Rafael Furcal played 14 seasons in the majors, wonworld series2011 med Cardinals.
Signed by the Warriors for $5,000 on November 9, 1996
Fourteen days after the Warriors lost the 1996 World Series, they made one of their top international signings, signing Rafael Fucar from the Dominican Republic for just $5,000.
He wants to use the money to buy a car for his parents.
Furcal, meanwhile, led the Braves' offense to more than 700 games during his five-year tenure in Atlanta (2000-2005), winning the National League Rookie of the Year and becoming an All-American. One of the best switches in star and franchise history.
Like the other players in the lineup, Furcal's time on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was brief, failing to land one in 2020. While he wasn't destined for Cooperstown, it's clear that Rafael Furcal is a very brave man.
•Kevin Millwood, a very brave man
1. Incentive trips
He started spring training in 2000 as a non-guard invitee and won NL Rookie of the Year with a home run. Furcal leads all NL starters in runs (87), walks (73) and walks (.394), and is coming into his ownavoidSteve Sax, 1982. "I was too young," Vercar said during the season, a line that could be seen as a series years later (more on that shortly). "It was a big surprise for me when I came to the team." Furcal earned 25 of the 32 first-place votes and was the only player named to all 32 votes to 6 seconds and a third, beating the Cardinals' Rick Ankiel by 57 points. Seven brave men won the ROY - Alvin Dark (1948), Sam Jethroe (1950), Earl Williams (1971), Bob Horner (1978), David Justice (1990), Craig Kimbrel (2011) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2018) — but only Dark (3.9) and Acuña (3.7) posted better fWAR in their trophy appearances than Furcal's 3.3.
2. For beginners
An injury to Walt Weiss paved the way for Furcal to make his debut in a game that led to the 2000 season. Against the Rockies, he went 2-for-4 from the field and had singles off Rolando Arrojo and Jose Jimenez. The debut was much higher, but it sums up Furcal, who has the second-highest OBP and second-most stolen bases of any Braves starter. He is just the ninth player with two hits and a steal in his debut, and before Furcal, the last player in franchise history to accomplish the feat was Bull Bruton in 1953.
3. What is my age?
It's not exactly Alan Ruck, 30, who plays 17-year-old high school student Cameron in the filmFerris Bueller's Day Off, but when we thought we saw a 19-year-old Furcal at work in 2000, we were all wrong. After the DUI arrest, HBOReal Sports by Bryant GumbelA photo of Furcal's birth certificate, obtained from a government office in Furcal's hometown of Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic, is shown. He is not 19 years old. He is 22 years old. Furcal's response: "You're crazy." General manager John Schuerholz said: "If there is a different age than people think, it won't be the first and it won't be the 100." Furcal insists the reports are false, but after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, shortstops were foreign MLB players listed with different ages on their resumes. Furcal finally admitted it all during spring training in 2002, when he said lying about his age was a suggestion from a youth coach. "That's what the guy told me," Furkal told meAtlanta Constitution"He said if you want to play baseball, change your age... That's what I'm doing. I want to play." He goes from 21 to 23 overnight, but this won't be the last revelation of Furcal's age. In 2004 he was arrested again for a DUI and later it was reported that he was not 25 as they thought he was, but 27. Furcal went from when everyone thought he was born in 1980, to 1978 and finally his birth date is now listed as October 24, 1977.
4. All-Star Moment
An All-Star for the Dodgers and Cardinals, Furcal debuted in the 2003 Midsummer Classic when he had a 107 wRC+, 4.0 fWAR and .292/.352/.443. Furcal joins Marcus Giles, Andrew Jones, Javi Lopez, Las Ortiz, Gary Sheffield and John Smoltz in the Warriors seven off the bench. Coming off future Braves shortstop Edgar Renteria, Shigetoshi Hasegawa singled and then scored on an off-rule double by Andruw Jones. While Furcal wasn't the only Braves shortstop to hit a ball in the All-Star Game, he was one of two players sent off by teammates in Atlanta, the other being Chipper Jones, who pinch hit in 1998. Walter Weiss single.
