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César Iztúris [THAY-sar iz-TO-rees] (born February 10, 1980 in Barquisimeto, Lara State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball shortstop who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cesar_Izturis.JPEG
Iztúris was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent in 1996. He made his debut in 2001 and was traded to the Dodgers at the end of the season.
Coming from a long tradition of Venezuelan shortstops, which includes Chico Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillén, Omar Vizquel, Alex González and Carlos Guillén, Iztúris has the defensive skills to rank in such distinguished company. After showing some hitting potential with a .269 average in his rookie season with Toronto, the Dodgers were enthusiastic to trade for him.
Iztúris was designated as the everyday starting shortstop from Opening Day of the 2002 season, and he quickly established himself in the Dodgers' infield. But he showed no patience at plate, resulting in a decline in average and very few walks. After two years of barely adequate hitting (though compensated by his stellar glovework), he improved markedly in 2004, when he hit .288 with 62 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 159 games. At the end of the season he earned his first Gold Glove award. His improvement has continued through the first two months of 2005, as he is among the league leaders in hits and batting average.
Iztúris' greatest strengths are spectacular defense and solid contact hitting. A switch-hitter, he is better from the right side. He continues to walk seldomly, but his increased number of base-hits has begun to compensate for this. He has good speed but very little power, with more than twice as many triples (20) as home runs (9) in his career.
See also
External links
- César Iztúris at:
- Baseball Library (profile) (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/I/Izturis_Cesar.stm)
- Baseball Reference (analysis and career stats) (http://www.baseball-reference.com/i/izturce01.shtml)
- Dodgers Place - The Amazing Iztúris (http://www.dodgerplace.com/Many%20people%20overlooked%20the%20contributions%20by%20Cesar%20Izturis.htm)
- ESPN (profile and daily stats) (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6638)es:César Iztúris