Angel Berroa was selected by the Oakland Athletics as an amateur free agent in 1997. He was born on January 27, 1980 in Santo Domingo , Dominican Republic . He made his Major League debut on September 18, 2001 with Kansas City Royals. His acquisition gave the Royals a good young shortstop to go with their new ninth-inning man. He became the Royals starting shortstop in 2003 after the departure of Neifi Perez Berroa started the 2003 season hitting ninth in the batting order and committing 19 errors in his first 63 games. However his batting average was .287 with 17 home runs, 73 runs batted in, and 21 stolen bases. Overall, he committed 24 errors. Late in the season Berroa was recruited to the top of the batting order. His performance ignited a media debate. The media raised a question whether he or New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui, a former star in the Japanese Central League, should win the Rookie of the Year Award. This became a contentious issue. However, Berroa outdid Matsui. The move was highly criticized by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. Berroa became the fourth player of the Royals to win the prestigious award. On August 10, 2004 , he was demoted to Double-A Wichita. When he returned two weeks later on August 23, he registered a miserably disappointing season. He led the majors in errors and registered one of the game's worst on-base percentages. Berroa is an extremely edgy hitter and is prone to long stretches of over swinging and chasing bad pitches. Often he tries to hit everything of the park. He uses his strong, quick wrists to drive almost any offering with authority. He's at his best when he stays back and uses his line-drive stroke to take pitches to all fields. Very tactfully he uses his foot speed to pressure infielders. When his footwork becomes defective, he quickly compensates by relying too much on his arm, which most of the times result in errant throws. He is a good baserunner, and has above-average speed and over time has learned how to steal bases.
|
