Alex Cora #13

Played college ball at the University of Miami-Fla. from 1994-96...helped Hurricanes reach the College World Series three times...twice earned a spot on the CWS All-Tournament team...went 8-for-17 during the 1996 College World Series, including a 3-for-5, 3-RBI performance in the title game, a 9-8 setback to LSU...was drafted by Minnesota in the 12th round of the 1993 First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign, opting instead to attend Miami...was rated by Baseball America as the top defensive player eligible for the 1996 Draft...older brother, Joey, played 11 big league seasons (1987-98) and currently serves as the Miami Marlins bench coach...resides in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

2011

Was invited to Spring Training by Washington as a minor league free agent and made the Opening Day roster...Appeared in 91 games for the Nationals, starting 61. Made 31 starts at third base, 16 at shortstop, nine at first base and five at second base. His 91 games were most since appearing in 96 games with Boston in 2006...Made 36 plate appearances as pinch hitter (6-32, .188 BA), second most on Nationals behind Matt Stairs (46)...tied Stairs for the team lead with six pinch hits...Saw increased action during Ryan Zimmerman's DL stint (4/10-6/14), playing third in 28 contests (16 starts) during that period...Had a pinch-hit two-run single in the 9th inning off Craig Kimbrel to tie game, then triggered four-run 11th with hit-and-run single in wild 7-3 win at ATL on May 11.

2010

Hit .210 in 66 games for the Mets and Rangers...was released by the Mets on Aug. 7...signed with TEX, Aug. 17.

2009

Placed on the 60-Day Disabled List on August 16th with injuries to the ligaments in both thumbs...On August 20th, he underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb...On September 21st, he had the torn ligament in his left thumb repaired...Both surgeries were done by Dr. Andrew Weiland, the Mets' hand specialist, at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery...Injured the right thumb sliding into second base against the Giants on May 16th at San Francisco...The next day he injured his left thumb, also sliding into second base at San Francisco...Placed on the 15-Day Disabled List on May 18th with the right thumb injury...Activated on June 2nd and returned to the line-up on June 4th at Pittsburgh...Played in three major league games with Buffalo (AAA) of the International League from May 29th- May 31st and went 3-14 (.214)...Appeared in 56 games, 54 starts at shortstop and 19 games, 13 starts at second base...Hit his only home run of the season August 8th at San Diego against the Padres (off Mat Latos)... It was his first home run in 415 at-bats...For the season, he had 18 multiple-hit games: 16 contests with two hits and two games with three hits, June 16th at Baltimore and July 4th at Philadelphia...Had a nine-game hitting streak from July 28th-August 1st...Batted .371 (13-35) in those games...Also had an eight-game hitting streak from May 8th-June 4th (9-25, .360)...Was only hitting .237 (52 -219) after the games of July 25th...Hit .308 (16-52) over the final 13 contests to bring his final average up to .251...Was successful in eight of 11 stolen base attempts.

2008

Hit .270 (41-152), the second highest average of his career...Finished with 23 hits in 73 at-bats (.315) at home...Started 41 games, 38 at shortstop and three at second base...Struck out 13 times, the lowest total in the AL among players with at least 150 at-bats...Ranked 6th among those players, fanning only once every 13.77 plate appearances...From July 12th-September 3rd, batted .324 (22-68), the 14-highest mark in the AL (minimum 60 at-bats)...Raised his season average from .263 to .296, its highest point since June 14th (.302)...Fashioned a season-high seven-game hitting streak from August 6th-August 23rd...Went 8-22 (.364) over that span...Played his 1,000th career game, August 2nd vs. Oakland...Had his second three-hit game of the season, September 3rd vs. Baltimore (also had three hits, May 11th at Minnesota)...Scored his 300th career run and the game-winner in a 5-4 victory over the Orioles.

