| Rafael Furcal | |
|---|---|
 Furcal with the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: (1977-10-24)October 24, 1977 (age 48) Loma de Cabrera,Dominican Republic | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 4, 2000, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 21, 2014, for the Miami Marlins | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .281 |
| Home runs | 113 |
| Runs batted in | 587 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Rafael Antoni Furcal (born October 24, 1977) is a Dominican former professionalbaseballshortstop. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theAtlanta Braves,Los Angeles Dodgers,St. Louis Cardinals, andMiami Marlins. With St. Louis, he won the2011 World Series over theTexas Rangers.
Furcal grew up inLoma de Cabrera, a small village in theDominican Republic near theDajabón River and the border withHaiti. His father, Silvino, drove ataxi, and his mother, Aura, was aschoolteacher. Furcal had three older brothers, José, Manuel, and Lorenzo, and a sister.[1]
Silvino Furcal was a standoutoutfielder during an era when Dominican ballplayers did not get much recognition fromMajor League scouts.[2] Silvino introduced his sons tobaseball and Rafael credited his father with teaching him how to enjoy the game. Until his death in 2010, Silvino would often call Rafael to give him advice after games.[3] Manuel Furcal pitched in theSeattle Mariners organization and Lorenzo played in theOakland Athletics system before suffering career-ending injuries.[2] José Furcal committedsuicide in 1999 and Manuel died that same year in an accident.[2][3]
Furcal attended Jose Cabrera High School and was prepared to enroll in engineering school before being spotted by a scout at a tryout inSanto Domingo. He was subsequently signed as an amateur free agent by theAtlanta Braves on November 9, 1996, for $5,000.[2]
Furcal began his professional career as a second baseman with the rookie-levelGulf Coast League Braves in 1997. The following season, with theDanville Braves he hit .328 and stole a league record 60 bases in only 66 games. He was named Danville's Player of the Year andAppalachian League All-Star Second Baseman.
In 1999, Furcal switched to shortstop and joined theMacon Braves in Single-A and hit .337 with 73 stolen bases in 83 games. He was transferred to the High-AMyrtle Beach Pelicans and hit .293 for them with 23 steals in 43 games. Furcal led all of minor league baseball with 96 steals total. He was named toBaseball America's first team All-Star team and theSouth Atlantic League All-Star team. In addition, Furcal was the Braves Minor League Player of the Year, the South Atlantic League Most Outstanding Prospect and a Single-A All-Star.
An injury to Braves shortstopWalt Weiss prior to the2000 season led to Furcal improbably making the jump from "A" ball to the Major League roster. He made his Major League debut on April 4, 2000, against theColorado Rockies, getting 2 hits in 4 at-bats. His first hit was against Rockies pitcherRolando Arrojo.
Furcal went on to hit .295 with 40 stolen bases for the Braves and won theNational League Rookie of the Year Award that year.
He missed most of the 2001 season because of a dislocated left shoulder, suffered while stealing second base in a July 6 game atBoston.
The Braves learned Furcal's true age, then 23, at the start of the 2002 season. Before then, he had claimed he was only 21.[4][5] He returned to the starting lineup that season and tied a modern Major League record with three triples in a game on April 21 againstFlorida.
Furcal completed anunassisted triple play for the Braves against theSt. Louis Cardinals on August 10, 2003. It was the 12th in baseball history. In the fifth inning, the shortstop caught pitcherWoody Williams' liner with the runners moving in ahit and run attempt, stepped on second base to retire catcherMike Matheny (who later became Furcal's manager in St. Louis) and taggedOrlando Palmeiro before he could return to first.[6]
He was selected to the National League All-Star Team as a reserve in 2003.
In September 2004, during his final season with the Braves, he was arrested fordrunk driving, violating his probation dating from an earlier drunk driving arrest in June 2000. Furcal was ordered to serve 21 days in jail. In an unusual arrangement, the beginning of the jail term was contingent upon the Braves' situation on the playoffs. His DUI attorney arranged that resolution so that the baseball team had its full contingency of players for the playoffs.[7] Once the Braves were eliminated from post-season action, Furcal served his time.[8]
On December 7, 2005, Furcal signed afree agent contract with theLos Angeles Dodgers for three years and $39 million. In September2006 Furcal was selected as the inaugural winner of theRoy Campanella Award, given to the Dodgers player who best exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the late Hall of Fame catcher. The award was voted on by only his teammates.
In May 2007, he became one of only six Major League players to get 4 hits in each of 3 consecutive games.
Early in 2008, he suffered a back injury that kept him sidelined for most of the season, not returning until right before the playoffs started.
