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MLB-VE-Cesar_Gutierrez.jpg
César Dario Gutiérrez [goo-te-ER-rez] (January 26, 1943 - January 22, 2005), also nicknamed "Cocoa", was a shortstop in Major League Baseball who played with the San Francisco Giants (1967, 1969) and Detroit Tigers (1969-71). He was born in Coro, Falcón State, Venezuela.
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Career
Nominally a "good field-no hit" shortstop, Gutiérrez never represented a danger for any pitcher. He was a career .235 hitter with 26 RBI and no home runs in 223 games.
Gutiérrez's most productive season came in 1970, his only season as a regular, when he posted career-highs in batting average (.243), RBI (22), runs (40), hits (101), doubles (11), triples (6), stolen bases (4) and games played (135). Also in that season, the modest shortstop saved himself from major league anonymity. On June 21st, in the second game of a doubleheader between Detroit and the Cleveland Indians, Gutiérrez hit a perfect 7-for-7 including a triple, to set an American League mark (and tie a major league record) for hits in a game without making an out. The Tigers won 9-8 in twelve innings. Notably, Gutiérrez started the game hitting .218 and had gone hitless in his previous 18 at-bats.
In 1971 Gutiérrez played only 40 games as an infield backup, retiring at the end of the season. Later, he served as a coach and scout with several teams.
Gutiérrez died in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela, four days short of his 62nd birthday.
7-for-7 games chronology
- June 10, 1892 in sports: Baltimore Orioles (NL) Hall of Famer Wilbert Robinson set a major league record by going 7-for-7 as his team topped the St. Louis Browns 25-4. Roberts also set a second record in RBI with 11.
- June 21, 1970: Tigers shortstop César Gutiérrez became the first player to go 7-for-7 in modern era (since 1900).
- September 16, 1975: Rennie Stennett, of the Pittsburgh Pirates (NL), top the 7-for-7 mark as Pittsburgh massacred the Cubs 22-0. Pittsburgh also set a major league record for the biggest score in a shutout game in the modern era. This record was matched by Cleveland against the Yankees on August 31, 2004 (AL).
Note
- Robinson and Stennett accomplished their feats during the course of a nine-inning game. Gutiérrez did it in a 12-inning game. Curiously, Stennett didn't complete his record game. Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh sent in a pinch runner for him after Stennett's seventh hit.
See also
External links
- César Gutiérrez at:
- Baseball Library (bibliography and profile) (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/sabr/tbi/G/Gutierrez_Cesar.tbi.stm)
- Baseball Reference (analysis and statistics) (http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gutiece01.shtml)
- 1970 Detroit Tigers (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/teams/1970tigers.stm)fr:César Gutiérrez