Placido Polanco, Retired

Date of Birth: 10/10/1975
Birthplace: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
College: Miami-Dade College

Placido Polanco was first drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1994. He made his major league debut with the Cardinals four years later. Polanco played with the Cardinals for four and a half years before he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of July, 2002. Polanco was not an everyday player in his first two years with the Cardinals, but in 2000, he played in 118 games for the team, batting .316 with 102 hits. The following year, he played in 144 games, batted .307 and had 173 hits.

After being traded to the Phillies, Polanco moved from third base to second base. In his two full seasons with the Phillies, Polanco batted .289 (2003) and .298 (2004) with 142 hits and 14 home runs in 2003 and 150 hits and 17 home runs in 2004. Although he played well for them, the Phillies traded Polanco to the Detroit Tigers in June, 2005.

In 2010, Polanco became a free agent and he returned to the Phillies for three years. When his contract with Philadelphia ended after the 2012 season, Polanco agreed to a one-year contract with the Marlins. In 2013, he batted .260 with 98 hits in 118 games with the Marlins.

Polanco won three Gold Glove awards (2007, 2009, 2011) and one Silver Slugger award (2007). In 2006, he was named the AL Championship Series MVP.

Polanco retired on August 14, 2016.

Statistics for Polanco in 15 seasons (1998-2013) include:

• 5 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .341 in 2007
• 8 seasons with 150 or more hits, with a high of 200 in 2007
• 5 seasons with 30 or more doubles, with a high of 36 in 2007

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Placido Polanco
ESPN Sports - Placido Polanco