Miguel Batista
Free Agent — No. --
Pitcher
Born: February 19, 1971 (1971-02-19) (age 38) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 11, 1992 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics (through July 17, 2009)
Win-Loss	94-107
Earned run average	4.53
Strikeouts	1,106
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1992) Florida Marlins (1996) Chicago Cubs (1997) Montréal Expos (1998-2000) Kansas City Royals (2000) Arizona Diamondbacks (2001-2003) Toronto Blue Jays (2004-2005) Arizona Diamondbacks (2006) Seattle Mariners (2007)-(2009)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2001)

Miguel Descartes Batista Jerez (born February 19, 1971 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic but grew up in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball free agent pitcher and author.

[edit] Baseball career

[edit] Arizona Diamondbacks

Over his career, Batista has played for eight teams and been utilized extensively as both a starter and a reliever. His best seasons came in 2001 and 2003 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, when he went 11-8 and 10-9 with 3.36 and 3.54 ERAs respectively.

[edit] Toronto Blue Jays

He signed a three-year $13.1-million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays prior to the 2004 season, but struggled in his first season with his new club, posting a 4.80 ERA and losing his starter's job late in the season. In 2005, Batista was the Jays closer and blew 8 saves. He was put on the trading block after the Blue Jays signed B.J. Ryan to a large contract to be their new closer. They traded Batista back to the Diamondbacks during the 2005 offseason along with Orlando Hudson for Troy Glaus and prospect Sergio Santos. Batista's 2006 record in Arizona was 11-8 with an ERA of 4.58.

[edit] Seattle Mariners

After the season, the Diamondbacks offered Batista arbitration, as he was a free agent, but Arizona was not willing to commit to a multi-year deal; in December, Batista signed a three-year contract with the Seattle Mariners worth $24 million^[1]. Batista had a solid first season with the Mariners, going 16-11 with a 4.29 ERA. During the offseason Batista pitches for the Aguilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League

During 2008, he had the lowest percentage of quality starts in the majors, at 25%, and the fewest innings pitched per start, at 4.6.[1] He threw strikes in 57% of his pitches, the lowest rate in the majors.[2] In 2009, he was moved to a long relief role in the bullpen.

On November 6, 2009, Batista declared free agency.^[2]

[edit] Roberto Clemente Award nomination

On September 2 2009 Batista was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award. He was nominated because in the off-season he traveled throughout the United States and Latin America to deliver baseball equipment, medical supplies, and speak to kids of all ages to stress the importance of education and determination. Batista said this about being nominated for helping the less fortunate:

[edit] Writing career

Aside from being a baseball player, Batista is known for his love of poetry and philosophy, and he has written a book of poetry in Spanish titled Sentimientos en Blanco y Negro ("Feelings in Black and White"). Batista also recently published The Avenger of Blood, a thriller about a serial killer. The novel was released on January 25 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and on February 10 in San Juan Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, where it has had great success in very few months.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• miguelbatista.net/