Melvin Mora #6

Melvin Mora...He and his wife, Gisel, have a daughter, Tatiana, and quintuplets Christian, Matthew David, Genesis, Rebekah and Jada Priscilla...Graduated from Libertador High School in Valencia, Venezuela...Was an amateur boxer...played organized soccer for the Venezuelan National Soccer League from 1981-90 and traveled to play in Nicaragua and Argentina...also played professional soccer...Grew up in Venezuela and played baseball with former big league outfielder Richard Hidalgo...Began the Melvin Mora Foundation in 2005 to fund educational, medical and other needs in his native Venezuela...sponsored a home run derby in Valencia, Venezuela in December 2005 with Hidalgo, Miguel Tejada, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, Edgardo Alfonzo, Bobby Abreu and Johan Santana among the participants...Mora and his wife have served as sponsor's of Baltimore's Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital's annual golf tournament, with the outing being named in their honor in previous years...Gisel serves as honorary chair of the event, held at Bulle Rock golf course in Havre de Grace, Md.

2010

In his first season with the Rockies, played multiple positions as the club's regular utility player and right-handed bat off the bench...Started 53 games at third base, 10 at first base, 10 at second base and 4 in left field...saw the majority of his playing time at third base (63 games)...Hit .285 (90-for-316) with 12 doubles, 5 triples, 7 home runs and 45 RBI in 113 games...posted his highest on-base percentage (.358) since he had a .419 on-base percentage in 2004...Tied his career-high with 5 triples (also in 2000)...Batted .307 (54-for-176) with 6 home runs and 31 RBI in 60 games after the All-Star break...his 31 post-All-Star break RBI were third-most on the club behind Troy Tulowitzki (61) and Carlos Gonzalez (57)...his .307 batting average was also the third-best among Rockies players...Saw the majority of his playing time at third base during Ian Stewart's time on the disabled list from Aug. 27-Sept. 17...during that span, hit .324 (22-for-68) with a double, 2 triples, a home run and 8 RBI in 19 games...from Aug. 27 through the end of the season, hit .321 (34-for-106) with 2 doubles, 3 triples, 4 home runs and 20 RBI in 31 games...Hit .319 (43-for-135) with 5 home runs and 43 RBI with runners on base...hit .307 (23-for-75) with 37 RBI with runners in scoring position...Connected for 2 of the Rockies' 4 grand slams...his first came on Aug. 11 @ Mets, followed by his grand slam on Sept. 18 @ Dodgers.

2009

Played in 125 or more games for the eighth time as a member of the Orioles...was on the disabled list from April 13-28 with a strained left hamstring...passed Doug DeCinces (792 games) to move into second place in games played at third base (807) in Orioles club history (behind Brooks Robinson) on Sept. 15...went a career-high 50 games (189 AB) without a home run, snapping the skid with his second career walk-off homer on July 11 against Toronto...hit safely in seven straight games twice (May 9-16 and June 10-18)...hit his third career grand slam April 11 against Tampa Bay's Jeff Niemann...hit his final home run of the year Sept. 19 off Boston's Jon Lester...batted .314 (69-220) at home and just .209 (48-230) on the road...recorded nine three-hit games...posted 4 RBI twice (April 11 against Tampa Bay and June 26 against Washington).

