José Manuel Oquendo Contreras (born July 4, 1963), nicknamed "the Secret Weapon", is aPuerto Rican formerinfielder and currentcoach inMajor League Baseball (MLB). He currently serves as Minor League Infield Coordinator of theSt. Louis Cardinals, an organization with whom he has been affiliated since 1985. Hemanaged thePuerto Rico national team in the2006 and2009 World Baseball Classics.^[1] During his playing career, Oquendo proved highly versatiledefensively: he played primarilysecond base andshortstop, but also frequently in theoutfield, and made at least one appearance at every position during his MLB playing career. Oquendo has the second-highest career fielding percentage for second basemen at .9919 (99.19%), behind onlyPlácido Polanco's career mark of .9927 (99.27%).^[2]

José Oquendo
Oquendo with the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
Infielder /Third base coach
Born: (1963-07-04)July 4, 1963 (age 61) Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 2, 1983, for the New York Mets
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1995, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.256
Home runs	14
Runs batted in	254
Stats atBaseball Reference
Teams
As player New York Mets (1983–1984) St. Louis Cardinals (1986–1995) As coach St. Louis Cardinals (1999–2015,2018)
Career highlights and awards
2×World Series champion (2006,2011) St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame

FromRio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Oquendo was signed by theNew York Mets as an amateurfree agent in 1979 at age 15. He made his MLB debut with the Mets in 1983 and was traded to the Cardinals in 1985. In 1988, he made hiscatching debut, giving him an appearance at every position. From 1989 to 1991, he was the Cardinals' regular second baseman alongside shortstopOzzie Smith. Oquendo's best season offensively came in 1989, when hebatted .291, 28doubles, .747on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and a major-league leading 163 games played. In 1990, he produced his best season defensively, recording the fewesterrors (three) for a second baseman in a season with at least 150 games played.

Following his playing career, Oquendo coached and managed in the Cardinals'Minor League Baseball system in 1997 and 1998, and became their bench coach at the major league level the following year. In 2000, he became the Cardinals'third base coach, remaining in that role until 2015, while helping lead the club to 11playoff appearances, includingWorld Series championships in2006 and2011 and fourNational League pennants. He missed the 2016 season after sustaining a knee injury that required surgery and rehabilitation; at the time, he was the longest-tenured coach in MLB. In 2017, he began serving as a special assistant to Cardinals general managerMike Girsch, instructing at the Cardinals training facility inJupiter, Florida. For the 2018 season, he returned to the Cardinals major league team to serve as third base coach. In 2019, he became the Cardinals' Minor League Infield Coordinator. In 2023, he was elected to the Cardinals Hall of Fame.^[3]

Oquendo was born inRío Piedras, Puerto Rico, and signed with theNew York Mets as an amateur free agent in1979 at only fifteen years old.. Aswitch hitter, Oquendo threw right-handed and stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 160 pounds (73 kg) during his playing career. After two seasons bouncing back and forth between the Mets and their triple A affiliate theTidewater Tides, Oquendo was traded with Mark J. Davis to the St. Louis Cardinals forÁngel Salazar and John Young.

Oquendo spent all of1985 with the Cardinals' triple A affiliate theLouisville Redbirds. With the Mets, Oquendo had only ever playedshortstop; with perennialAll-starOzzie Smith firmly entrenched there, the Cards experimented with Oquendo at other positions when they brought him up for the1986 season. Along with short, Oquendo played second base,third and in theoutfield.

In1987, Oquendo played every position, exceptcatcher, and was nicknamed "the Secret Weapon" by managerWhitey Herzog. His one emergency appearance on the mound came on August 7. Already down 12–4 to thePhiladelphia Phillies, Oquendopitched the eighth inning and gave up three earned runs.^[4] Oquendo reached the postseason for the only time in his career in1987. Hebatted .222, including a three-runhome run in the second inning of the seventh game of the1987 National League Championship Series against theSan Francisco Giants; the Cardinals would appear in the 1987 World Series, falling to the Minnesota Twins in seven games.

