A free-swinging line-drive hitter with good power and with the speed to stretch those doubles into triples, Alfonso Guilleard Soriano has the potential of becoming an All-Star second baseman. Signed by New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1998, Alfonso made his Major League debut on September 14, 1999 . Alfonso always dreamt of being a big league shortstop. Initially, his prospects seemed very vague because of his slow foot and awkward move while trying to chase down ground balls due to which he was named “The Mule.” Alfonso always wondered himself playing baseball on a major league level. When he turned 16, he was signed by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanse Central League. Soon he became the organization's top young prospect. But he really disliked Japanese approach to focus on team play rather than individual skills. Soriano's career began in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp. In 1997, briefly he played for the varsity team, however, the Carp refused to raise his salary. Alfonso feared that he would be confined in Japanese baseball and won't ever get a chance to play in the major leagues. He appeared in nine games and recorded a miserable year, batting .118 for the Carp with two walks. Following the season, he joined the Yankees and played in the Yankees jersey for five seasons. He spent three years playing in the minor leagues before he became a full-time starter for the Yankees in 2001. His aggressiveness and passion for the game had energized the team. He had already become New York 's most electric baserunner. He finished the year with .268 average and 43 stolen bases. He led AL rookies in home runs (18), doubles (34), and RBIs (73) and finished third in Rookie of the Year balloting. In 2002, became the first second baseman to hit 30 homeruns and steal 30 bases in the same season and was a finalist for the league's MVP award. His fans voted him to start at second base for the American League at the 2003 All-Star Game in Chicago . That same season, he set the record for most leadoff home runs in a season with 13. On February 16, 2004 , the Yankees traded him to Texas Rangers for Alex Rodriguez. In May 2004, he became the first Texas Ranger to blast six hits in nine innings in a 16-15, 10-inning victory over the Detroit Tigers. He was also named MVP of the 2004 MLB All-Star Game after hitting a three-run homerun and leading the American League to a 9-4 victory over the National League. |
