Alex Ochoa

From SoSH

Alex Ochoa (born March 29, 1972 in Miami Lakes, Florida) appeared in 24 games as an outfielder for the Pawtucket Red Sox in 2007. Previous to signing with Boston, Ochoa played 8 seasons for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, and Anaheim Angels.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Ochoa's Moment in the Sun 3 Transaction 4 External Links

Overall Career

Ochoa was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the third round of the 1991 amateur draft, but he never played in the major leagues for them, as Baltimore traded him to the Mets as part of a trade for Bobby Bonilla in 1995. He would make his big league debut later that year for New York. Ochoa would eventually be traded seven times in his career, winning a World Series with the Angels in 2002.

Ochoa played for the Chunichi Dragons of Japanese Central League from 2003 to 2006. He became well known as a center fielder who has a strong throwing arm.

Ochoa signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox on January 12, 2007 and was invited to the team's spring training. Reported by SoSH Spring Training Reporter on scene MikeF "One of the 'how sophisticated are the fans' anecdotes involves Alex Ochoa being called by two Japanese [fans]. Apparently Alex knew them from his time in Japan and came over to talk, in Japanese, with them. As he left for his turn in the cage, some guy asked the two Japanese fans if Ochoa was “tawkin’ Japanese?” Dave and I thought that they should have responded, “No, pig latin.” But that didn’t happen.". Alex's experience in Japan's Central League and it's potential impact on Daisuke Matsuzaka's transition to MLB is one reason the Red Sox choose to invite Ochoa to spring camp.

The Red Sox released Ochoa on May 17. In 24 games at Pawtucket, Ochoa hit .138/.174/.149 in 87 at-bats.

Ochoa's Moment in the Sun

• Ochoa's greatest success came with the Cincinnati Reds in 2000. He batted .316 with 13 home runs and 58 RBI's in 118 games and quickly became a fan favorite.

Transaction

• June 3, 1991: Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 3rd round of the 1991 amateur draft. Player signed June 10, 1991.
• July 28, 1995: Traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Damon Buford to the New York Mets for Jimmy Williams (PTBNL) and Bobby Bonilla.
• December 12, 1997: Traded by the New York Mets to the Minnesota Twins for Rich Becker.
• December 14, 1998: Traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for Darrell Nicholas (PTBNL).
• January 14, 2000: Traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Cincinnati Reds for Gene Altman (PTBNL) and Mark Sweeney.
• July 19, 2001: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Colorado Rockies for Robin Jennings and Todd Walker.
• January 21, 2002: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Colorado Rockies to the Milwaukee Brewers. The New York Mets sent Lenny Harris and Glendon Rusch to the Milwaukee Brewers. The New York Mets sent Benny Agbayani, Todd Zeile, and cash to the Colorado Rockies. The Colorado Rockies sent Craig House and Ross Gload to the New York Mets. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Jeff D'Amico, Jeromy Burnitz, Lou Collier, Mark Sweeney, and cash to the New York Mets.
• July 31, 2002: Traded by the Milwaukee Brewers with Sal Fasano to the Anaheim Angels for Johnny Raburn (PTBNL), Pedro Liriano (PTBNL) and Jorge Fabregas.
• January 12, 2007: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis