Omar Infante Information & Omar Infante Links at HealthHaven.com

**Omar Infante**
Omar Infante
; Infante with the Braves in 2008
	Atlanta Braves — No. 4
	Utility player
	Born: December 26, 1981 (age 28); Puerto la Cruz, Anzoátegui, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
	September 7, 2002 for the Detroit Tigers
Career statistics; (through 2009 season)
Batting average	.264
Home runs	37
Runs batted in	221
Teams
	Detroit Tigers (2002-2007); Atlanta Braves (2008-present);

Omar Rafael Infante [in-FAHN-tay] (born December 26, 1981 in Puerto la Cruz, Anzoátegui, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball utility player who is currently on the Atlanta Braves. He bats and throws right-handed.

In his career, Infante is a .263 hitter with 37 home runs and 211 RBI in 630 games.

[edit] 2003 season

Infante entered the 2003 season as the starting shortstop for the Detroit Tigers. Ramón Santiago, considered a better glove-man started the season at second base. Considered 2 of the Tigers better prospects, both proved overmatched; Infante hit only .222 with 0 home runs and 8 RBI in over 200 at-bats. Midway through the season, Tigers manager Alan Trammell sent Infante to the minor leagues for failiing to hustle on a consistent basis. Santiago switched to shortstop after Infante was sent down.

[edit] 2004 season

In 2004, Infante lost any chance to claim the starting shortstop role when the Tigers acquired Carlos Guillén, who went on to be an All-Star that year (Ramón Santiago had been included in the trade for Guillén) . With Guillén at shortstop and free agent acquisition Fernando Viña at second base, Infante was likely to spend much of the season in the minors. Then he received an opportunity in mid-May to play every day at second base when Viña was sidelined for the year by a hamstring injury. He responded by playing solid defense and hitting .264 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI in 142 games.

[edit] 2005 season

Infante's rebound in 2004 fueled speculation that he may one day become a star at second base. In 2005, however, he regressed, and the Tigers sought his replacement. In June of that year, the Tigers traded for Plácido Polanco, who had been filling a utility role with the Philadelphia Phillies. Polanco became the starting second baseman, and Infante moved to the bench.

[edit] 2006 and 2007

Following his move to the bench, Infante became a valuable asset as a backup infielder and outfielder. He proved his versatility by filling in at 7 different positions during the 2007 season. Infante also displayed the best offensive numbers of his career.

[edit] 2008

On November 12, 2007 Infante was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Jacque Jones.

On December 4, 2007 Infante was traded again, this time along with Will Ohman to the Atlanta Braves for Jose Ascanio. A Cub for less than a month during the off-season, Infante never appeared in a game.

[edit] 2009

On January 12, 2008 Infante signed a two-year contract worth 4.3 million with the Atlanta Braves.^[1]

[edit] See also

Players from Venezuela in MLB

[edit] References

^ Bowman, Mark (2009-01-12). "Infante signs two-year contract". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090112&content_id=3740567&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2009-11-18.

[edit] External links

Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
Infante maturing rapidly (article)

[0] Bowman, Mark (2009-01-12). "Infante signs two-year contract". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090112&content_id=3740567&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2009-11-18.

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