2007

SUMMARY: Appeared in 83 games in his 3rd season in Boston, including 47 games (30 starts) at second base, 33 games (22 starts) at shortstop and his first major league appearance at first base... Made just 4 errors in 260 total chances at second and short, a .985 fielding percentage at those 2 positions...At the plate, batted .246 (51-for-207) with 10 doubles, 5 triples, 3 home runs, 18 RBI and 30 runs...The 5 triples are one shy of his career high set in 2000 with the Dodgers...Tied for 13th in the American League with 7 sacrifice hits...Had 18 extra-base hits in 2007 after only 10 in all of 2006...Was batting .432 (19-for-44) over his first 22 games through May 12, tops in the majors in batting average and slugging percentage (.720) among players with at least 40 at-bats at that point...Went 18-for-37 (.486) in 17 games from April 19-May 12...Hit just .196 (32-for-163) over his final 61 games of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: The majority of his playing time came against right-handed pitching, as he had 179 at-bats against righties (.257, 46 H) and only 28 at-bats (.179, 5 H) against lefties...The Red Sox went 11-0 in his first 11 starts through May 13...Saw action in 13 of Boston's 16 games from April 13-29...Homered twice in a span of 4 games, April 25 and 29, after going deep just once in his previous 130 contests...Did not go deep again until September 23 in Tampa Bay, a span of 65 games and 178 at-bats...Made 12 pinch-hit appearances, going 2-for-10 (.200) with 2 RBI, a run and a walk...Saw most of his action out of the No. 9 spot in the lineup, batting .272 (28-for-103) in that slot.

MORE 2007 HIGHLIGHTS: Drove in the game-winning run in consecutive games, April 19 at Toronto (9th inning triple) and April 20 vs. New York (8th inning single)...Had a pinch-hit 2-run single on May 12 vs. Baltimore, Boston's first pinch-hit RBI of the season...Home run on April 25 in Baltimore was his first since August 31, 2006 vs. Toronto and just his 2nd since the start of 2006...Made his first major league appearance at first base as a defensive replacement on May 19.

2006

SUMMARY: Appeared in 96 games for the second straight season, batting .238 with 18 RBI and 31 runs...saw action at shortstop (63 games, 47 starts), second base (18 games, 10 starts) and third (11 games, 4 starts)...made just 7 total errors for a .976 fielding percentage (292 total chances)...6 of the errors came in 239 chances as a shortstop...did not make an error in 40 straight games (26 starts) from April 28-July 30...average peaked at .315 on July 21 (24-for-108 after 48 games), but hit just .173 (22-for-127) over his final 48 games...had a .408 on-base percentage through July 21... finished the year with 99 career doubles...stole 6 bases in 8 tries...played for Caguas of the Puerto Rican Winter League after the season, batting .256 (10-for-39) in 12 regular season games...also played for Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Series.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Started at shortstop in 11 straight games from August 23-September 2 when Alex Gonzalez was on the disabled list...went just 5-for-39 (.128) in those 11 games...the left-handed batter hit .333 (13-for-39) off lefties, but just .219 (43-for-196) against righties...hit .274 (31-for-113) in 45 games at Fenway Park and .205 (25-for-122) in 51 games on the road...hit .286 (44-for-154) in 69 night games, but went just 12-for-81 (.148) in 27 day contests...went 8-for- 24 (.333) with 9 runs scored in 10 interleague games...made 9 appearances as a pinch hitter, going 2-for-8 (.250) with a double, 3 RBI and 2 runs...spent most of his time in the No. 9 spot in the order, where he batted .315 (35-for-111) in 50 games.

MORE 2006 HIGHLIGHTS: Cracked a game-winning 2-run homer in the 7th inning on August 31 vs. Toronto, his first long ball since August 15, 2005, a span of 245 at-bats...had a season-high 3 hits on 4 occasions: May 22 vs. New York, June 15 at Minnesota, June 20 vs. Washington and August 18 vs. New York...scored a season-high 3 runs in the June 20 and August 18 contests...drove in a season-high 2 runs 4 times: April 7 at Baltimore, June 19 vs. Washington, August 6 at Tampa Bay and August 31 vs. Toronto...played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.

2005

SUMMARY: Acquired from the Indians July 7, Cora appeared in 47 games for the Red Sox, batting .269 with a pair of home runs and 16 RBI...between Boston and Cleveland, batted .232 with 3 long balls and 24 RBI in 96 games.

