Richard Hidalgo #15

He and his wife, Aleida, live in Guarenas, Venezuela, in the offseason with their three sons: Richard Jose (October 11, 1993), Ricky Jose (July 21, 1998) and Renny Jose (September 5, 2002)...signed by the Astros as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 1991...signed by Andres Reiner and Rafael Cariel...named MVP of the Venezuelan League championship series, leading Magallanes to a berth in the Caribbean World Series prior to the 1997 season.

2006

Did not play.

2005

Hit .221 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI in his first season in the American League...started 78 games in right field and two in center for the Texas Rangers...was the Ranger's primary right fielder in the first four months of the season before being sidelined with an injured left wrist...left the game after the 7th inning on Aug. 4 vs. Tampa Bay due to a left wrist injury sustained sliding into third base in the previous night's contest...was placed on the 15-day Disabled List on Aug. 6 and missed the remainder of the season...made his eighth consecutive Opening Day start on April 5 at Los Angeles of Anaheim, going 0x4 to snap seven-game Opening Day hit streak...on April 6 at LA of Anaheim, he notched his first American League hit in the third inning off Jarrod Washburn and first AL homer in the eighth off Brendan Donnelly...hit the game-winning homer in the ninth off Mariners closer Eddie Guardado on April 9 at Seattle...homered six times in nine games from May 21-June 1...hit two home runs on May 24 vs. Kansas City, his 14th career multi-HR game...recorded a home run in three consecutive games from May 24-26 vs. Kansas City...posted season-high four RBI on May 4 at Oakland...hit .307 (23x75) with eight homers and 19 RBI in 22 games in May...the eight homers matched the third-highest total in the AL for the month.

2004

Began the season with Houston and was traded to the New York Mets on June 17 with cash considerations in exchange for right-handed pitchers David Weathers and Jeremy Griffiths...tied with Montreal's Juan Rivera for Major League lead with 14 outfield assists...started 132 games in right field and five in left, his first games in left since 2001...combined to hit .239 (125x523) with 25 home runs, 26 doubles and 82 RBI in 144 overall games with Houston and New York...made his seventh consecutive Opening Day start, the third-longest streak among Astros behind Craig Biggio (16) and Jeff Bagwell (14)...left the game in the fifth inning on June 11 at Milwaukee with a sore neck, suffered during a third-inning, diving catch in right field...named the NL Player of the Week for the first week of the season, April 5-11, when he hit .500 (12x24) with two homers and nine RBI for Houston...had a .979 fielding percentage, ranking 25th among NL outfielders...posted 14 assists, tied for Major League lead, reaching double digits for the fourth time in his career...ranked 19th among active outfielders with a .987 career fielding percentage...spent entire career in the National League, posting a .296 average with 16 homers and 52 RBI in 80 games against the AL.

2003

Named the 2003 Most Valuable Astro by the Houston chapter of the BBWAA...finished as the Astros leading hitter with a .309 average...hit 28 home runs and drove in 88 runs...ranked second on the club with a career-high 43 doubles...led the Major Leagues with 22 outfield assists...collected his club-record 22nd assist of the season on Sept. 19 at St. Louis...ranked seventh in the National League with a .572 slugging percentage and tied for eighth with 75 extra base hits...tied for 10th in the NL with a career-high 43 doubles...ranked first among active players in hitting during the month of September with a .365 average (134x367)...ranks eighth on the Houston career home run chart with 130...hit 28 homers on the season -- the most by a right fielder in franchise history, breaking the record set by Moises Alou in 2001 (25)...tied his career-high in hits for the sixth time after going 4x5 on Sept. 12 at St. Louis...hit a career-high three home runs on Sept. 16 at Colorado, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to homer three times in a game... marked his third multi-homer game of the year (10th career)...collected five RBI in the game to tie his career high for the third time... returned to the lineup after missing two games from Aug. 3-5 (sore right hip) and hit his 19th home run of the season (Feliciano) on Aug. 6 vs. the Mets...hit his 17th homer of the season on July 19 at Cincinnati (Haynes)...was the second of three consecutive Astro homers (Berkman, Ensberg)...posted nine multi-hit games in July...hit .588 (10x17) in a four-game streak from July 13-19...drove in nine runs in a four-game sweep over the Reds from July 7-10...homered in back-to-back at-bats on July 1 vs. Milwaukee for his first multi-home run game of the season...tied season high with three hits (seventh time) on June 21 at Texas, including two doubles, a home run, three runs, and two RBI (3x4)...went 3x4 and hit game-winning home run in bottom of the eighth vs. Tampa Bay on June 7 (Levine) in his first game since being activated from the DL...was on 15-day Disabled List from May 23-June 6 with tonsillitis...batted .333 (28x84) with six home runs and 17 RBI from April 16-May 16, raising his average from .256 to .312...hit .326 (15x46) and homered four times on the April 14-27 road trip...hit safely in the first eight games of the season (.345; 10x29, April 1-10)...went 2x4 on April 1 vs. Colorado, his sixth consecutive Opening Day start, the third-longest streak on the club behind Craig Biggio (15) and Jeff Bagwell (13).

