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Edgardo Antonio Alfonzo (born November 8, 1973 in Miranda State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball third baseman who plays with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Previously, Alfonzo played for the New York Mets (1995-2002) and San Francisco Giants (2003-2005). He bats and throws right handed.

In an eleven-year career, Alfonzo has compiled a .287 batting average with 146 home runs and 739 RBI in 1476 games.

Alfonzo was signed by the Mets as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1991 and made his debut in the 1995 season. At the beginning he was a semi-regular fielder, sharing second base, third base and shortstop with several others. In 1997 he started regularly on third; from 1999-2001 he played at second, and came back to third in 2002.

While he has shown ability to hit fastballs out of the ballpark, Alfonzo is primarily a line drive hitter with power to all fields. He is a patient hitter. He can hit behind the runner, bunt, hit and run, hit in the clutch, and he takes a significant number of base on balls. Alfonzo has some speed but has never put it to use to steal bases.

Coming off two excellent seasons in which he batted .304 and .324, Alfonzo had every reason to expect a big year in 2001. He had his best powers in 1999 (27 home runs, 108 RBI, 41 doubles) and 2000 (25, 94, 40), and at 27, he was at an age in which many hitters have their best season. However, Alfonzo suffered from a variety of injuries, including sore right hand, knee, thigh and a back injury from years before, costing him playing time and lowering his record to .234, 17 HR, 49 RBI. He finished 2002 with .308, 16, 56, and signed with San Francisco as a free agent in the off-season.

In 2003 Alfonzo struggled for most of the first half for the Giants. He was hitting .216 with 27 RBI at mid-season, but he hit .306 with 54 RBI the rest of the way, and performed well against the Florida Marlins in the NLCS, when he hit .529 (9-for-17) with five RBI.

Alfonzo enjoyed a slight career renaissance in 2004 hitting for his career average although with reduced power numbers. But his career continued its downward trend in 2005 due to age, nagging injuries and reduced playing time in favor of Pedro Feliz.

Despite his injuries, Alfonzo remains one of the best defensive third basemen in the majors. He has great range and instincts for the position, ability to turn the double play, and his arm, though not the strongest around, is above-average.

Highlights

• All-Star (2000)
• Silver Slugger Award (1999)
• Top 10 MVP (8th, 1999)
• Twice Top 10 in batting average (1997, 2002)

See also

• Players from Venezuela in MLB

External links

• ESPN (profile and daily updates)
• Baseball Reference (statistics and analysis)

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