Henry Antonio Valera Mateo (Hank)...married Ana Lisette Brito on December 25, 1999...the couple has a son,
Henry, Jr., born August 30, 2000...was born in the Dominican Republic, but attended Centro Estudios Libres High
School in Santurce, PR...enjoys listening to music and playing dominos in spare time.
2004
Struggled with injuries, but again was an important switch-hitter off the bench for the Expos after the All-Star
break...began the season with Triple-A Edmonton despite hitting .333 (14-for-42) in Grapefruit League action...fractured
his right hamate bone on April 25 vs. Tacoma...was hitting .306 at the time...had surgery to repair the bone on May
4...returned action on June 21 with a 5-game rehab stint with the Gulf Coast League Expos...returned to the Edmonton
Trappers lineup, June 26...recalled by Montreal on July 15...batted .273 (12-for-44) in his 4th big league season...27
of 44 at-bats came as a pinch-hitter...batted .296 in that role...played only 41.0 innings in the field in '04, 37.0 of which
came at 2B...made 4 errors..8 of 12 hits came when he was behind in the count, batting an impressive .348 (8-for-23)
in those situations...batted .318 on the road.
With Edmonton: Hit safely in 14 of 19 contests, including 7 multi-hit games, before being placed on DL with fractured
right hamate bone...hit .303 and swiped 10 bases in 11 tries.
Game-By-Game Highlights: Made his only start of the season at 2B on August 29 vs. SDP, going 1-for-4 with a
double...played 4 innings in left field after entering game as pinch hitter in 9-0 loss vs. ATL on September 4.
With Edmonton: Went 3-for-5 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI April 20 at Fresno...2-for-5 with a triple in first game back
from right hamate bone fracture, June 26 vs. Portland...posted 3 hits, double and 2 runs scored, July 5 at Portland.
2003
Mateo batted .240 with 7 RBI in 100 games during his first complete big league season....played five
positions, including all three outfield spots...was one of four rookies on the Opening Day roster along with reliever Luis
Ayala, outfielder Ron Calloway and infielder Jamey Carroll... with a team-high 11 pinch hits, was one of the Expos' top
threats off the bench...entered spring camp battling for a big league job...posted a .451 Grapefruit League average with
5 RBI to nab a spot on Frank Robinson's Opening Day roster...led Montreal with 23 hits and 6 stolen bases on the spring...was
selected the Expos' top spring rookie...played for Licey in the Dominican Republic for a fourth consecutive winter.
PINCH-HITTING: Led the Expos with 11 pinch hits...went 11-for-43 (.256) with a double and 3 RBI in the pinch...posted
a .333 on-base percentage in the pinch thanks to 3 pinch walks and being hit by 2 pitches...fanned 13 times...started
strong, going 6-for his first-16 in the pinch, but went just 5-for-27 (.185) thereafter.
HERO: Drove in the deciding runs with a 2-run pinch single in the 10th inning to push the Expos past the Rockies, 6-
4, on May 17 at Coors Field...came up with the bases loaded and none out and fouled off a potential squeeze bunt...took
matters into his own hands with game-winning hit off Todd Jones.
MORE BIG GAMES: Batting leadoff, went 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base in a 5-0 victory, May 1 at
Milwaukee...posted a career-high 4 hits on July 6 at Atlanta...went 2-for-2 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored and a stolen base
in an 8-4 come-from-behind win on September 10 vs. Chicago (NL) in Puerto Rico.
SAFE BET: Was successful on 11 of 12 stolen base attempts...ranked 2nd on the Expos in stolen base percentage
(91.6%) among those with at least 10 swipes...edged by Orlando Cabrera, who was successful on 92.3 percent (24 of 26).
FIRST THINGS FIRST: Collected first career RBI via a pinch-hit single on April 25 vs. Houston off Ricky Stone.