2008

In his ninth year with the O's, batted .285, hit 23 HR and drove in 104 runs, the second 20 HR and 100 RBI season of his career (27 and 104 in 2004)...Moved into the top ten in Orioles franchise history in numerous categories: doubles (8th, 232); RBI (8th, 614); at-bats (10th, 4283); runs (10th, 665); hits (10th, 1206) and home runs (10th, 150)...Played in 135 games, the seventh time in 8 full seasons with the O's he has played in 126 or more games...Finished among the top-25 in the American League in 7 categories: runs batted in (7th-104), average with runners in scoring posi- tion (8th-.360), home runs (tied for 18th-23), game winning RBI (tied for 18th-10), isolated power (20th-.199), slugging percentage...Batted .376 (2nd in AL) with a .417 OBP(9th), .656 SLG (3rd) with 12 HR (tied for 16th) and 56 RBI (3rd) in 48 games after the All- Star break (21st-.483) and go-ahead RBI (tied for 21st-20)...Named ALPlayer of the Month for August after batting .418 with 8 HR & 32 RBI, his second career monthly award (May 2004)...Named ALPlayer of the Week for week ending August 17, during which he batted .563 with three HR and 13 RBI...Hit game-winning 2-RBI double with two out in the bottom of the 8th on June 17 vHOU...Scored game-winning run in 10th inning on June 18 vHOU...Hit his first career pinch hit HR (30 at-bats) in the 9th inning on July 6 vTEX, his first HR since June 6...Became first Oriole to hit a HR in three straight games (July 17-19 vDET) since Ramon Hernandez (September 10-12, 2006)...Had a season-high 8 game hitting streak, August 1-10, during which he batted .441 (15-34) with four doubles, two HR and 13 RBI...Hit 150th career HR on August 10 vTEX off Matt Harrison...Tied career-high with 4 runs & 2 HR and set career-highs with 5 hits, 6 RBI and 13 total bases on August 17 @DET...Batted .345 (82-238) in 60 O's wins and .234 (64-274) in 75 O's losses...Hit .571 (16-28), three doubles, a triple, six HR, 17 RBI and 11 R in seven games against Detroit

2007

Appeared in 126 games, including 120 starts at 3B, in his 8th year with the Orioles, the longest tenure on the team...Was 2nd on the team and 12th in the American League with 6 bunt base hits...Grounded into a double play 22 times, tied with teammates Miguel Tejada and Nick Markakis and Seattle's Kenji Johjima for the second-highest total in the AL...Batted .319 (15-47) with runners in scoring position and 2 outs...Went 2-for-5 with a 3-run double and 2-run home run on April 7 at New York...The home run was the 1,000th hit of his big league career...Had 5 RBI in the April 7 game, tying his career high...Had a season-high 4 hits with 2 doubles and an RBI on May 11 at Boston...Had a season-high 9-game hitting streak, June 12-21, batting .306 (11-36) over the span...Batted .314 (58-185) with 19 multi-hit games in 53 total games beginning June 28...Went on the disabled list on July 14, retro to July 13, with a left mid-foot sprain...Was first injured on the final out of the game on July 1 vs. LA Angels...Before going on the DL, hit .375 (18-48) in his last 13 games and had hit safely in 24 of the last 27 games, batting .317 (33-104)...Hit a home run on August 5 at Tampa Bay in first game back from the DL...Hit only one home run in his final 46 games of the season beginning August 6...Batted .290 (49-169) in 47 games after returning from the disabled list, including .326 (28-86) in 24 games in September...Had game-winning, 2-out bunt single with bases loaded in the 10th inning to beat the Yankees on September 28.