JACK OF ALL TRADES: With the Red Sox, played 35 games (21 starts) at second base, 11 games (5 starts) at shortstop and 5 games (2 starts) at third base...made his first career appearance at third as a defensive replacement for Boston July 15 vs. New York (AL)...made his first career start at the hot corner August 7 at Minnesota...with the Indians, made the first outfield appearance of his career, playing one inning in left as a defensive replacement April 21 at Los Angeles (AL)...overall between the 2 stops, played 50 games (35 starts) at second, 35 games (27 starts) at short, 5 games (2 starts) at third and the one game in the outfield.

WITH CLEVELAND: Batted .205 (30-for-146) with 5 doubles, a triple, a homer, 8 RBI and 6 steals in 49 games for Cleveland to open the year...appeared in 24 games (22 starts) at shortstop, 15 games (14 starts) at second base and one game in left field.

MORE 2005 HIGHLIGHTS: With the Indians, went 2-for-5 with a double in his first 2005 start April 6 at Chicago (AL)...hit his first homer of the year April 27 vs. Detroit, a 9th-inning solo shot off Franklyn German...went 1-for-2 with a triple, 3 RBI and a run scored May 29 vs. Oakland...his 2-run triple in the 4th broke open a 1-0 game in a 6-2 Indians win...made his Sox debut July 7 at Baltimore, the day he was acquired...started at short and went 0-for-3...his first Sox homer came July 27 at Tampa Bay off Seth McClung...the solo shot snapped a 1-1 tie, giving the Sox a lead they would not relinquish in a 4-1 win...homered and knocked in 3 runs August 15 at Detroit, part of a stretch in which he drove in 8 runs in 8 games August 9-31...went 2-for-3 with an RBI August 29 vs. Tampa Bay...posted back-to-back 2-RBI games September 19-20 at Tampa Bay, going 3-for-8...finished 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored in a 6-3 win September 23 at Baltimore.

IN THE POSTSEASON: Appeared once in the postseason, coming in to play shortstop in the 8th inning of Game 1 of the Division Series vs. the White Sox.

2004

Established career highs with 10 homers, 47 RBI and 47 runs while batting .264 in 138 games in his 9th and final year in the Dodgers organization...also drew a career-best 47 walks and struck out just 41 times, posting a .364 on-base percentage and averaging one strikeout per 11.8 plate appearances...played exclusively at second base, and posted a .987 fielding percentage, which ranked 5th in the National League...set a Dodgers record and ranked 4th in the N.L. with 18 hit-by-pitches...tied for 8th in the N.L. with 12 sacrifice bunts...entered Spring Training having recovered from a broken right forearm, which he suffered while playing for Caguas in the Puerto Rico Winter League...had surgery to repair the forearm January 30, and went on to hit .391 (9-for-23) in 9 spring games...batted .369 (24-for-65) in 21 games in May...had an 18-pitch at-bat May 12 vs. the Cubs' Matt Clement...the at-bat lasted 13 minutes, 56 seconds and ended with a 2-run homer...it was the longest at-bat to end with a home run since at least 1987, when STATS, Inc. began tracking pitches...fouled off 14 consecutive pitches at one point, which is also a record dating to at least 1987...his error July 19 at Houston, snapped a streak of 42 consecutive errorless games...smacked a 3-run homer and collected 5 RBI August 24 at Montreal to match his career high...homered in back-to-back games September 25-26 at San Francisco, the 2nd time he accomplished the feat in his career...started at second base in all 4 games of the Dodgers' Division Series loss to St. Louis, and went 2-for-15 (.133) with a triple and a RBI.

2003

In his first season as a full-time second baseman, batted .249 while setting career highs in at-bats (477), hits (119) and doubles (24) over a career-best 148 games with the Dodgers...made 122 starts at second base and 5 at shortstop...led National League second basemen with 112 double plays turned...ranked 5th among N.L. second basemen with 377 assists...batted .308 (20-for-65) against lefthanders...grounded into just 5 double plays to average one every 95.4 at-bats, the 5th-best ratio in the N.L...had a 10-game hitting streak April 18-30, batting .371 (13-for-35) with 4 doubles...his home run July 12 at Colorado snapped an 87-game (293 at-bats) homer drought, which had started September 24, 2002 vs. Colorado...hit .346 (27-for-78) in 24 September contests...tied his career high with 4 hits September 22 at San Diego.

