role. At the same time, he wants to play every day. At age 28, moving closer to becoming a utility infielder, Velarde must step to the front if he wants to become the team's regular third baseman.
The Yankees have talked about filling that position by trading for a left-handed hitter or by letting Velarde and Mike Blowers vie for the position.
'The only thing I can do is to play my game and make their decision a tough one,' says Velarde, who's been there before. In 1988 he was recalled from Columbus five different times. In August 1989 he suffered a rib cage injury just when he seemed ready to become a starter. And last year no one permanently seized the Yankees' third base job. If he wants to become a starter, the time is now for Randy Velarde."
-The New York Yankees Official 1991 Yearbook
"Randy spent the entire 1990 season with the Yankees, his first full season in the major leagues.
His season started out slowly, as he hit .125 (2-for-16) over 10 games (5 starts) in April. He went hitless in his first 10 at-bats through eight-plus games before notching his first hit on April 29 against California, going 2-for-3.
He hit .191 (9-for-47) in May, raising his average 50 points to .175. On May 11 in Seattle he made his first ever start in left field and on May 19 against Kansas City had his only three-hit game of 1990.
Velarde began June with a season best five-game hitting streak, batting .389 (7-for-18) and raising his average 47 points to .222. His first of five 1990 home runs was an 8th inning two-run shot on June 5 at Boston off Jeff Reardon to tie the score 8-8 in a 9-8 Yankee loss. Velarde hit .224 in June and as he did in May started 14 games (3B-11, SS-2, LF-1).
At the break he was hitting .193 with a home run and five RBIs over 46 games (33 starts). Randy appeared in 13 games in July and made only six starts (3B-5, SS-1), hitting .190 (4-for-21) for the month.
August proved to be Randy's strongest month as he hit .250 (7-for-28), 60 points higher than July. He hit two home runs that month, August 28 at Baltimore off Jose Mesa and on August 31 at Boston off Greg A. Harris.
Randy finished off the season by seeing more action in September/October than in any other month. He appeared in 24 games while starting 19, his most of any month, and hit .235 (16-for-68) with eight RBIs. He hit .227 (25-for-110) with four homers and 14 RBIs over 49 games (31 starts) after the break.
Overall in 1990, Velarde played in 95 games including 64 starts (3B-52, SS-8, LF-3, 2B-1). Along with Jim Leyritz, he was one of two Yankees to start at four positions. He hit .210 with career highs in hits (48) and RBIs (19). He had 12 multi-hit games and his five home runs accounted for 12 of his 19 RBIs. He hit .277 against left-handed pitchers as opposed to .183 against right-handers and hit .229 on grass and .122 on artificial surfaces. Velarde had 229 at-bats in 1990 after having a career major league total of 237 over parts of three seasons in the major leagues.
He signed a contract for the 1991 season.
Velarde was recalled from Columbus on July 28 and remained with the Yankees through the rest of the 1989 season. At the time of his recall he was hitting .266 with 26 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs and 53 RBIs over 103 games. Velarde made his '89 debut on July 28, coming in for Tom Brookens (who was injured swinging at a pitch) and went 2-for-4.
From July 28-August 7 he made 11 appearances, including starts in the last four games of that stretch, hitting .258. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 9 with a pulled rib cage muscle. Randy was activated on August 29 and was an impact player through the end of the season. He played in 22 games and hit .406 (28-for-69) with seven multi-hit games.
Randy hit in a career best 10 straight games from August 30-September 13 (16-for-34, .471) to raise his average from .258 to .355. He then hit safely in eight of 11 games through the end of the season (10-for-35, .286) to give him a season-ending average of .340.
On September 1 against California, Velarde homered off Mike Fetters, his first major league circuit clout since October 1, 1988. He hit his second and final home run of the 1989 campaign on September 22 at Baltimore off Dave Johnson.
Velarde made 25 starts, all at third base. He had 10 multi-hit games on the season and hit .450 (9-for-20) with men in scoring position.
Velarde broke into professional baseball in 1985, the 19th round selection of the White Sox in that year's June draft. He played 67 games at Niagara Falls, batting .220 with a home run and 16 RBIs. Randy was used as an outfielder and at second base in addition to his normal shortstop position.
He began the 1986 season playing for the White Sox 'A' affiliate in Appleton, batting .252 in 124 games with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs. He was promoted to Buffalo (AAA American Association) and hit .200 (4-for-20) in nine games there.
