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| Alfredo Griffin | |
|---|---|
 Griffin with the Los Angeles Angels in 2011 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: (1957-10-06)October 6, 1957 (age 68) Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 4, 1976, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 3, 1993, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .249 |
| Home runs | 24 |
| Runs batted in | 527 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Alfredo Claudino Baptist Read Griffin[1] (born October 6, 1957) is a Dominican former professionalbaseballshortstop. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for from 1976 to 1993 for theCleveland Indians,Toronto Blue Jays,Oakland Athletics, andLos Angeles Dodgers.
Griffin began his career as a member of theCleveland Indians, who signed him as an amateur free agent in 1973. On December 5, 1978, before having played a full season in the majors, he was traded, along with Phil Lansford (minors), to theToronto Blue Jays forVíctor Cruz. Griffin made an immediate impact, sharing theAmerican League Rookie of the Year Award in 1979 withJohn Castino.
In 1980, Griffin led the majors in triples, tyingWillie Wilson of theKansas City Royals with 15; both Griffin and Wilson set an AL record for most triples in a single season by a switch-hitter. Five years later in 1985, Wilson himself shattered the record that he shared with Griffin by tallying 21 triples.[citation needed]
In 1984, Griffin was named to the All-Star team. This was explained byJohn Feinstein ofThe Washington Post as: "Making the All-Star team the hard way: Major league baseball pays the expenses for each player here and for one guest. In most cases, players bring wives or girlfriends.Dámaso García, the Toronto Blue Jays' second baseman, brought his shortstop, Alfredo Griffin. When theTigers'Alan Trammell hurt his arm and could not play tonight, ManagerJoe Altobelli named Griffin to the team, partly because he's a fine player, but mostly because he was here."[2]
Griffin spent six years with the Blue Jays from 1979 to 1984, playing in 392 consecutive games. He was traded after the 1984 season to theOakland Athletics, where, despite his reluctance to draw walks and a tendency to be overaggressive on the basepaths, he began to harness the offensive promise that he showed in 1980. Griffin won the American LeagueGold Glove Award in 1985.[3]
After establishing personal bests in most offensive categories with the Athletics, Griffin was traded to theLos Angeles Dodgers forBob Welch prior to the 1988 season. The three-team trade, which included theNew York Mets, also netted the DodgersJay Howell andJesse Orosco. All three teams involved in the deal would go on to win their respective divisions in 1988. ADwight Gooden fastball broke Griffin's hand in May 1988, causing him to miss some time, but he returned to start all 12 of the Dodgers' postseason games at shortstop in 1988, winning his firstWorld Series title.
In 1990, Griffin became the last player to finish last in theNational League, of those who qualified for the batting title, inbatting average,on-base percentage, andslugging percentage.
Griffin returned to Toronto in 1992 and was a bench player as the Blue Jays won the first of two consecutive championships. On October 23, 1993, he stood on deck asJoe Carter facedMitch Williams in the ninth inning of Game Six. His career came to an end moments later when Carter homered to win the World Series for Toronto.
Griffin was the first player in major league history to have started three times for the opposing line-ups in aperfect game: againstLen Barker (Cleveland) in 1981 for the Toronto Blue Jays, then againstTom Browning (Cincinnati) in 1988 andDennis Martínez (Montreal) in 1991, both for the Los Angeles Dodgers.[4]
Griffin ended his 18-year playing career with a .249 batting average, 24home runs, 527runs batted in, and a 67OPS+ in 1,962 games played.[5] WriterBill James named Griffin the most aggressive baserunner of the 1980s.[6]
Griffin coached for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1996 and 1997. He was the first base coach for theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim in MLB from 2000 to 2018, and also for theEstrellas Orientales (Eastern Stars) in his nativeDominican Republic's Winter League.
· Baseball Almanac| Preceded by | Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels first base coach 2000–2015 | Succeeded by |
