| Wilson Betemit | |
|---|---|
 Betemit with the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Third baseman | |
| Born: (1981-11-02)November 2, 1981 (age 43) Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 18, 2001, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 12, 2013, for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .267 |
| Home runs | 75 |
| Runs batted in | 283 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Wilson Betemit (pronounced BAY-ta-mee)[1] (born November 2, 1981) is aDominican former professionalbaseballinfielder. He has played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theAtlanta Braves,Los Angeles Dodgers,New York Yankees,Chicago White Sox,Kansas City Royals,Detroit Tigers andBaltimore Orioles.
Betemit is a 1996 graduate of Jurczak High School, where he played baseball. He was signed as an undraftedfree agentshortstop by theAtlanta Braves on July 28, 1996, when he was 14 and a half years old. According to Major League Baseball's age restrictions regarding the signing of minors, teams are not allowed to sign anyone under the age of sixteen. Because of this rule violation, the Braves were fined $100,000 and prohibited from scouting and signing players from the Dominican Republic for six months in 2000.[2]
Betemit began his professional career in 1997 with theGulf Coast Braves. In 1999, he was the Player of the Year for theDanville Braves of the Rookie League, andAppalachian League All-Star shortstop after batting .320 in 67 games, though he made 33 errors in 67 games. In 2000, with theJamestown Jammers, he hit .331 and was named the Braves' # 1 Minor League Prospect byBaseball America, as well as the Short-Season A Player of the Year and All-Star shortstop.[citation needed]
Betemit started 2001 with theMyrtle Beach Pelicans in Advanced-A ball (hitting the first inside-the-park home run in Pelicans history on June 11), and was promoted mid-season to theGreenville Braves in AA. He hit .355 with Greenville, and was named the Braves top prospect for the second year in a row. He was also the Braves Minor League Player of the Year, theFlorida State League All-Star shortstop, and theBaseball America 2nd team minor league all-star shortstop.[citation needed]
Called up to the Braves in September, he made his major league debut on September 18, 2001, as apinch runner against thePhiladelphia Phillies. He was 0 for 8 for the Braves in limitedpinch hitting opportunities. In 2002, he was sent to the AAARichmond Braves to start the season, but spent significant portions of the season on thedisabled list due to various ailments. Despite a sub-par, injury-ridden season, he was still named the Braves second-best pro prospect after the season. He spent most of 2003 and 2004 with Richmond, but appeared in 22 games with the Braves in 2004, recording his first Major Leaguehit on May 8 against theHouston Astros.[citation needed]
In 2005 as the Braves' principal reserve infielder, Betemit frequently filled in atthird base for the Braves' oft-injured star third basemanChipper Jones, hitting .305 for the season. He hit his first careerhome run on April 27 againstNew York MetspitcherTom Glavine. In the offseason, following shortstopRafael Furcal's free agency in the winter of 2005, the Braves considered giving Betemit the starting shortstop job. However, they decided instead to trade for shortstopEdgar Rentería from theBoston Red Sox. Betemit continued to play a valuable role for the Braves as a pinch hitter and backup forsecond basemanMarcus Giles, Rentería, and Chipper Jones.[citation needed]
On July 28, 2006, Betemit was traded to theLos Angeles Dodgers forrelief pitcherDanys Baez and infielderWilly Aybar.[3] He made his debut for the Dodgers on July 30, 2006, playing third base against theWashington Nationals. He finished the season with a batting average of .241 with nine home runs and 24 RBIs.
He was expected to be the Dodgers starting third baseman in 2007, but poor play resulted in his becoming a part-time starter and pinch hitter. He hit pinch hit home runs in consecutive games against the Braves in May 2007. He hit 10 home runs and 26 RBIs in 84 games.
On July 31, 2007, the Dodgers traded Betemit to theNew York Yankees for relief pitcherScott Proctor.[4] On August 2, 2007, Betemit homered in his first Yankeeat bat while filling in at shortstop for Derek Jeter and was given a curtain call by the fans in attendance.[5] On May 9, 2008, Betemit was the victim ofDetroit Tigers pitcherKenny Rogers' record setting 92nd career pickoff.[6]
On November 13, 2008, Betemit, and minor league pitchersJeffrey Marquez andJhonny Núñez were traded to theChicago White Sox for first basemanNick Swisher and minor league pitcherKanekoa Texeira.[7]
On June 3, 2009, the White Sox designated Betemit for assignment to call up prospectGordon Beckham.[8][9]
On November 12, 2009, Betemit signed a minor league contract with theKansas City Royals.[10] He began the 2010 season with Kansas City's Class AAA affiliate, theOmaha Royals of thePacific Coast League.
He hit home runs from both sides of the plate on June 10, 2010, in a 9–8 win againstMinnesota Twins.[11]
On July 20, 2011, Betemit was traded to theDetroit Tigers for left-handed pitcher Antonio Cruz and catcher Julio Rodriguez.[12]
On January 23, 2012, he signed a two-year, major league deal with an option for a third year with theBaltimore Orioles.[13] In his first season with the team, he played in 102 games while hitting .261 with 12 home runs.[14] From August 12 to September 1, Betemit missed time with a wrist injury.[15]
On March 25, 2013, Wilson was carried out on a stretcher during a spring-training game against theBoston Red Sox with an apparent ligament injury to his right knee.[16] He started a rehab assignment on August 6, serving time with theGulf Coast League Orioles,Bowie Baysox,Frederick Keys, andNorfolk Tides. The Orioles activated him from the 60-day disabled list on August 27.[17] He was designated for assignment on September 16, 2013.[18] He was released on September 24.[19]
Betemit signed a minor league deal with theTampa Bay Rays on February 6, 2014.[20] Betemit failed to make the Rays Opening Day roster but accepted his outright assignment to AAA.
In July 2014 he joined the Rays'Triple-A affiliateDurham Bulls.[21] On August 10, 2014, his team lost to theBuffalo Bisons.[22] He became a free agent after the 2014 season.
On February 2, Betemit was suspended 50 games for using Performance-Enhancing Drugs (PEDs).[23]
On April 12, 2016, Betemit signed with theOlmecas de Tabasco of theMexican Baseball League. He was released on May 10, 2016. In 12 games he struggled immensely hitting .146/.196/.167 with 0 home runs and 5 RBIs.
Betemit was named as the hitting coach for theDSL Royals for the 2019 season.
In 2025, Betemit was named hitting coach for theACL Royals the rookie league affiliate of theKansas City Royals.
The pronunciation of Betemit's last name has been debated by baseball broadcasters and fans. Betemit has stated that he pronounces his name the way it is pronounced in his native Dominican Republic, i.e. "Bay-tah-mee", not "Bet-eh-mitt" ("the 't' is silent," he explains).[24] However, Betemit has also said that he does not especially care that many American baseball broadcasters have "Americanized" his name by pronouncing the "t".[24]
In an interview in 2006, Atlanta Braves announcer Joe Simpson relayed that he had asked Betemit about halfway through that season how to pronounce his name, and when told the answer, apologized to him, saying, "I've been pronouncing your name wrong all this time, but I'm gonna pronounce it right from now on!"[citation needed]
There was some confusion surrounding Betemit's date of birth. His official Player Profile on MLB.com[25] used to list it as July 28, 1980, while other sources, including Baseball-Reference.com, have it as November 2, 1981.[14] An article from February 2000 in the Savannah Morning News offers an explanation for the discrepancy, saying that his real birthday is 1981-11-02.[26]