2002

Batted a career-best .291 and set career highs with a .371 on-base percentage and a .434 slugging percentage in 115 games with Los Angeles...appeared in 61 games (53 starts) at shortstop and 40 contests (10 starts) at second base...increased his batting average by 74 points from 2001, accounting for the 2nd-largest gain in the majors from 2001 to 2002 among players with 100 or more games played (Lenny Harris gained 83 points from .222 to .305)...led the Dodgers with 11 pinch hits, batting .344 (11-for-32) with 2 doubles, a homer, 3 walks and 3 RBI as a pinch hitter...hit his first career pinch-hit home run June 14 vs. Anaheim off Ramon Ortiz...hit .364 (20-for-55) with runners in scoring position and .360 (40-for-111) with runners on base...was 7-for-22 (.318) against lefties...batted .339 (40-for-118) in 58 games at Dodger Stadium.

2001

In his first full season in the majors, started 119 games at shortstop and one at second base while hitting .217 in 134 games overall...was 12-for-41 (.293) against lefthanders...hit .321 (17-for-53) with 6 doubles and 8 runs in 19 games in July...had a career-high 11-game hitting streak July 18-August 2, batting .395 (15-for-38) with 5 doubles and 7 runs...hit a home run in back-to-back games for the first time in his career June 12-13 vs. Texas...batted .333 (13-for-39) in 14 interleague contests.

2000

Played 109 games over a pair of stints with the Dodgers, starting 94 games at shortstop and 7 games at second base...started the year at Triple-A Albuquerque, where his .373 average in 30 games was leading the Pacific Coast League at the time of his May 5 promotion...hit .297 (11-for-37) for the Dodgers in 9 games before being optioned back to Albuquerque May 21...recalled again May 31 and remained with the big league club through the end of the season...finished 4th among National League shortstops with 400 or more total chances with a .972 fielding percentage...hit his first major league home run June 26 vs. San Diego off Brian Meadows after going 161 at-bats without a long ball...had his first 2-homer game July 27 at Colorado, also collecting a career-high 5 RBI...played for Caguas of the Puerto Rico Winter League, finishing 2nd in MVP balloting after leading the league in homers (10) and runs scored (37).

1999

Started the season on the 60-day D.L. with a fractured right hand, which he suffered after getting hit by a pitch in Spring Training...began his minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Albuquerque June 8...batted .308 with 11 doubles, 7 triples, 4 homers and 37 RBI in 80 games before getting recalled September 7...made his season debut the next night at Florida as the starting shortstop, going 1-for-4...recorded his first major league double and first 2 big league RBI September 13 vs. Montreal...started 3 games at shortstop and 3 at second base.

1998

Enjoyed 3 stints with the Dodgers, appearing in 29 games overall and hitting .121 (4-for-33)...started the year at Triple-A Albuquerque and had his contract purchased June 5...made his major league debut as a defensive replacement at second base in the 8th inning June 7 at Seattle...batted in the top of the 9th and struck out...his brother Joey was playing second for the Mariners that night...was optioned back to Albuquerque June 24 and recalled again July 4, making his first career start that night at San Francisco...played shortstop and went 1-for-4, his first big league hit coming in the 6th inning off Shawn Estes...optioned again August 5 before being recalled for a final time September 1.

1997

At Double-A San Antonio, led Texas League shortstops with 629 total chances and 88 double plays...batted .234 with 20 doubles, 48 RBI and 52 runs over 127 games...played in the Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, NY August 4, going 1-for-6 against the Padres...played for Caguas of the Puerto Rican Winter League.

1996

Was selected by the Dodgers in the 3rd round of the First-Year Player Draft and made his pro debut with Single-A Vero Beach, batting .257 in in 61 Florida State League games...had a 13-game hitting streak July 25-August 10, batting .380 (19-for-50) with 5 RBI.