1975
Born October 10, 1975
Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, D.R.
Plácido Polanco Marquee
b. October 10, 1975 · St. Louis Cardinals 1998–2002, Philadelphia Phillies 2002–2005, 2010–2012, Detroit Tigers 2005–2009, Miami Marlins 2013
He won the award at second base in 2007 and 2009 and at third base in 2011, the first player to win it at both positions. He committed no errors at all in 2007, the year he had 200 hits and a Silver Slugger, and he made three errors in 2009.
Sixteen seasons gave him 2,142 hits, 348 doubles, 723 runs batted in and a .297 average, with two All-Star selections. He struck out 511 times in 7,214 at bats, a rate almost nobody of his era approached.
He was the most valuable player of the 2006 Championship Series for Detroit, going 9 for 14. He is Dominican, from Santo Domingo, and reached the major leagues at twenty-two after St. Louis drafted him out of a Florida junior college. The 2019 ballot gave him two votes of 425.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 2007, 2011 |
| Gold Glove | 3 | 2007, 2009, 2011 |
| ALCS MVP | 1 | 2006 |
| Silver Slugger | 1 | 2007 |
| This Year in Baseball Defensive Player of the Year | 1 | 2007 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 2007 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | STL | 45 | 114 | 10 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 2 | .254 |
| 1999 | STL | 88 | 220 | 24 | 61 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 15 | 24 | 1 | .277 |
| 2000 | STL | 118 | 323 | 50 | 102 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 39 | 16 | 26 | 4 | .316 |
| 2001 | STL | 144 | 564 | 87 | 173 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 38 | 25 | 43 | 12 | .307 |
| 2002 | PHI/STL | 147 | 548 | 75 | 158 | 32 | 2 | 9 | 49 | 26 | 41 | 5 | .288 |
| 2003 | PHI | 122 | 492 | 87 | 142 | 30 | 3 | 14 | 63 | 42 | 38 | 14 | .289 |
| 2004 | PHI | 126 | 503 | 74 | 150 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 55 | 27 | 39 | 7 | .298 |
| 2005 | DET/PHI | 129 | 501 | 84 | 166 | 27 | 2 | 9 | 56 | 33 | 25 | 4 | .331 |
| 2006 | DET | 110 | 461 | 58 | 136 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 52 | 17 | 27 | 1 | .295 |
| 2007 | DET | 142 | 587 | 105 | 200 | 36 | 3 | 9 | 67 | 37 | 30 | 7 | .341 |
| 2008 | DET | 141 | 580 | 90 | 178 | 34 | 3 | 8 | 58 | 35 | 43 | 7 | .307 |
| 2009 | DET | 153 | 618 | 82 | 176 | 31 | 4 | 10 | 72 | 36 | 46 | 7 | .285 |
| 2010 | PHI | 132 | 554 | 76 | 165 | 27 | 2 | 6 | 52 | 32 | 47 | 5 | .298 |
| 2011 | PHI | 122 | 469 | 46 | 130 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 50 | 42 | 44 | 3 | .277 |
| 2012 | PHI | 90 | 303 | 28 | 78 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 18 | 25 | 0 | .257 |
| 2013 | MIA | 118 | 377 | 33 | 98 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 23 | 31 | 2 | .260 |
| Career | — | 1927 | 7214 | 1009 | 2142 | 348 | 32 | 104 | 723 | 429 | 538 | 81 | .297 |
On this day & linked events
1998
Major-league debut: Plácido Polanco
Plácido Polanco made a major-league debut on July 3, 1998.
2013
Final major-league game: Plácido Polanco
Plácido Polanco played a final major-league game on September 28, 2013.