César Izturis

César Izturis
Free Agent
Shortstop
Born: February 10, 1980 (1980-02-10) (age 31)
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 23, 2001 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through 2011 season)
Batting average	.255
Hits	1036
Home runs	15
Runs batted in	290
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2001) Los Angeles Dodgers (2002–2006) Chicago Cubs (2006-2007) Pittsburgh Pirates (2007) St. Louis Cardinals (2008) Baltimore Orioles (2009-2011)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2005) Gold Glove Award 1 x winner

Izturis with the St. Louis Cardinals on September 9, 2008.

César David Izturis ( /ɪsˈtʊərɪs/; born February 10, 1980, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball shortstop who is currently a free agent. He is the half-brother of shortstop Maicer Izturis,^[1] who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Julio Izturis, who plays in the minor leagues in the San Francisco Giants organization.

Izturis' greatest strengths are spectacular defense and solid contact hitting. He is a switch hitter with good speed, but very little power.

Baseball career

Toronto Blue Jays

Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent in 1996, Izturis made his debut with Toronto in 2001 and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the season.

Coming from a long tradition of Venezuelan shortstops, which includes Chico Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillén, Omar Vizquel, Álex González and Carlos Guillén, Izturis has the defensive skills to rank in such distinguished company. After showing some hitting potential with a .269 average in his rookie season with Toronto, the Dodgers were enthusiastic to trade for him.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Izturis was designated as the everyday starting shortstop from Opening Day of the 2002 season, and he quickly established himself in the Dodgers' infield. But he showed no patience at the plate, resulting in a decline in average and very few walks. After two years of barely adequate hitting (though compensated by his stellar glovework), he improved markedly in 2004, when he hit .288 with 62 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 159 games. At the end of the season, he earned his first Gold Glove, the first by a Dodger shortstop since Maury Wills' back-to-back honors in 1961 and 1962.

In 2005, Izturis hit .348 through June 1 and led the entire majors in hits. He was selected for the National League All-Star team, but his batting average later dipped all the way down into the .250 range. Curiously, his defense also seemed to suffer. After two trips to the disabled list, Izturis underwent Tommy John surgery in his right elbow, and returned in mid-June, 2006.

With the uncertainty around Izturis, the Dodgers acquired shortstop Rafael Furcal in the off-season. That move seemed to have put Izturis' future with the Dodgers in doubt. With a $13 million dollar annual salary, Furcal did not seem a likely candidate to be benched.

Chicago Cubs/Pittsburgh Pirates/St. Louis Cardinals (2006-08)

At the 2006 trade deadline, Izturis was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Greg Maddux and cash considerations.

On July 19, 2007, Izturis and cash were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later.

On November 16, 2007, the Pirates declined an option on Izturis, and he became a free agent. Shortly thereafter on November 30, 2007, Izturis signed a one-year, $2.85 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.^[2]

Baltimore Orioles

On December 16, 2008, Izturis signed a two-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles^[3]

In 2009, he led all starting shortstops in range factor, at 4.89.^[4]

On December 10, 2010, Izturis re-signed with the Baltimore Orioles to a 1-year contract.^[5]

Personal

Izturis resides in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in the offseason with his wife Liliana and their two children; his son Daniel (born 11-11-1999) and daughter Daniella (born 7-17-2006).^[6]

See also

• List of NL Gold Glove Winners at Shortstop
• List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball

References

1. ^ Wagner, Greg (June 29, 2006). "Izturis brothers feel no rivalry". MLB.com. http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060629&content_id=1529841&vkey=news_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana. Retrieved May 4, 2010. 
2. ^ Strauss, Joe (December 1, 2007). "Izturis deal nudges out Eckstein". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/EAC9E2342BE58705862573A400164658?OpenDocument. Retrieved December 1, 2007. 
3. ^ Orioles sign shortstop Izturis
4. ^ "MLB Player Fielding Stats - As ss - 2009," ESPN, accessed October 6, 2009
5. ^ Ginsburg, David (10 December 2010). "Orioles, SS Izturis agree to $1.5M, 1-year deal". Washington Post. Associated Press. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/10/AR2010121005051.html. Retrieved 2010-12-11. 
6. ^ Cesar Izturis: Biography and Career Highlights orioles.com

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Baseball Library - article

Persondata
Name	Izturis, Cesar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 10, 1980
Place of birth	Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Date of death
Place of death