José Oquendo

New York Mets Oquendo was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and signed with the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in at only fifteen years old. A switch hitter, Oquendo threw right-handed and stood tall and weighed during his playing career. After two seasons bouncing back and forth between the Mets and their Triple-A affiliate the Tidewater Tides, Oquendo was traded with Mark J. Davis to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ángel Salazar and John Young. St. Louis Cardinals Oquendo spent all of with the Cardinals' triple A affiliate the Louisville Redbirds. With the Mets, Oquendo had only ever played shortstop; with perennial All-star Ozzie Smith firmly entrenched there, the Cards experimented with Oquendo at other positions when they brought him up for the season. Along with short, Oquendo played second base, third and in the outfield. In , Oquendo played every position, except catcher, and was nicknamed "the Secret Weapon" by manager Whitey Herzog. His one emergency appearance on the mound came on August 7. Already down 12–4 to the Philadelphia Phillies, Oquendo pitched the eighth inning and gave up three earned runs. Oquendo reached the postseason for the only time in his career in . He batted .222, including a three-run home run in the second inning of the seventh game of the 1987 National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants; the Cardinals would appear in the 1987 World Series, falling to the Minnesota Twins in seven games. In , 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 the Atlanta Braves on May 14. After pitching three scoreless innings, Oquendo was tagged for a two-run double by Ken Griffey in the nineteenth, and took the loss. With Luis Alicea back in the minors in , Oquendo emerged as the Cardinals' regular second baseman. He responded by committing only five errors in 851 chances and a .994 fielding percentage. He also enjoyed his best season with the bat, batting .291, and was in the top ten in hits, triples, walks and on-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 fewest errors (three) by a second baseman in a 150+ game season—the record has since been broken by Plácido Polanco (2009) and Darwin Barney (2012), who recorded only two errors in their respective seasons. In the first game of the season, Oquendo suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the season. Oquendo spent three more seasons with the Cardinals as a utility infielder. He retired after failing to make the Cardinal roster out of spring training in . Career statistics Oquendo was 0–1 with a 12.00 earned run average over six innings in three games pitched. His career fielding percentage as a second baseman is .992. ==Coaching career==

Oquendo accepted a minor league coaching position with the Cardinals in , and became manager of the New Jersey Cardinals of the New York–Penn League in . He became bench coach for St. Louis in , and a year later, he moved to third base coach, where he remained for the rest of his coaching career. Oquendo was thrown out of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 13, , for arguing. Earlier in the game, already a blowout loss for the Cardinals, Cardinals pitcher Russ Springer threw an inside pitch that grazed the hip of Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. Springer was thrown out without warning, which caused Cardinals manager Tony La Russa to argue with umpire Larry 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 pitcher Rudy Seánez threw a pitch that went behind Cardinals batter Brendan 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, , Oquendo appeared as a Cardinals pinch hitter in a preseason exhibition game against the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds. Oquendo fouled off several pitches before being walked. He was advanced to third base on a hit and walk before an inning-ending groundout. Over the past few years Oquendo has interviewed for managerial positions with San Diego, Seattle, and the New York Mets. Also during the 2011 offseason he was interviewed for the managing position with the Cardinals. The spot would later go to Mike Matheny. On August 17, 2012, Oquendo was again ejected from a game for arguing balls and strikes. After a called strike to Jon Jay from Pittsburgh Pirates starter James McDonald, Oquendo came down the third base line to argue with home plate umpire Lance Barrett. He was immediately ejected from the game. Manager Mike 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 basemen Matt Carpenter and catching prospect Carson 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. 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. 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 worked with minor league players in the Florida State and Gulf Coast Leagues, as well as players in extended spring training and medical rehab. He rejoined the Cardinals at his third base coaching position on October 23, 2017, until being replaced by Pop Warner in 2019. ==Acting==

The Sklar Brothers and the "Utility Man" In 2004, a comical one-hour special aired on ESPN and was produced by MLB Productions about José Oquendo. It featured Randy and Jason Sklar of Cheap Seats going on a trip all the way to the National 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. ==See also==