Randy Velarde

Randy Lee Velarde (born November 24, 1962) is an American former baseball infielder and utility player who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played the majority of his career for the New York Yankees, and also played for the California/Anaheim Angels, Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers from 1987 to 2002. Although he primarily played as a utility infielder, Velarde was utilized in the outfield as well.

Velarde played college baseball at the Church of Christ-affiliated Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas, from 1982 until 1985, when he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox. He was subsequently traded to the New York Yankees, where he spent the majority of his career. Velarde is best known for turning the eleventh unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history on May 29, 2000.

Early life Velarde was born in Midland, Texas, on November 24, 1962, and is of Mexican American descent. He attended college at Lubbock Christian University, where he played four seasons of baseball. Velarde made his debut in , but spent the next two seasons dividing his playing time between the Class AAA Columbus Clippers of the International League and the Yankees.

New York Yankees (1987–1995) Velarde became the Yankees utility player in , playing second base, shortstop, third base and left field. Becoming the most shuffled player on the Yankee roster appeared to have a negative effect on Velarde's offense, as he batted .210 in 95 games. In spring training of , he competed with Mike Blowers and Jim Leyritz for the position of third base, In , he established himself as the everyday shortstop for the organization. However, he was always considered a utility player He became a free agent at the end of the season for the first time in his career and re-signed with the Yankees for a one-year, $350,000 contract plus incentives, even though he was given a higher offer by other teams. Velarde's willingness to play in any position and his loyalty to the team prompted his manager, Buck Showalter, to call him "the epitome of a team player."

In his second season with the Athletics, Velarde turned an unassisted triple play against the Yankees, his former team, on May 29 in the bottom of the 6th inning. Velarde caught a line drive off of the bat of Shane Spencer, tagged Jorge Posada coming from first base, and touched second base to put out Tino Martinez. It was the eleventh time that such a play had been executed He acknowledged that he had made a mistake when he departed the Yankees in 1995 in order to become an everyday player and vowed to "redeem the part of the career [he] missed." He ended up appearing in the 2001 World Series, where the Yankees lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven games. Though he played the majority of his career with the Yankees, Velarde never won a World Series ring with the team. This was partially due to bad timing; the Yankees won the World Series the year after Velarde left

Velarde rejoined the Oakland Athletics for the season before retiring.

Career statistics In 1,273 games over 16 seasons, Velarde posted a .276 batting average (1171-for-4244) with 633 runs, 214 doubles, 23 triples, 100 home runs, 445 RBI, 78 stolen bases, 463 bases on balls.352 on-base percentage and .408 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .970 fielding percentage playing primarily at second and third base and shortstop. He also has played at first base and all three outfield positions. In 18 postseason games, he hit .235 (12-for-51) with 6 runs, 2 doubles, 5 RBI, and 9 walks. Through his lawyer, he admitted that he had used "the cream" and "the clear," both of which were supplied to him by Greg Anderson. Velarde later testified in the Barry Bonds perjury case, stating that he purchased performance-enhancing drugs from and was injected with human growth hormone by Anderson, who was Bonds' personal trainer.