2002

Finished the season at .235 (91x388) with 15 home runs and 48 RBI...recorded 20 multi-hit games...sustained a nine-millimeter gunshot wound to his left forearm on Nov. 21, 2002, in Venezuela...hit a pinch-hit RBI double vs. Colorado on Sept. 9 after being activated from the Disabled List...left the game on Aug. 22 vs. Chicago in the fourth inning with a right hip strain...placed on the DL on Aug. 24 (retroactive to Aug. 23)...missed 16 games...an MRI on Sept. 6 was negative...missed six games from July 23-30 with a sore left wrist...returned to the starting lineup on July 31 at New York (NL)...hit safely in 12 of 18 games from May 27-June 17...recorded six multihit games with four home runs on the road trip from May 31-June 9...hit his 100th career home run on June 17 at Milwaukee...was 4x4 and tied his career-high with two home runs, driving in all four runs in a 4-1 win on May 31 at Wrigley Field...came back on June 1 to go 3x5 with a double and another home run...notched a team season-high six consecutive hits over the two games, including homers in three consecutive at-bats...hit .500 (17x34) on the road trip from May 31-June 9 with six multi-hit games...recorded three consecutive multi-hit games in the three-game series vs. Philadelphia May 13-15...recorded 19 RBI in his first 20 games (4/2-24) of the season...hit a home run on April 18 at Cincinnati, the 500th hit of his big league career...his ninth-inning two-run single on April 7 tied the score at 6- 6 in the 12-inning win over St. Louis...also had a two-RBI single on April 6 vs. St. Louis...made his fifth consecutive Opening Day start.

2001

Finished the season at .275 (141x512) with 19 home runs and 80 RBI...played in 146 games, all in the outfield...after breaking an 0x20 skid on Aug. 16 vs. Pittsburgh, hit .319 (44x138) with 11 multi-hit games, including a 3x4 performance and a home run in the season's final game...went 3x4 with a solo home run on Sept. 24 vs. St. Louis...went 3x4 on Aug. 17 vs. Pittsburgh with a single, a double, and a home run...was sidelined with a case of acute tonsillitis that forced him to miss seven consecutive starts from June 21-27...had career-high tying four hits (4x5,3R,3RBI) on June 1 vs. Los Angeles, including a walk-off solo home run in the ninth...was the 28th walk-off homer in club history and his second of the year...doubled twice (2x6) May 15 at Wrigley Field, including a two-out ninth-inning game-tying RBI two-bagger in the 9-7, 12th inning win...raised his average from .217 to .316 over 12-game hitting streak from April 16-May 6...had six multi-hit games over the 12 contests in the third-longest hitting streak of his career...missed five games from April 30-May 5 with a right groin strain...had four consecutive multi-hit games from April 21-24...hit a three-run walk-off homer in the 12th inning to give the Astros an 8-6 win over the Brewers on April 4...tied career highs with two homers and five RBI...made his fourth consecutive Opening Day start (center field) on April 3 vs. Milwaukee.

2000

Had a breakout year, posting career highs in games played (152), at-bats (558), runs (118), hits (175), doubles (42), home runs (44), and RBI (123)...opened the year in dramatic fashion, going 3x4 with a career high five RBI on Opening Day (April 4) at Pittsburgh... hit the first Opening Day grand slam in franchise history...cracked the Astros first homer at Minute Maid Park with a solo shot to left center on April 7 vs. Philadelphia...was hit by pitches three times on April 19 at Los Angeles to tie a Major League record (20th time)...was a part of seven of Houston's 12 back-to-back home run combos, including a club record-tying back-to-back-to-back effort with Moises Alou and Tony Eusebio on June 14 at Colorado...tied the club record when he hit two home runs in consecutive days on Sept. 9 and 10 at Chicago (NL)...Moises Alou also accomplished that feat in 2000 (August 13-14)...was named NL co-Player of the Week with teammate Julio Lugo, during which he hit .483 (14x29) with five doubles and four homers...he scored 11 runs and recorded a 1.069 slugging percentage...ended the year on a 14-game hitting streak, batting .509 (27x53) with six homers and 13 RBI...tied the Astros' individual season high and his career best with three doubles on Sept. 12 vs. the Giants...tied his career high with four hits on Sept. 15 vs. Pittsburgh...hit his 40th homer on Sept.19 at St. Louis (Hentgen) to join Jeff Bagwell as the only two players in franchise history to hit 40 longballs in a single season...had his fourth multi-homer game of the year and the fifth of his career on Sept. 22 at Cincinnati...was named NL Player of the Month for an outstanding September, during which he hit .476 (49x103) with 11 homers and 31 RBI over 28 games played...he led the league with 49 hits in 103 at-bats, a .971 slugging percentage, a .533 on-base percentage, 36 runs scored and 14 doubles...hit safely in 28 of 29 games in September...joined Jeff Bagwell as the only two Houston players to record 40-or-more doubles and 40-or-more homers in a single season...was the third Venezuelan-born player in Major League history (Andres Galarraga, Tony Armas Sr.) to reach the 40-homer plateau...became the fourth player in franchise history to hit at least 30 homers, score at least 100 runs and record at least 100 RBI in a single season.

