| John Valentin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shortstop /Third baseman | |
| Born: (1967-02-18)February 18, 1967 (age 58) Mineola, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 27, 1992, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 2002, for the New York Mets | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .279 |
| Home runs | 124 |
| Runs batted in | 558 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
John William Valentin (born February 18, 1967) is an American formershortstop andthird baseman inMajor League Baseball (MLB). He played for theBoston Red Sox from 1992 to 2001, and spent a final season with theNew York Mets in 2002. He later became a coach for theLos Angeles Dodgers.
Raised inJersey City, New Jersey, Valentin attendedSt. Anthony High School, where he played baseball andbasketball. He was teammates on the basketball team withDavid Rivers.[1]
Valentin attendedSeton Hall University, where he playedcollege baseball for thePirates under head coachMike Sheppard. Valentin's teammates included future major leaguersMo Vaughn andCraig Biggio. In 1988, he playedcollegiate summer baseball in theCape Cod Baseball League for theHyannis Mets.[2] He was drafted by theBoston Red Sox in the 5th round of the1988 MLB Draft.
Valentin made his MLB debut as the starting shortstop against theTexas Rangers on July 27, 1992. He had one hit in four at-bats in his debut, with his first hit coming on an RBI single to short in the bottom of the 8th inning off of the RangersTerry Mathews. He hit his first home run on August 22, 1992, off ofMike Schooler of theSeattle Mariners.
On July 8, 1994, Valentin turned the 10thunassisted triple play in MLB history, in a game against the Mariners.[a] Playing shortstop in the 6th inning, Valentin caughtMarc Newfield's line drive, tagged second base beforeMike Blowers could return to tag up, and tagged outKeith Mitchell who had been attempting to advance to second base.[3]
His best season was 1995, when he batted .298 with 27 home runs, 37doubles, 20stolen bases and 81walks. Valentin finished ninth in theAmerican LeagueMVP voting, and helped lead the Red Sox to its first division title since 1990. Valentin had a .971fielding percentage in his first three years as a shortstop for the Red Sox.
On June 6, 1996, hehit for the cycle. During the 1996 season, Red Sox prospectNomar Garciaparra battled for the spot of shortstop with Valentin, who had held the position for his entire career. Garciaparra took over the shortstop position in 1997, forcing Valentin tosecond base. Later that season, he shifted to third base after the regular third baseman,Tim Naehring, was injured. Valentin spent four more seasons with the Red Sox (playing only a total of 30 games over his last two years in a Red Sox uniform, the 2000 and 2001 seasons)
He signed with theNew York Mets as a free agent after the 2001 season and played in 114 games for them in 2002.
In 11 seasons with theRed Sox andMets, Valentin had a .279batting average, and accumulated a total of 1093hits. He hit 124 careerhome runs, and had 558runs batted in.
Valentin is the only Major League player to have pulled off an unassisted triple play, hit for the cycle and hit threehome runs in a game.[4]
In January 2008, Valentin joined theInland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (the High-A minor league affiliate of theLos Angeles Dodgers) as hitting coach for the 2008 season.[5] Shortly after accepting this assignment, managerDave Collins resigned for personal reasons, and Valentin was promoted to manager of the 66ers.[6] On Friday, October 31, 2008, he was named manager of theChattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League (AA). After one season at the helm of the Lookouts he was demoted to hitting coach for the 2010 season. In 2011, he was promoted to the coaching staff of the AAAAlbuquerque Isotopes. On November 13, 2012, he joined the Dodgers Major League staff as the Assistant Hitting Coach.[7] In 2016, the Dodgers reassigned him as the hitting coach for the Class-AGreat Lakes Loons of theMidwest League.[8]
Valentin has been a resident ofHolmdel Township, New Jersey.[9] He owned the now-closed Julia's Restaurant inAtlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle June 6, 1996 | Succeeded by |