2006

Played in a career-high 155 games...Missed 7 games all season, with 5 coming in September...Finished 3rd on the team with 83 RBI, the 3rd straight season he has topped the 80-RBI mark...Has 275 RBI since 2004, behind only New York's Alex Rodriguez (356) and Texas' Hank Blalock (276) among American League 3rd basemen...Trails only Rodriguez (.301) with a .299 batting average over that time...Ranked 7th in the American League in plate appearances (705) and 8th in the AL in at-bats (624), 2nd on the team behind Miguel Tejada in both categories (648 and 709)...Was hit by pitch 14 times, 3rd most in the American League...Marked the 6th straight year in which he was hit at least 10 times...Has been hit by pitch 85 times as an Oriole, the 2nd most in club history behind Brady Anderson (148)...Stole 11 bases in 12 attempts, the best percentage of his career (91.7%)...Signed a 3-year contract extension through the 2009 season on May 19...Has the longest tenure of any current Orioles player, joining the club on July 28, 2000...Homered in each of the first two games of the season and had 5 home runs in April, tied for 2nd most on the team...Played the final 3 innings at second base on April 29 vs. Seattle after Brian Roberts left the game due to injury...Had not played second since appearing in 6 games there in 2003...Hit safely in 21 of 26 games in May, batting .333 with 16 RBI...Average stood at a season-high .307 at the end of the month...Had a season-high 9-game hitting streak, June 18-29...Was part of a stretch in which he hit safely in 18 of 20 games, June 13-July 5...Also had a pair of 8-game streaks, April 10-17 and April 26-May 3...Collected 14 extra-base hits over a 95-game stretch from May 14 until the end of August...Did not have two extra-base hits in a game over that time until hitting a double and a home run on September 1 at Oakland...Had 5 doubles and 3 home runs in September...Hit a game-winning, 3-run home run with 2 outs in the 9th inning on April 13 at Tampa Bay...Had a game-winning single in the 11th inning to beat the Devil Rays on May 31 and drove in the go-ahead run with an 8th inning single at Tampa Bay on July 23.

2005

Led the Orioles and matched his career high with 27 home runs...Was 2nd among American League third basemen with an .823 OPS (on-base plus slugging pct.)...Had 12 bunt hits, 2nd in the AL behind Chicago's Scott Podsednik (16)...Went 1-for-21 in his first 5 games of the year...Batted .397 (31- 78) over his next 19 games to push his average to a season-high .323 on 5/1...Hit safely in 9 straight games, 5/21-5/30, then went 0-for-4 on 5/31 before hitting safely in another 9 consecutive games, 6/1- 6/10...Batted .375 (27-72) with 4 home runs and 18 RBI over the 19-game span...Missed 10 games with a strained right hamstring suffered 6/21 at Toronto...Had played 144 consecutive games before the injury, a streak that started when he was activated from the disabled list on 7/18/04 after having also missed time with a strained right hamstring...Made his second career All-Star Game appearance, going 0-for-1 and playing the final 5 innings at third base...Drove in only 8 runs in 42 games from 6/16 to 8/18 and did not have a multi-RBI game during that time...Drove in 34 runs over his final 42 games of the year, including 10 multi-RBI games...Homered on 8/27 vs. Oakland, his first home run since 7/15, a span of 35 games and 148 at-bats...It marked the 2nd longest homerless streak of his career...Hit two home runs on 8/28 vs. Oakland, his 3rd multi-homer game of the year and the 6th of his career...Also had 2 home runs on 5/18 at Kansas City and 5/1 vs. Tampa Bay...Hit his 100th career home run and matched his career high with 5 RBI on 9/27 vs. New York...Batted .319 (30-94) with 22 RBI over his final 24 games of the season...Hit 7 home runs in the last 11 games of the year...Batted .299 in 82 games hitting 2nd in the order and .267 while hitting 3rd...The only time he did not start in the 2nd or 3rd spots in the lineup came on 8/3 at Los Angeles, when he batted 5th...Was hit by pitch 10 times on the year...Was hit 67 times over a 5-year period, 2001-05, tied with Alex Rodriguez for 3rd-most in the American League behind Jason Giambi and David Eckstein (76) over that time...Finished 8th among AL third basemen with a .957 fielding percentage...Did not commit an error in his first 28 games of the season and went 40 straight games without an error, 5/11-7/4.

