Children: daughter, Gabriela (April 27, 1992), and sons, Jose Jr. (April 5, 1994) and Jonathan (April 19, 1996)...graduated in 1985 from Americo Tolentino HS in Palenque de San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, where he played baseball, basketball and volleyball...represented the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean World Series from Feb 3-8, 1996.
2005
hit .246 (46x187) with one home run and 23 RBI in 98 games...hit 10 doubles and two triples, walked 15 times and struck
out 40.
started 34 games, including 12 at shortstop, 10 at second base, eight at first base, and four at third base...played in a total
of 61 games on defense (23 at 2B, 17 at SS, 13 at 1B, and eight at 3B).
started at SS and went 1x3 on 9/24 at CHI...hitting .268 (19x71) since 8/1.
recorded career hit No. 1,400 on 7/24 at WSH, becoming the 60th switch-hitter in MLB history to reach the milestone...ranks
8th among active switch-hitters with 1,420 career hits...ranks 7th among active players with 70 pinch-hits.
started at SS and went 2x4 with two RBI on 9/17 vs. MIL.
started at 3B and went 1x4 with a double on 9/14...2B and went 1x4 with a triple on 9/11 at MIL...1x1 with a pinch-hit
double on 9/6 at PHI.
went 2x2 on 8/31 vs. CIN with his first HR of the season and first since 9/3/04 (219 AB)...came in as a pinch-hitter then
played 2B and 1B...also tied his season high with two RBI.
pinch-hit single tied the game in the seventh inning on 8/19 vs. MIL, snapping an 0x13 slump.
recorded career hit No. 1,400 on 7/24 at WSH, becoming the 60th switch-hitter all-time to reach that milestone.
hit .313 (5x16) in April.
hit a pinch-hit, RBI double in the eighth inning on 4/11 at NYM...hit the game-winning, pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth
inning on 4/9 vs. CIN.
2004
Batted .274 with three home runs and 33 RBI in 138 games for the Astros in 2004...started 52 games at shortstop, 16 at second base, six at third base, and three at first base...collected 27 extra-base hits, his highest total since 31 in 1997...tied career high (also 1995) with his 21st double of the season on Sept. 26 at Milwaukee...started all 12 postseason games at shortstop and hit safely in seven of the games...went 2x4 in Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS at St. Louis...hit 1x4 with a run and a sac fly in Game 5 of the NLDS at Atlanta...hit his third home run of the year on Sept. 3 vs. Pittsburgh (Perez)...started 42 of the last 46 games of the season (40 at shortstop, two at second)...tied his season high for the third time with four hits (4x5) on Aug. 22 vs. the Chicago Cubs...went 4x4 on July 7 at San Diego with his second homer of the season...started three consecutive games, on June 8 at second, June 7 at first, and June 6 at third...went 3x4 on June 6 at St. Louis.
2003
- Batted .249 (47x189) with three home runs and 26 RBI...hit seven doubles and three triples.
- played in 91 games for the Astros with 32 starts...played four positions: first, second, third and shortstop.
- batted .239 (11x46) as a pinch-hitter with one home run and seven RBI.
- hit the go-ahead, two-run, pinch-hit single in the seventh inning on Sept. 24 vs. San Francisco.
- tied the game with a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth inning (Luis Vizcaino) on Sept. 9 at Milwaukee.
- made his first start since being activated from the DL on Aug. 28 vs. Los Angeles...went 2x4...hit 2x4 with two RBI on Aug.
30 vs. San Diego.
- placed on the 15-day Disabled List on June 25 with a broken left ulna...hit by a Stephen Randolph pitch on June 24 at
Arizona...missed 49 games with the injury.
- started six games at second base from June 19-24...recorded a hit in five of those six games and batted .240 (6x25) with
five RBI and four runs scored.
- hit second home run (Hentgen) on June 4 vs. Tampa Bay for a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
- had three straight multi-hit games from May 8-15...batted .315 (17x54) in May.
