| Rubén Sierra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Right fielder /Designated hitter | |
| Born: (1965-10-06)October 6, 1965 (age 60) Río Piedras, Puerto Rico | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 1, 1986, for the Texas Rangers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 9, 2006, for the Minnesota Twins | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .268 |
| Hits | 2,152 |
| Home runs | 306 |
| Runs batted in | 1,322 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Rubén Angel Sierra García (born October 6, 1965) is a Puerto Rican formerMajor League Baseball (MLB)outfielder. Over 20 seasons, Sierra played for theTexas Rangers (1986–92, 2000–01, 2003),Oakland Athletics (1992–95),New York Yankees (1995–96, 2003–05),Detroit Tigers (1996),Cincinnati Reds (1997),Toronto Blue Jays (1997),Chicago White Sox (1998),Seattle Mariners (2002) andMinnesota Twins (2006).
Sierra also was under contract and appeared in spring training for both theCleveland Indians[1][2] andNew York Mets, but never played in a non-exhibition game with either team. During his playing career, Sierra was known as 'El Indio' or 'El Caballo' (The Horse).
Sierra graduated from Liceo Interamericano Castro High School inPuerto Rico in 1983, where he playedbaseball,basketball andvolleyball.
In November 1982, theTexas Rangers ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) signed 17-year-old Sierra as afree agent.[3] Sierra made his major league debut on June 1, 1986, as anoutfielder and hit ahome run in his second MLBat bat.[4] Sierra hit .264 with 16 home runs and 55runs batted in (RBIs) in his rookie year.
In 1989, Sierra hit 29 home runs and led the league in RBIs (119), triples (14), slugging percentage (.543), total bases (344) and extra base hits (78),[3] and finished second in MVP voting toRobin Yount.[5] He had three seasons with over 100 RBIs with the Rangers.[3] In August 1992, the Rangers traded Sierra,Jeff Russell, andBobby Witt to theOakland Athletics forJosé Canseco.[6]
In 1995, the Athletics traded Sierra andJason Beverlin to theNew York Yankees forDanny Tartabull.[7] After helping the Yankees reach the playoffs for the first time in 14 years in 1995, Sierra was traded to theDetroit Tigers withMatt Drews forCecil Fielder.[3] After the 1997 season, the Tigers traded Sierra to theCincinnati Reds for minor leaguers Decomba Conner and Ben Bailey.[8]
Sierra won the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award with the Rangers in 2001.[9] He played for the Mariners in 2002 and began the 2003 season with the Rangers. On June 6, 2003, the Rangers traded Sierra to the Yankees forMarcus Thames.[10] Sierra was an important part of the 2004 Yankees, a team that hit over 240home runs, hitting 17 of them as the usual designated hitter, playing in 56 games at the position.[3]
In Game 4 of the2004 American League Division Series, with the Yankees down to theMinnesota Twins 5–2, Sierra hit a three-run home run to tie the game at 5–5 off of relieverJuan Rincón.[11] His clutch home run helped the Yankees rally to win the game and the series. However, he was the final out of Game 7 of the2004 American League Championship Series, hitting a ground ball toPokey Reese, which secured the dramatic comeback victory of theBoston Red Sox. Sierra had an injury-plagued 2005 season and was let go by the Yankees after hitting just 4 home runs in 61 games.[3] In 2006, Sierra signed a minor league contract with theMinnesota Twins, but was released on July 10.[3] In August, Sierra was offered a chance to sign on with theNew York Mets for the September run and playoffs. However, due to an illness to his mother, he opted not to play again in 2006.[12]
In January 2007, Sierra signed a minor league contract with the Mets, who invited him tospring training. However, on March 20, he requested and was granted his release by the team after being reassigned the previous Thursday.[13]
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | American League Player of the Month June 1989 May 1991 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |