Daniel Descalso

Daniel Descalso
St. Louis Cardinals — No. 33
Infielder
Born: October 19, 1986 (1986-10-19) (age 25) Redwood City, California[1]
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 18, 2010 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics (through July 6, 2011)
Batting average	.247
Home runs	1
Runs batted in	25
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion 2011

Medal record
Men’s baseball
Competitor for  United States
Baseball World Cup
Gold	2009 Nettuno	National team

Daniel William Descalso (born October 19, 1986) is an American professional baseball infielder with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Early and personal life

Descalso was born in Redwood City, California,^[2] on October 19, 1986, to Marylou and George Descalso.^[3] He is the oldest of six children.^[4] He went to Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California.^[5] He pitched as the team's number 1 starter for three straight seasons, and played 2nd base.^[4] He made the All-Central Coast Section squads twice, including first team as a senior, second team as a junior. He made the West Catholic Athletic League first teams in each of last two seasons, including WCAL MVP distinction in 2004. He also played football, winning first-team All-WCAL, second-team All-CCS and honorable mention All-Metro as a senior. He scored three touchdowns against their crosstown rivals during 2003 Homecoming game. He graduated in 2004.^[6]

He went on to UC Davis, where he played 3rd base and majored in economics.^[3] In 2007, Descalso was named to the NCAA All-Independent First Team.^[7] He put up some of the best stats ever at UC Davis, with a .397 lifetime batting average and 92 career hits. His 22 doubles rank second all-time in school history.^[8] Following his junior year, he was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round (112th overall)^[9] of the 2007 amateur entry draft. He was selected in the highest draft position ever for an Aggie player.^[8]

He is 5'10" and 190 pounds.^[10]

Professional playing career

2007 and 2008 seasons

Descalso batting in Springfield in April 2009.

Daniel during the 2011 World Series parade.

Following the draft, Descalso began his pro career with the Batavia Muckdogs, the Short-Season A affiliate of the Cardinals in the New York – Penn League. He played 69 games for the Muckdogs in 2007, splitting time between 3rd base and 2nd base.^[11]

In 2008, Descalso began with the Palm Beach Cardinals, the High-A affiliate of the Cardinals in the Florida State League. He played 115 games in Jupiter, where he batted .243 and played shortstop, 2nd base, and 3rd base. In August 2008, he was advanced to the Springfield Cardinals, the Double-A affiliate in Missouri. He played in just 9 games, but hit .351.

2009 season

In 2009 with Springfield, Descalso had eight home runs and 51 RBI in 288 at-bats over 73 games, all at 2nd base. His line was an impressive .323/.396/.531. At the end of the 2009 season, he was named to the Double-A Texas League post-season all star team. However, he did not play in that game, instead was promoted to Triple-A Memphis in early July when Jarrett Hoffpauir was recalled by the Cardinals. After the call up, Descalso played most games at 2nd base, with 9 at 1st base.

He was also named the 2009 Springfield Cardinals Player of the Year. He missed final two weeks of 2009 season to play for the gold medal winning team USA in the 2009 Baseball World Cup in Italy.^[12]

2010 season

Fielding for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals invited Descalso to the 2010 Spring camp, where he batted .500 with nine RBI in 14 games.^[12] Through the first two months of the 2010 season, he exclusively played 2nd base.^[11]

On September 18, Descalso's contract was purchased by the Cardinals and he was promoted to the major leagues.^[13] He officially made his major league debut on September 18, 2010, at home against the San Diego Padres when he was announced as a pinch hitter (although he did not bat and was replaced by right handed batter Nick Stavinoha).^[14] His first game as a starter was on September 22, 2010, against the Pirates at their park, where he garnered his first hit and first RBI on a 2-run double. It was at third base, rather than his natural second base position.^[14] Nonetheless, his first MLB career fielding attempt was the front end of a 6–4–3 double play (Descalso-Schumaker-Pujols). He finished the year solidly, and remained on the 40-man roster.

2011 season

Given his late season performance, Descalso started the 2011 Spring Training with a legitimate chance to make the Cardinals. However, the Cards had a number of capable infielders fighting for roster spots, including David Freese, Tyler Greene, Double-A prospect Matt Carpenter, and off-season acquisitions Ryan Theriot and Nick Punto.^[15] The difficulty would be determining a position and securing a spot. An injury to Punto^[16] and questions about Freese's durability left the Cards desperate for an extra utility infielder (rather than an outfielder). Ultimately, Descalso secured a roster spot out of training camp.^[17]In game 7 of the World Series he made an amazing catch to keep Texas on Second Base.

He hit his first major league home run on May 3 in St. Louis in the 7th inning, and it was the game-winner in a 3-run blast that vaulted the Cardinals to a come-from-behind 7–5 win against the Marlins. ^[18]

References

1. ^ Daniel Descalso Statistics and History Baseball-Reference.com, (accessed Sept. 24, 2010)
2. ^ Daniel Descalso Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights MLB.com, (accessed Sept. 24, 2010)
3. ^ ^{a b} Descalso Player Profile ucdavisaggies.com (accessed May 30, 2010)
4. ^ ^{a b} Schwab, Matt Descalso the go-to guy for powerhouse St. Francis SFGate.com (accessed May 30, 2010)
5. ^ Walton, Brian (June 15, 2007). "Cardinals Again Fly with Frontier". scout.com. http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/652077.html. Retrieved May 21, 2009. 
6. ^ Descalso '04 was honored at Hot Stove sfhs.com (accessed May 30, 2010)
7. ^ "Descalso Taken By Cardinals In the Major League Baseball Draft". CBS College Sports. June 7, 2007. http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/stories/060707acf.html. Retrieved May 21, 2009. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Descalso Taken By Cardinals In the Major League Baseball Draft ucdavisaggies.com (accessed May 30, 2010)
9. ^ Walton, Brian (January 13, 2008). "Best of the Rest… of Cards Prospects". scout.com. http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/719467.html. Retrieved May 21, 2009. 
10. ^ "St. Louis Sports – Dan Descalso". Stltoday.stats.com. October 19, 1986. http://stltoday.stats.com/mlb/playerstats.asp?id=8831. Retrieved October 9, 2011. 
11. ^ ^{a b} "Daniel Descalso Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. October 19, 1986. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=descal001dan. Retrieved September 18, 2010. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Morgan, Marlon Redbirds' Daniel Descalso wants clutch situations Commercial Appeal, May 3, 2010 (accessed May 30, 2010)
13. ^ Wilhelm, David (September 18, 2010). "Cardinals promote five players from Class AAA Memphis – Breaking news". bnd.com. http://www.bnd.com/2010/09/18/1405310/cardinals-promote-five-players.html. Retrieved September 18, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
14. ^ ^{a b} Leach, Matthew Descalso makes debut start at third MLB.com, September 22, 2010 (accessed September 22, 2010)
15. ^ Leach, Matthew Cards' additions look to make impact in 2011 mlb.com, February 6, 2011 (accessed March 28, 2011)
16. ^ Strauss, Joe Punto returns to Planet Jupiter stltoday.com, February 28, 2011 (accessed March 28, 2011)
17. ^ Goold, Derrick Cards cut Salas, Stavinoha; opening day roster set stltoday.com, March 28, 2011 (accessed March 28, 2011)
18. ^ Descalso's first homer lifts Cards over Marlins, MLB.com (May 3, 2011)

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• scout.com interview

Persondata
Name	Descalso, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 19, 1986
Place of birth	Redwood City, California
Date of death
Place of death