"HOME" TO PUERTO RICO: May be a native of the Dominican Republic, but he lived in Puerto Rico for 7 years,
beginning when he was 14...Mateo graduated from Centro Estudios Libres High School in Santurce...went 6-for-21 (.286)
with one RBI and a .400 on-base percentage in Puerto Rico.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS: Montreal went 12-12 (.500) with Henry in the starting lineup, including wins in his final 6 starts...hit
.241 against left-handed pitchers, .240 when facing righthanders...hit .320 (16-for-50) with runners on base...was 5-for-
16 (.313) with runners in scoring position and 2 out...went 8-for-16 (.500) against Atlanta...9 of his 11 walks came in
August and September.
2002
Mateo became quite familiar with the highway between Montreal and AAA-Ottawa, as he was promoted and optioned back three times... Played a total of 22 games for the Expos, serving most of his time as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner... Played three games (one start) at second base, while making two starts at the shortstop position...Was first recalled April 15 and later optioned back April 28... Was then recalled June 30, but optioned July 27... Was last recalled August 2... Rejoined the Lynx when optioned August 16... Played for Licey in the Dominican Republic for a third consecutive winter.
- TRIPLE TASTE: Picked up his only career major-league triple July 12 off ATL's Kevin Gryboski in the seventh inning of the Expos' 8-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Olympic Stadium...
- IN A PINCH: Picked up his first pinch-hit of the season July 11 against Atlanta, ending an 0x8 slide in a pinch-hitting role... Would end the season going 1-for-13 as a pinch-hitter...
- SUBBING IN: Started at second base for Jose Vidro June 30 at Toronto's SkyDome... Picked up a hit in four at-bats...
- DOWN ON THE FARM: Tied with Lou Collier for the team lead in triples... Stole 15 bases in 21 attempts...Has compiled 195 stolen bases in 695 games in the minor leagues since his debut in 1995.
2001
Winner of his league's stolen base title in 2001 for the second consecutive season, Mateo led the International League with 47 thefts in 61 attempts, beating second-place Pedro Santana of AAA-Toledo by 11 stolen bases... Stole a career-high 48 bases with AA-Harrisburg in 2000... Stole three bases in a game twice, while picking up two in a game on nine occasions... Also finished first in the IL with 12 triples, setting a career high in the process... Set a team record for the AAA-Ottawa Lynx June 9 against Indianapolis, when he hit three triples... Became the first player in the minor leagues to record three triples in a game since AAA-Sacramento's Mark Bellhorn did so against New Orleans June 20, 2000... Was named to the 2001 International League team for the AAA All-Star Game.
With the Lynx, Mateo hit .268 (134x500) in 118 games...Led the team in hits (134), at-bats (500), triples (12), runs (71), strikeouts (89), stolen bases (47), caught steals (14) and errors (22)... Was second with 118 games played and tied for third with 43 RBI...Made 300 appearances in the leadoff spot (.263) and 196 batting second (.270)... A switch-hitter, hit .344 (45x131) against lefthanders and .238 (87x365) against righthanders... Strung together a nine-game hitting streak June 9-18, batting .400 (16x40) in the span... Collected five hits June 26 against AAA-Louisville... Finished the month of June batting .322 (39x121) with two home runs and 14 stolen bases... Excelled just as much in August/September, batting .316 (24x76) with 13 stolen bases... Played with Licey in the Dominican Republic during the winter.
Mateo was recalled from AAA-Ottawa July 28, 2001 due to the uncertain status of Jose Vidro... Made his debut in the majors that same night, getting the start at second base against the Braves... Collected two hits off Tom Glavine, including a single to left field as his first major-league hit and scored a run... The next night, he picked up his first extra-base hit, doubling off John Burkett... Played in five games - two starts - with the Expos before returning to the Lynx August 15.
2000
As the 2000 Eastern League stolen base champion, sparkled in his first season at the AA level with Harrisburg...Set career highs in all categories except doubles...Along with his 48 steals, finished second in the league with 11 triples and third with 152 hits and 91 runs...Batted .312 from the right side (54x173) with two home runs and 21 RBI and .275 from the left side (98x357) with three home runs and 42 RBI...Penciled in the top third of the order for most of the season, batted at a .344 clip (56x163) leading off, .290 (36x124) batting second and .233 (42x180) batting third...Played 132 games at second base and committed 24 errors...Continued his development with Licey in the Dominican Winter League.