5. A season unmatched by any Braves shortstop
Dansby Swanson hit franchise records with 27 homers and 88 RBI last season, Jeff Browther had the best fWAR in 1993 since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966 at 5.4, but based on an above-average hitting streak and a above-average defensive streak, Furcal's In 2005 he was in a class of his own. His 17.7 offense and 11.0 defense that year were the only seasons in which the Atlanta arm posted double figures in both numbers. He's also the only Warriors player at the position with double-digit defensive and offensive rebounding, and he's done it twice, and in his rookie season, Furkal had 6.5 offense and 10.7 defense.
6. Set the base path
Furcal is fast. how fast? Without Statcast's sprint speed measurement, we could only gauge it from the words of the people he shares the field with. "As far as speed, I don't think there's anyone better than him," former Atlanta teammate Brian Jordan said. "This guy has the fastest upward velocity I've ever seen. You don't think he's going to keep going, he takes off like he's been shot. Very exciting." World War II Hank Aaron (Hank Aaron) (240) The only player in the Braves career with more turnovers than Furcal's 189, he played 2,259 more games for the team. When Furcal moved to the Dodgers in free agency in 2006, he had the most totals in the Warriors' first 817 games, 49 more than the next player (Ron Gunter).
7. Vibration change
All Warriors historical discussions begin with the franchise's lone Hall of Famer, Chipper Jones. Recent talk has revolved around Ozzie Albies, but don't let Furcal get lost in the fray between them. In the live ball era, Furcal is second only to Jones in hits (924), runs (554) and on-base percentage (.348) and leads in stolen bases (189). Heading into the 2022 season, Albis has played 560 career games and in his career, Furkal has a 12-hit percentage (625-of-613), .283 average than Albis. OBP 0.246' 0.325) and 120 steals to Albee's 60. Ozzie hit home runs (90-24), doubles (137-109), slugging percentage (.477-.399) Furcal.
8. Almost reunited with injury
In the winter of 2008, Furcal was recovering from back surgery that limited him to 36 games and 143 at-bats with the Dodgers. Additionally, he only had 1.4 fWAR last season and wasn't exactly at the top of his game. But the free agent and Warriors are close to a three-year, $30 million deal that would send the shortstop back to the club where it all started. Only the reunion didn't happen as Furcal wanted to return to Los Angeles during the same contract period. Atalanta, meanwhile, thought they had a deal. “From our perspective, we had a deal ...,” Warriors general manager Frank Wren said. "They asked us to sign a term sheet ... we sent the signed term sheet. That's when [Paul Kinzer's] agent told us that [Kinzer's] partner had contact with the Dodgers. 'That's not true,'" he said Furcal We, neither my agent nor I, ever agreed to any deal with the Warriors. Atlanta was furious and Schuerholz promised not to work with Kinzer again. Furcal had a 3.0 fWAR in 2009 and was 26 percent better than league average at 4.1 fWAR in 2010, but by 2011 his skills had declined. He was traded to the Cardinal, never falling more than 14 percent below league average. The Warriors' deal, like this that Furcal signed with the Dodgers included a pick in 2012 that came up behind the plate. Consider when 2012 marked the arrival of Andreton Simmons, Atlanta might have made the right move by not keeping one of the greatest defenders in history of the franchise.
9. For your viewing pleasure
For your enjoyment, Furcal hit the 12th unassisted triple in MLB history. On August 10, 2003, he caught a jumper down the line by Cardinals' Woody Williams, went to second base to catch Mike Matheny, then struck out Orlando Palmeiro while trying to get back to first base. "I didn't know it at the time," Furcal said. "I wasn't trying to make a three-pointer myself, I just wanted to be out." It was just the second unassisted triple in franchise history, the first coming on October 6, 1923 by the Boston Braves Done by Nipajit.