2004

Had one of the best offensive seasons in Orioles history, establishing career highs with a .340 batting average, 27 home runs and 104 RBI. Earned the American League Silver Slugger Award for the top offensive player in the league at his position, as voted on by managers and coaches. Was 2nd in the American League with a .340 batting average...Surpassed Ken Singleton's previous club record .328 average in 1977. Led the American League with a .419 on-base percentage...Became the 3rd Oriole to lead the league in that category, joining Eddie Murray (.410 in '84) and Frank Robinson (.410 in '66)...Had the 5th-highest OBP in club history. Also placed among AL leaders in slugging percentage (5th, .562), runs (T6th, 111), doubles (T6th, 40), hits (8th, 187), extra-base hits (T8th, 68) and total bases (9th, 309). Was 5th in the AL with a .981 on-base/slugging percentage...Was the 5th-highest total in club history. Hit safely in 110 of 140 games on the season and reached base in 125 games...Was 3rd in the American League with 60 multi-hit games. He and teammate Miguel Tejada were 2 of 7 major league players to hit over .300, have 40 or more doubles and have at least 100 runs and RBI...The only other player in Orioles history to accomplish the feat was Cal Ripken in his MVP season of 1983 (.318, 47 2B, 121 runs and 102 RBI). In his first full season at third base, finished 8th among American League third basemen with a .948 fielding percentage and was 2nd with 2.98 total chances per 9.0 innings. Committed 7 errors in his first 11 games and 10 miscues in the first 53 games of the year...Beginning June 9, committed just 11 errors over his final 85 games and led all AL third basemen with a .976 fielding percentage over that time. Was named American League Player of the Month for May...Was among leaders in slugging (1st, .701), average (3rd, .402), on-base percentage (2nd, .480), home runs (T2nd, 8) and extra-base hits (3rd, 16)...Had 43 hits in the month, the 2nd-highest total in May in club history. Homered in a career-high 3 straight games, May 13 at Chicago and May 14-15 vs. Anaheim...Also homered in consecutive games, September 10-11 vs. New York. Hit his first career grand slam on June 4 off Tampa Bay's Victor Zambrano...Also matched his career high with 3 walks in the game. Scored a run in 8 straight games, May 21-29...Scored a career-high 4 runs on June 9 vs. Arizona...Led the American League with 57 runs in 62 games through June 20 before injuries sidelined him for most of the next month. Left the game in the first inning on June 17 at Los Angeles with a sprained ligament in his left foot and missed 11 of the next 15 games...Was placed on the disabled list on July 5 with a strained right hamstring suffered on July 2 at Philadelphia. Was activated on July 18 and played in every game the remainder of the season. Led all major league players with 31 RBI in August, tied for the 3rd highest RBI total in a month in club history. Established a new career high with 20 home runs when he homered twice on August 9 against Texas...Also had a pair of home runs in the first game of a doubleheader on July 22 at Boston, which was one of six 4-RBI games on the season. Had a season-high 14-game hitting streak, May 18-June 1, batting .419 (26-62)...Also had a 12-game hitting streak and a 10-game streak in the second half. Matched his career high with 4 hits twice - April 15 at Boston and April 29 against Seattle. Led the club with 11 hit by pitches, the 4th straight season he led the team...Has been hit 61 times in 4 1/2 seasons with the Orioles, the 3rd highest total in club history behind Brady Anderson (148) and Cal Ripken (66). Has been hit 57 times in the last 4 seasons, tied with Jason Giambi for 3rd-most among AL players in that time behind David Eckstein (76) and Carlos Delgado (61).

2003

Got off to the best start of his five-year Major League career ... Hit in 23 straight games from May 17-June 12 ... Was leading the American League with a .361 average before getting hit on the hand by a Greg Maddux pitch on June 20 ... Though the hand wasn't broken, lingering pain caused his numbers to drop, and eventually forced him to the DL in August ... Was named to his first All-Star team ... Played his final game of the season on Sept. 13 after suffering a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

