Julio Lugo

Julio Cesar Lugo (November 16, 1975 – November 15, 2021) was a Dominican professional baseball shortstop. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, and Atlanta Braves. He was the elder brother of pitcher Ruddy Lugo.

Baseball career Lugo was born in the Dominican Republic and at age 13 moved to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where he attended Fort Hamilton High School. In addition to playing baseball for Fort Hamilton, he played in the Youth Service League in Brooklyn; alumni of that program include Manny Ramírez and Shawon Dunston. He went on to play college baseball at Connors State College in Oklahoma.

Houston Astros The Houston Astros selected Lugo in the 43rd round of the 1994 MLB draft, although he did not sign with the team until May 1995. He made his professional debut in 1995 with the Auburn Astros, a Class A Short Season team in the New York–Penn League; appearing in 59 games, he had a .291 batting average with one home run and 16 runs batted in (RBIs). He advanced through the Houston farm system, reaching the Triple-A level in 2000 with the New Orleans Zephyrs. and made his MLB debut on April 15, 2000. Lugo played in 116 games for the Astros that year, batting .283 with 10 home runs and 40 RBIs. He made appearances at shortstop, second base, all three outfield positions, and designated hitter.

On April 30, 2003, Lugo was arrested after a game at Minute Maid Park and charged with assaulting his wife. He was designated for assignment and subsequently released by the Astros. Lugo had appeared with 22 games that season with Houston. In mid-July, he was acquitted of the assault charges after his then-wife (the couple had filed for divorce) testified that she had instigated the incident and he did not intend to hurt her. Lugo appeared in 117 games with the Rays through the end of the season, batting .275 with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs.

In 2004, Lugo batted .275 with seven home runs and 75 RBIs in 157 games. Overall with Tampa Bay in parts of four seasons, Lugo had a .287 average with 40 home runs and 212 RBIs in 505 games. He appeared in 49 games with the Dodgers through the end of the regular season, batting .219 with no home runs and 10 RBIs. Lugo was brought on to bat leadoff, but was moved by manager Terry Francona to the bottom part of the order primarily due to his inability to consistently get on base.

During the 2007 season, from June 15 through July 2, inclusive, Lugo went 0–31 at the plate. At that time, Lugo had a .189 batting average. After the first week of July, Lugo turned his hitting performance around, compiling a 14-game hitting streak on July 25. Lugo ended the regular season with a .237 average with eight home runs and 73 RBIs in 147 games. Lugo played in 14 postseason games with Boston,

During 2008, Lugo committed 16 errors through July 5, nearly one-third of the 50 errors made by the Red Sox as a team to that point in the season. Six days later, Lugo injured his left quad running out a hit; he was placed on the disabled list and missed the rest of the season. In 82 games, he batted .268 with one home run and 22 RBIs. He returned to the team in late April, batting .284 in 37 games through early July, On July 17, Lugo was designated for assignment by the Red Sox.

Overall during 2007–2009 with the Red Sox, Lugo appeared in 266 games while batting .251 with 10 home runs and 103 RBIs. In 51 games with the Cardinals through the end of the season, Lugo batted .277 with two home runs and 13 RBIs. He batted .249 in 93 games with no home runs and 20 RBIs during the season. He was added to the Braves' major-league roster when they purchased his contract on June 21. In 22 games with Atlanta, Lugo batted .136 (6-for-44) with no home runs and three RBIs.

On January 21, 2012, Lugo agreed to a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians with an invitation to spring training. On January 30, the deal was reported to have fallen apart and he remained a free agent. Lugo did not play professionally during the 2012 regular season.

In 1,352 MLB games over 12 seasons, Lugo batted .269 with 80 home runs and 475 RBIs; he stole 198 bases. Lugo hit a two-run homer off of Pedro Martínez for the only runs in the game.

Personal life Lugo and his second wife had one son and two daughters, and he also had an older son with his first wife.

In 2013, Lugo was inducted to the Connors State College athletic hall of fame.

In 2015, Lugo was arrested in the Dominican Republic for kidnapping a couple and holding them at gunpoint. The altercation stemmed from Lugo's claim that an architect misappropriated the money Lugo provided to finance a tourism-related development project, and the charges were later dismissed.

Lugo died of a heart attack on November 15, 2021, just one day before his 46th birthday.