- homered for the first time on May 23 vs. the Cubs, a three-run blast (Prior) in the first inning.
- was 3x5 with three RBI on May 13 at Pittsburgh and 3x4 (RBI) on May 15 vs. the Pirates.
- stopped an 0x7 streak as a pinch-hitter with the go-ahead RBI on May 2 vs. Florida in the sixth inning of the 4-3 win...had
two hits, including a double, on April 26 at Montreal.
2002
Played in 125 games and hit .303 (123x406) with five home runs and 37 RBI...five homers tied his career high (1997).
- started 47 games at shortstop, 23 at third base, 19 at second base, and one at first base...hit .306 (114x372) in those 90 starts.
- hit safely in 15 consecutive starts from Aug. 27-Sept. 14 (.323; 21x65).
- hit .333 with runners in scoring position (30x90), including a .357 (15x42) mark with less than two outs.
- hit .342 as a pinch-hitter (8x23).
- broke a 3-3 tie with an eighth-inning, three-run homer on Sept. 12 vs. St. Louis...tied his season high with three RBI...also drove in three runs on Sept. 10 vs. Colorado.
- batted .351 (33x94) over 26 games in August with nine multi-hit games, including a five-hit game and two four-hit games.
- tied career high with five hits on Aug. 17 at Cincinnati...was 5x5 with two runs, including his first career leadoff homer (Estes) and the team's third of the year.
- batted fifth for the first time in his career on Aug. 23 vs. Cincinnati.
- went 4x6 with a season-high three RBI on Aug. 20 vs. Chicago...had three games with four or more hits from Aug. 10-20.
- started at second and collected four hits (4x5) on Aug. 10 vs. Atlanta.
- recorded his first error of 2002 on Aug. 19 at Milwaukee.
- batted .400 (18x45) over 15 games in May, including 3x5 as a pinch-hitter.
- collected seven multi-hit games in 10 starts from April 28-May 29.
- hit the second walk-off home run of the season (31st in club history) and the first of his career (Lowe) in 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on May 18...homer was the 23rd of his career and his first since June 15, 2001 vs. Texas (Helling), a span of 228 at-bats.
2001
Signed by the Astros as a free agent on November 20, 2000.
- started at shortstop and went 3x3 vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 30.
- batted .407 (22x54) in 17 games (11 starts) in Augustb
2000
Was acquired by the New York Yankees on June 21 from Los Angeles in exchange for Jim Leyritz...in his 40 games with the Dodgers, he batted .204 (19x93) with 4 RBI in 22 starts...hit .276 with 10 RBI in 73 games for the Yankees...Made 39 starts for the World Champions...37 at second base and two at third...joined Darryl Strawberry as the only players in history to play for the four teams that have called New York 'home' (Dodgers, Giants, Mets and Yankees)...also became the 66th player to appear in a game for both the Yankees and Mets...collected his 1,000th career hit with a fourth inning single and was 2x4 on July 14 vs. Florida...scored a career-high four runs, collected a season-high four hits and was 4x5 in the July 25 win at Baltimore...tied a season-high with for hits (4x5) with a run scored and a double against Kansas City on September 5.
1999
Batted .350 (7-for-20) as a pinch-hitter, including 4 hits in last 5 appearances coming off bench ... Began the season as backup middle infielder behind shortstop Mark Grudzielanek and second baseman Eric Young ... On disabled list May 17-June 3 (left hamstring strain) ... Suffered the injury while running from third to home May 16 at St. Louis ... Hit only home run June 4 vs. Anaheim's Omar Olivares. Batted .306 (19-for-62) with runners in scoring position and .286 (10-for-35) with 2 out and RISP. Had season-high 4 hits April 20 against Atlanta ... started 15 games at second base, 5 at third base and 40 at shortstop.
