Roberto Alomar

Roberto Alomar

Roberto Velazquez Alomar, Toronto Blue Jays baseball player 1990-95 (born at Ponce, Puerto Rico 5 Feb 1968). Roberto Alomar grew up in Salinas, Puerto Rico, the son of major league player Sandy Alomar and brother of major league all-star catcher Santos "Sandy" Alomar Jr. Roberto's baseball career started right after high school, when he signed an amateur free-agent contract with the San Diego Padres. Roberto Alomar is considered by many to be the greatest second baseman of his generation and perhaps in all baseball history.

Roberto Alomar's Trade to the Toronto Blue Jays

At the end of the 1990 season, Alomar and Padres teammate Joe Carter were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Alomar played five seasons for Toronto, including the World Series championship seasons in 1992 and 1993. In Toronto, Alomar developed into a top-rate offensive second baseman with exceptional power and speed. His .307 career batting average as a member of the Blue Jays is the highest in club history. His game-tying home run in the ninth inning of the 1992 American League Championship Series (ALCS) is considered by many to be second in importance only to Joe Carter's home run that won the team the World Series in 1993 (Alomar won the MVP Award for the ALCS). In each of his five seasons with the Blue Jays, Alomar was chosen for the all-star game and received the Gold Glove for fielding excellence. Following the 1995 season, Alomar signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He went on to play for the Cleveland Indians and New York Mets before retiring in March 2005.

On 4 April 2008, opening day, Alomar was inducted into the Blue Jays Level of Excellence at Toronto's Rogers Centre, joining players such as George Bell, Dave Stieb, and Joe Carter, and Pat Gillick, who was instrumental in building the organization. Paul Beeston, president and CEO of the club and one of the Blue Jays' founders, was added to the excellence roster a month after Alomar.

In June 2010, Alomar was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and on 24 July 2011 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, the first Blue Jay to be honoured by that institution. On 31 July 2011, the Toronto Blue Jays retired Alomar's number 12 in a pregame ceremony at the Rogers Centre, the first number in the club's history to be retired.