In the fifth inning of Game Five the 2008National League Championship Series against thePhiladelphia Phillies, Furcal made three errors to set records for most errors in one NLCS inning and game. He was just the second player to make three errors in one postseason inning. No shortstop had made three errors in one playoff game sinceBuck Weaver in the 1917World Series. Two of the errors came on the same play as Furcal booted a routine groundball hit byPat Burrell and then airmailed his throw behind home plate in a failed attempt to preventChase Utley from scoring.[9]
On December 19, 2008, after speculation that he would re-sign with the Braves as a free agent, Furcal signed a 3-year $30 million contract to stay with the Dodgers.[10]
Furcal struggled in the first year of his new contract, hitting only .269 for the Dodgers in 2009. Hison-base plus slugging of .711 was also below his career average of .757.[11]
Furcal was added to the2010 National League All-Star team as a reserve afterNew York Mets shortstopJosé Reyes suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw. Furcal walked in his only plate appearance in the game. Due to injuries he only appeared in 97 games for the Dodgers in 2010, but finished with a .300 batting average and stole 22 bases.
In 2011, he spent more time on the disabled list than the active roster for the Dodgers, appearing in just 37 games, during which he hit only .197.
Furcal was traded along with cash considerations to theSt. Louis Cardinals on July 30, 2011 for Double-A outfielderAlex Castellanos. In 50 games with the Cardinals, he hit .255 with 7 home runs. In the2011 World Series, he only hit .179 but picked up his onlyWorld Series ring when the Cards won the series by beating theTexas Rangers in seven games.[12][13]
On October 31, 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals declined his $12 million option for 2012. The club signed Furcal to a 2-year, $14 million deal on December 10, 2011. During the 2012 season Furcal was batting .264 with five home runs and 49 RBIs until being sidelined with an elbow injury on August 30.[14] An MRI of the elbow revealed damage to a ligament in his throwing arm. Furcal would be placed on the disabled list for the remainder of the season in order to undergo four to six weeks of physical rehabilitation in the hopes of forestalling surgical repair.[15] As a replacement for Furcal, the Cardinals called upPete Kozma from the Triple-A affiliateMemphis Redbirds.[16]
On March 7, 2013 the Cardinals announced that Furcal would undergoTommy John surgery and would almost certainly miss all of the 2013 baseball season.[17] An off-season program of rest and rehabilitation for his damaged right elbow at first appeared to be successful, as Furcal reported for Cardinals spring training. However a bone spur began to cause discomfort prompting an MRI and examination by Cardinals team radiologist Greg Cizek on March 4, 2013, who recommended surgery. A second opinion from noted surgeonDr. James Andrews confirmed the diagnosis on March 6, 2013.[17] He became afree agent after the2013 World Series on October 31, 2013.[18]
On December 6, 2013, Furcal signed a one-year deal with theMiami Marlins.[19][20] With the youngerAdeiny Hechavarria at shortstop, Furcal was projected to playsecond base with the Marlins.[21] He made his Marlins debut on June 13, 2014, against thePittsburgh Pirates.
On March 17, 2015, Furcal signed a minor league contract with theKansas City Royals. He was released on March 31[22] and then re-signed the following day to another minor league contract.[23] He played just seven games in the minors for theWilmington Blue Rocks andNorthwest Arkansas Naturals, hitting .240. On May 19, he announced his retirement.[24]
During the offseason, Furcal played for theAguilas Cibaeñas. He resides inWeston, FL with his family. Furcal met his wife, Glenny, during his finalspring training with the Braves and the couple has two sons together, Rafael Jr. (born in 2006) and Anthony (born in 2008).[2][25] Furcal also has a daughter named Ashley (born in 2004) from a previous relationship.[1]
Furcal has used his baseball earnings to give back to his hometown. When Furcal re-signed with the Dodgers in 2008, he arranged to have theLos Angeles Fire Department donate afire truck to Loma de Cabrera which, until then, did not have a fire department.[26] He has also arranged to pay the hospital bills of Loma de Cabrera residents.[1][27]
Furcal's father, Silvino, died onFather's Day in 2010 after being kicked by a horse on the family's farm.[3]
Furcal was considered for election to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time in2020.[28]
· Baseball Almanac| Preceded by | Baseball America Rookie of the Year 2000 | Succeeded by Albert Pujols |
| Preceded by | Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year 2000 | Succeeded by Albert Pujols |
| Preceded by Preston Wilson | Players Choice NL Most Outstanding Rookie 2000 | Succeeded by Albert Pujols |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