2002

Played a total of 149 games at five different positions for the Orioles and established career-highs with 19 home runs and 16 stolen bases...Led the Orioles with 114 starts from the leadoff spot...Took over for the injured Jerry Hairston in the lead-off spot on April 12 and hit at the top of the order in 114 of his next 121 starts through September 5...Batted leadoff in just 2 of his final 16 starts of the year...Reached base in 118 of 145 games with an at-bat on the season...Drew 20 walks and was hit by the pitch 6 times in April and drew 20 walks and 4 HBPs in August...Aside from those two months, he drew a combined 30 walks and 10 HBPs the other four months of the season...Started at 5 different positions - LF, CF, RF, 2B and SS - as well as DH...Played 10 straight games, May 2-12, without starting at the same position consecutive times - 3 at 2B, 3 in CF, 3 in LF and 1 at SS...Had a career-high 9-game hitting streak, June 13-22, batting .314 (11-35) with 8 runs scored...Hit .311 (33-106) over his final 26 games of the first half, raising his average from .240 to .265...Had his first career 2-home run game on June 7 vs. Los Angeles...Had a career-high 5 RBI on June 10 vs. San Diego, hitting a 2-run home run and 3-run double...Hit his 4th leadoff home run of the season on August 5 at Toronto...Led off games with a home run on June 28 and 29 vs. Philly...Hit his first career leadoff home run on June 20 at Arizona off Randy Johnson...Was hit by the pitch 20 times, 2nd most in the American League...Tied a major league record by being hit 3 times on July 18 at Toronto...Was the 22nd time in the majors and 7th by an American Leaguer...Served a 3-game suspension (reduced from 4 games), September 13-15, in Boston for his role in a bench-clearing brawl vs. the Red Sox on July 28 at Fenway Park...Batted .144 (16-111) over his final 34 games of the season...Had consecutive 2-hit games, September 16-17, his only multi-hit games after August 23...Went hitless in 7 straight games (20 at-bats), September 5-12...Went 2-for-29 over his final 9 games of the year...Led the Orioles and was tied for 10th in AL with 9 outfield assists...Had 9 putouts in left field on July 14 vs. Oakland...Missed 2 games, April 21 and 23, to return to his native Venezuela following the death of his brother...Missed the game on July 21 due to the death of his brother-in-law in Brooklyn, NY...Missed first 3 weeks of spring training after fracturing bone in his left ring finger while playing for Magallanes in Venezuelan Winter League...Played only half of Orioles' spring training games but led club with 5 home runs, hitting all in a 6-game stretch.

2001

Moved into starting centerfielder's role after playing 53 games exclusively at shortstop for the Orioles the year before...Played 88 games in center field, 43 games at shortstop and one game at second base in 2001...Played 124 of the first 137 games of the season before injuring his left elbow on September 3 at Oakland...Was limited to 4 games, all as a pinch-runner, for the remainder of the year...Led the Orioles with 17 bunt hits on the year...Was hit by the pitch 14 times, tied for 6th in the American League...Was batting .198 in his first 26 games through May 4...Hit safely in 31 of his next 43 games, batting .356 (52-146) with 15 doubles and 22 RBI, to push his average to a season-high .297 on June 29...Batted .196 (40-204) over his final 59 games of the year...Batted at every spot in the lineup with the exception of cleanup...Had a season-high 8-game hitting streak, June 18-25...Was 2nd on the Orioles with 29 multi-hit games...Was second to only teammate Brady Anderson for lowest average in the AL after the 6th inning (.205, 30-146)...Had the rare feat of getting 2 hits in the same inning on May 9 at Tampa Bay, starting and ending the 7th inning with a bunt single and 2-run double...On July 28, his wife, Gisel, gave birth to quintuplets - Genesis, Christian, Rebekah, Matthew David and Jada Priscilla...