1999

Ranked among the league leaders with 15 outfield assists before being placed on the Disabled List on August 9 due to an injury to his left knee...on the DL for the remainder of the season...underwent surgery on Aug. 26 to repair the bipartite patella in his left knee...team physician Dr. David Lintner performed the surgery...the surgical procedure necessitated making a small incision to remove the loose fragment in the kneecap...an arthroscope was used to complete the surgery...before his injury, he was second on the team with 15 homers, his last occurring on July 25 vs. San Diego (Ashby)...hit his 14th homer on July 6 at Arizona (Daal) and drove in all three Astros runs in a 3-1 win...tied his career high (third time) with four RBI in a 3x4 performance on June 5 at Minnesota...was 3x5 with a career-best three doubles on May 25 vs. Colorado...his first three homers of 1999 were all part of back-to-back homer situations...his first home run on April 6 vs. the Cubs (Trachsel) was followed by a solo shot by Carl Everett...his second homer came on April 14 at San Francisco (Del Toro) after a solo blast by Ken Caminiti...his third home run on April 20 at Chicago (Karchner) was followed by a solo homer by Mitch Meluskey.

1998

Opened the season by starting 30 of the club's first 53 games before injury sidelined him for nearly seven weeks...he was 2x4 on May 29 at Colorado...in the eighth inning of that contest, he crashed into the centerfield wall at Coors Field attempting to make an over-the-fence grab of a home run and separated his right shoulder...was placed on the 15-day Disabled List on May 30 and was not activated until July 16 when Billy Wagner went on the DL after suffering a concussion...he played in 10 games at Triple A New Orleans on a rehabilitation assignment before being reinstated, batting .250 (4x24) with no homers and one RBI...after going 1x4 in two games in July, he returned to form in Aug....he hit .306 (15x49) over 18 games with three home runs and 10 RBI...he went 3x5 with a double, home run and two RBI on Aug. 21 at Milwaukee, then had the first two home run game of his career on Aug. 30 in the Astrodome against Pittsburgh, knocking in three runs...on Sept. 20, he hit solo home runs in the first and third innings at Pittsburgh to provide all the offense for Shane Reynolds, Jay Powell and Billy Wagner in a 2-0 win... his 11th inning sacrifice fly on the final day of the regular season scored Carl Everett for a 4-3 victory over the Cubs, sending Chicago and San Francisco into a one-game playoff for the final postseason berth.

1997

Spent most of the year at Triple A New Orleans but was recalled by Houston on Aug. 31 in time to be placed on the parent club's postseason roster for the NL Division Series against Atlanta...an American Association All-Star, he hit .279 with 11 home runs and 78 RBI in 134 games for the Zephyrs...he led the Association with 37 doubles and also ranked among leaders in hits (4th-147), RBI (5th) and extra-base hits (T5th-53)...upon arrival in Houston, he stepped into the starting lineup in centerfield on Sept. 1 at home against the Brewers...after flying out to right in his first big league plate appearance, he singled to left with one out in the fourth inning off Joel Adamson for his first Major League hit...hit safely in 13 of his first 17 Major League games at a .333 (19x57) pace...had a season-best, four-game hitting streak from Sept. 20-24, which represented the last of those 17 contests...his first Major League home run came on Sept.17 at Pittsburgh, a solo shot to open the top of the sixth inning off the Bucs' Clint Sodowsky...on Oct. 8, six days following Houston's exit from the playoffs, he underwent surgery in Houston to repair a hernia...Dr. Wade Rosenberg performed the surgery...while playing winter baseball in Venezuela, he was hospitalized in Valencia with a hemmorrhagic dengue fever, a potentially deadly tropical disease that lowers the level of human blood platelets and is transmitted by the native "white legs" mosquito...he was rated as the No. 1 prospect in the Houston minor league system by Baseball America in its Dec. 22-Jan. 4 editions.