1998
Despite missing the final 3 months of the season with a severely sprained right ankle, saw action in 67 games with the Dodgers and batted .262 with 9 doubles, 3 home runs and 29 RBI ... suffered the injury while sliding into second base during the 3rd inning on June 21 at Colorado ... Was placed on the 15-day disabled list June 22, and missed 72 games until he was reinstated to the active roster September 9 ... he did not appear in the Dodgers' final 17 games after he was reinstated ... Dr. Rich Ferkel removed scar tissue and a loose body near the deltoid ligament during a surgical procedure on October 2 ... His solo home run in the 5th inning off Denny Neagle on May 5 at Atlanta was the first time the switch-hitter connected off a left-handed pitcher in his career ... Appeared in 66 games at shortstop (65 starts) and committed 4 errors in 265 total chances for a .985 fielding percentage.
1997
Set career bests in at-bats (568), runs scored (77), home runs, walks (48) and strikeouts (87) ... Made just one error in his last 40 games, including a 26-game errorless stretch from August 13-September 13 ... committed just 7 miscues in his last 75 contests ... ranked 5th among N.L. shortstops in total chances (647) and fielding percentage (.976).
1996
Hit a combined .297 with one home run, 45 RBI, 17 doubles and 8 triples after splitting the season with the New York Mets and Cleveland ... Hit .303 with one home run, 32 RBI and 12 doubles in 144 games with the Mets before being traded with Jeff Kent to Cleveland for Carlos Baerga and Alvaro Espinoza on July 29 ... Established a Mets' club record by getting hits in 9 straight at-bats from April 23-25 (vs. Cincinnati on April 23 and at St. Louis from April 24-25 ... Batted .333 (4-for-12) with one run, 2 doubles and one RBI in the A.L. Division Series against Baltimore.
1995
Named the Mets' Player of the Year after batting .287 with 3 home runs and 56 RBI in 135 games ... Led all N.L. shortstops with a .984 fielding percentage after making only 10 errors in 611 chances ... Tied for 3rd in the N.L. with 13 sacrifice bunts ... Established a career high when he went 5-for-5 on September 23 at Florida.
1994
Batted .256 with 3 home runs and 33 RBI with the Mets after being acquired in a March 30 trade with the Cubs for pitchers Anthony Young and Ottis Smith ... Tied his career best with a 16-game hitting streak from May 20-June 9, the 5th-longest in the N.L. during the season ... Hit safely in 16 of his first 19 games with the Mets, going 24-for-75 (.320).
1993
Set then-career highs in games played (151), batting average (.287), home runs (4) and runs scored (74) for the Cubs appeared in 81 games at shortstop (79 starts), 44 games at third base (29 starts) and 34 contests at second base (27 starts) ... Became the first middle infielder for the Cubs besides Ryne Sandberg to play in more than 150 games while batting .280 or better.
1992
Appeared in 50 games at shortstop (41 starts), 29 games at third base (26 starts) and 5 games at second base in his 2nd full season with the Cubs ... committed just 9 errors ... Slugged his first major league home run off the Mets' Tom Filer on August 1 at Shea Stadium ... the homer came in his 446th at-bat and 207th game in the big leagues ... Was placed on the 15-day disabled list twice; from April 20-May 6 with a bruised left thumb and August 26-September 16 with a torn extensor tendon hood in his 3rd left finger ... underwent surgery for his finger injury on September 2 and missed the remainder of the season.
1991
Hit .262 in his first full season in the major leagues with the Cubs after being acquired in a trade with the Dodgers for infielder Greg Smith before the season ... Became the 1,500th player to appear in a game with the Cubs when he made his season debut on April 16.
1990
Spent majority of the season at Triple-A Albuquerque but had 3 separate stints with the Dodgers ... Had his contract purchased by the Dodgers on April 24 and appeared in 3 games before returning to the Dukes on May 1 ... was recalled again on June 21 and had a .282 batting average in 24 games with L.A. before being optioned on August 11b
1989
Batted .283 in 129 games at Albuquerque before being called up to the big leagues for the first time in September ... Made his major league debut on September 10 at San Diegob