2000

Spent the first four months of the season with the New York Mets before being acquired on July 28 along with three minor leaguers in exchange for shortstop Mike Bordick...Was placed on the disabled list on May 13 after lacerating tip of his right index finger...Was activated on May 29 and became the Mets' regular shortstop when Rey Ordonez was sidelined for the year with a broken left forearm...Batted .277 in his last 27 games with an at bat for the Mets and had 11 multi-hit games while in the National League...Had a career-high 8-game hitting streak, June 21-28, batting .405 (15-37) and homering in back-to-back games June 25-26...Hit safely in 15 of his first 19 games after being traded to the Orioles, batting .413 (31-75)...Collected hits in 8 straight at-bats, August 1-4, and reached base in 14 of 15 plate appearances, July 31-August 4...Missed 7 games with a strained left hamstring suffered September 1...After returning to action, batted .229 (16-70) in his final 19 games of the season...Had a career-high 4 hits twice - August 8 at Detroit and June 25 vs. Pittsburgh...Hit his first major league home run in the bottom of the 10th inning on April 20 off Milwaukee's Curtis Leskanic to give the Mets a 5-4 win...Hit two home runs for Orioles, both off Tampa Bay's Ryan Rupe - August 6 at Tropicana Field and August 27 at Camden Yards...With the Mets, played 42 games at shortstop, 16 games in center field, 12 games in left field, 4 games each at second base and 3 games in right field...Played exclusively shortstop in 53 games with the Orioles.

1999

In 66 games with the Mets, he appeared in 45 games (one start) in the outfield, four games at second base, three games (one start) at third base and one start at shortstop...Singled in the ninth inning and scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the Mets 2-1 victory vs. Pittsburgh at Shea Stadium on October 3...Recalled, for a third time, from AAA Norfolk of the International League on September 1...With the Tides, he batted .303 (92-304) with 55 runs scored, 17 doubles, 2 3B, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 41 walks, 54 strikeouts and 18 stolen bases in 82 games...Saw action one game at second base, one game at third, 40 at shortstop and 30 in the outfield...Was recalled from Norfolk on June 22 for the second time and was optioned back to Norfolk on August 2...Joined the Mets for the first time when his contract was purchased from Norfolk on May 30 and started that day at shortstop vs. Arizona...Appeared in 11 games for the Mets before being optioned back to the minors on June 11...Made his first major league start in centerfield on July 25th vs. Chicago...Was 0-3 with a walk and a RBI....Started for the first time at third base, July 17 at Tampa Bay and went 1-for-3...Picked up his first big league hit, a pinch-hit single off Montreal's Miguel Batista on July 6 at Shea Stadium...Stayed in the game at third base to become the Mets 116th third baseman in club history...Had four outfield assists in the playoffs, one shy of the post-season record set by Lonnie Smith in 1985...Hit a home run in the fifth inning of Game Two to become the seventh player in National League history to hit a home run in his first LCS at-bat...Batted .421 (24-57) with 12 runs scored, eight doubles, two home runs and 16 RBI in 26 games in spring training...Was the winner of the John J. Murphy Award given annually to the Mets' top rookie in camp...Played for Magallanes of the Venezuelan Winter League...Hit .333 (49-147) with 28 runs scored, 11 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 20 RBI and five stolen bases in 43 games.

1998

Began the year with the Mercury Tigers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan...Hit .335 for the Tigers (55-164) with 34 runs scored, 11 doubles, two triples, three home runs, 11 RBI and 37 stolen bases...Signed by the Mets' organization on July 25th...Joined Class A St. Lucie of the Florida State League...Was promoted to AAA Norfolk of the International League on August 21.

1997

Played the entire season for AAA New Orleans of the American Association.

1996

Divided the year between AAA Tucson of the Pacific Coast League and AA Jackson of the Texas League.

1995

Hit .298 with a .350 on-base percentage for AA Jackson.

1994

Led his Osceola team in eight offensive categories including batting average, home runs, hits and stolen bases.

1993

Finished second on the team with a .285 batting average (104-for-365)...Was 1 of 3 players on the team to steal 20 or more bases...Made one appearance as a pitcher and tossed 0.2 scoreless innings.

1992

Led his Rookie-League Gulf Coast team with 16 stolen bases.

1991

Made his professional debut with the DSL Astros...Hit .300 (75-for-250) with 43 runs scored. 20 doubles, a triple and 26 RBI in 49 games...also grabbed 27 stolen bases.