He originally was acquired by the Yankees from the Chicago White Sox along with pitcher Pete Filson in exchange for pitcher Scott Nielsen and infielder Mike Soper in January of 1987. Velarde began the '87 season at Albany-Colonie (AA Eastern League) and in 71 games there batted .316 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs. He was promoted to Columbus on June 29 and hit .319 in 49 games there with five home runs and 33 RBIs.
His contract was purchased by the Yankees on August 20 and he made his major league debut that night in Seattle, starting at shortstop and going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. In his next game on August 21 at Oakland, Velarde went 2-for-3 with an RBI, getting his first major league hit, a single off Steve Ontiveros. He was the 29th shortstop to play alongside Willie Randolph in Randolph's career [1976-88] with the Yankees. He had another two-hit game, on August 24 at California, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Randy played in six games with the Yankees, batting .190 (4-for-21) with no homers and an RBI before being optioned to Prince William ('A' Carolina League) on August 29. Randy never reported to that club, remaining with the Yankees, and was recalled by the Yankees three days later, on September 1.
He was 0-for-1 in two games after rejoining the Yankees to finish with a .182 batting average (4-for-22) overall in his two stints with New York. Velarde struck out six times in 22 at-bats and committed two errors at shortstop, both coming on August 21 at Oakland.
Velarde spent the 1988 season shuttling between the Yankees and the Columbus Clippers. He was recalled to New York five different times.
He began the year with the Clippers and was hitting .264 in 68 games with four home runs and 31 RBIs, along with 22 errors. He was recalled to the Yankees for the first time on June 20 when Wayne Tolleson was placed on the disabled list. Velarde made his first appearance with the Yankees at Detroit that day, going 0-for-1. The next day he hit his first major league home run, a solo shot off the Tigers' Jack Morris. He played in five games, going 2-for-12 (.167) before being optioned back to Columbus on June 25 when Willie Randolph was activated.
Randy played ten games with the Clippers before being recalled back to New York on July 8. It was the last time he actually played a game for Columbus (he was optioned there three more times before the end of the season but never appeared in another game there), and he finished with an average of .270 in 78 games at Columbus with 23 doubles, five home runs, 37 RBIs, 25 walks, 71 strikeouts and 24 errors. Randy was later named as the shortstop on the postseason International League All-Star team.
In his first game back with the Yankees on July 9 against Kansas City, he made his first major league start at third base and went 1-for-3 with an RBI, which proved to be the game-winner, his first major league game-winning RBI. He hit his second home run of the season on July 14 against Chicago, a solo blast off Bill Long. After playing four games with the Yankees, Velarde was optioned back to Columbus on July 16 following the acquisition of Luis Aguayo but was recalled by New York the next day when Tolleson was placed back on the DL.
Velarde established his major league high with three RBIs on July 27 against Milwaukee, going 2-for-5 (two doubles) with a run scored. He matched that RBI high on August 2 at Milwaukee, hitting a three-run homer off Juan Nieves, his third home run of the year. He hit safely in four of five games (all starts) from August 5-10, going 6-for-18 (.333) with three runs scored and two doubles. He played in 25 games for the Yankees before being optioned back to Columbus when Tolleson was activated. Randy did not play a game for the Clippers before being recalled on August 14 when Tolleson was placed back on the DL.
He hit his fourth home run of the season on August 16 against California, a solo clout off Willie Fraser, and made eight consecutive starts from August 20-27 (the first seven at second base and the last at shortstop) with Randolph on the 15-day DL. Velarde was optioned back to Columbus for the fourth time on August 28 following Randolph's activation but remained with the Yanks, never actually reporting to Columbus, and was recalled to New York for the fifth and final time on September 2.
Randy hit his fifth homer on October 1 at Detroit, a two-run round tripper off Doyle Alexander, and stole a base on September 27 at Baltimore. Overall in his five stints with the Yankees, he played in 48 games, batting .174 (20-for-115) with five homers, 12 RBIs and seven errors while playing third base, shortstop and second base.
Velarde graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, Texas in 1981. He was a three-time NAIA All-American at Lubbock (TX) Christian College.
He played Little League ball in Midland. His favorite team growing up was the Cincinnati Reds and his favorite player was Johnny Bench.
Randy's hobbies are all outdoor sports, and his favorite spectator sport is basketball. His favorite ballpark is the Oakland Coliseum. His favorite entertainer is Eddie Murphy."
-1991 New York Yankees Information Guide
Led Midwest League shortstops in errors (52), 1986.
-1991 New York Yankees Information Guide
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