In1988, Oquendo became one of only a handful of players to have played every position on the diamond when he made his debut behind the plate. He also took the mound again, this time it was in a nineteen inning marathon against theAtlanta Braves on May 14. After pitching three scoreless innings, Oquendo was tagged for a two-rundouble byKen Griffey in the nineteenth, and took the loss.^[5]

WithLuis Alicea back in the minors in1989, Oquendo emerged as the Cardinals' regularsecond baseman. He responded by committing only five errors in 851 chances and a .994fielding percentage. He also enjoyed his best season with the bat, batting .291, and was in the top ten inhits,triples,walks andon-base percentage. He also played in a league leading 163 games that season.

His best season with the glove was the following season, when he set a major league record for the fewesterrors (three) by a second baseman in a 150+ game season.^[6] However, perennial Gold Glover and futureHall of FamerRyne Sandberg won theGold Glove Award that year.

In the first game of the1992 season, Oquendo suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the season. Oquendo spent three more seasons with the Cardinals as autility infielder. He retired after failing to make the Cardinal roster out ofspring training in1996.

Oquendo was 0–1 with a 12.00earned run average over six innings in three games pitched. His career fielding percentage as a second baseman is .992.

Oquendo accepted a minor league coaching position with the Cardinals in1997, and became manager of theNew Jersey Cardinals of theNew York–Penn League in1998. He becamebench coach for St. Louis in1999, and a year later, he moved tothird base coach, where he has remained ever since.^[7]

Oquendo was thrown out of a game against thePhiladelphia Phillies on June 13,2008 for arguing. Earlier in the game, already a blowout loss for the Cardinals, Cardinals pitcherRuss Springer threw an inside pitch that grazed the hip of Philliesfirst basemanRyan Howard. Springer was thrown out without warning, which caused Cardinals managerTony La Russa to argue withumpireLarry Vanover. La Russa was subsequently thrown out of the game, and bench coach Joe Petini assumed the role of manager. Later in the game, Phillies pitcherRudy Seánez threw a pitch that went behind Cardinals batterBrendan Ryan and was not ejected or warned. Oquendo began arguing from his position in the coaching box behind third and was tossed by Vanover.

On April 4,2009, Oquendo appeared as a Cardinalspinch hitter in a preseason exhibition game against the Cardinals' triple A affiliate, theMemphis Redbirds. Oquendo fouled off several pitches before being walked. He was advanced to 3rd base on a hit and walk before an inning-ending groundout.

Over the past few years Oquendo has interviewed for managerial positions withSan Diego,Seattle, and theNew York Mets. Also during the 2011 offseason he was interviewed for the managing position with the Cardinals. The spot would later go toMike Matheny.

On August 17, 2012, Oquendo was again ejected from a game for arguing balls and strikes. After a called strike toJon Jay fromPittsburgh Pirates starterJames McDonald, Oquendo came down the third base line to argue with home plate umpireLance Barrett. He was immediately ejected from the game. ManagerMike Matheny came out to try to prevent further argument while Oquendo kicked dirt across the plate.

Oquendo developed "speed-feed" drills for the infielders. Besides lobbing the standard ground balls, Oquendo had third basemenMatt Carpenter and catching prospectCarson Kelly standing in foul territory about three paces away, bowling baseballs at a rapid pace until they grew tired and increased their endurance and improved footwork and positioning.^[8]

On March 27, 2016, he was placed on medical leave of absence due to his injured right knee. He rehabilitated in Florida for the next few months.^[9]

In 2017, Oquendo joined the Cardinals front office as a Special Assistant to the General Manager and as an instructor out of the Cardinals facility in Jupiter, Florida. He will work with minor league players in the Florida State and Gulf Coast Leagues as well as players in extended spring training and medical rehab.^[10]

He rejoined the Cardinals at his third base coaching position on October 23, 2017.^[11]

In 2004, a comical one-hour special aired onESPN and was produced by MLB Productions about José Oquendo. It featuredRandy and Jason Sklar ofCheap Seats going on a trip all the way to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on a campaign to get José "The Utilityman" Oquendo inducted for his versatility to play any position on the baseball field. The special included the Sklars receiving Oquendo's blessing to lobby for his spot in Cooperstown, collecting signatures for the petition, and giving a lackluster presentation to the Hall of Fame's committee. At the end of the television special, a plaque bearing his name was placed on a utility closet in the Hall of Fame.^[12]

• List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
• List of Puerto Ricans
• List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches

• Career statistics fromMLB · ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet 
• The Ultimate Mets Database