Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Roberto Alomar / Devil Rays

This summer, Roberto Alomar is going to be enshrined in Cooperstown. Alomar will be the third Puerto Rican in the Hall of Fame, after Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda. He was without question the best second baseman of his generation (1988-2004). He was a 12 time all star, he won more Gold Gloves (10), and also won the second-most Silver Slugger Awards (4) in MLB history for a second baseman. He also won two world series rings as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

I was actually in Toronto's SkyDome in September of 1996 when, as member of the Baltimore Orioles, he infamously spit into umpire John Hirschbeck's face during a heated argument. It was a very bizarre moment because most people at the stadium had no idea what was going on. He was allowed to play in the playoffs but was suspended for the first five games to the 1997 season.

When you look at his career, for some reason, Roberto Alomar jumped around a lot. He played for seven different teams: San Diego Padres (1988–1990), Toronto Blue Jays (1991–1995), Baltimore Orioles (1996–1998), Cleveland Indians (1999–2001), New York Mets (2002–2003), Chicago White Sox (2003), Arizona Diamondbacks (2004), and again the Chicago White Sox (2004).

Before the start of the 2005 season, Roberto agreed to a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They were still the "Devil Rays" back then, even though my card does not show it. He never actually played a regular season game for them, on March 19, 2005, after a spring plagued by back and vision trouble, he retired from the game.