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Welcome to the page for Karim Garcia
| Karim Garcia | |
|---|---|
| Lotte Giants — No. 95 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: October 29, 1975
(1975-10-29)
Ciudad Obregón, Mexico |
|
| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| September 2, 1995 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Career statistics (through 2008 season) |
|
| Batting average | .241 |
| Home runs | 66 |
| Runs batted in | 212 |
| Teams | |
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Gustavo Karim Garcia (born October 29, 1975 in Ciudad Obregón, Mexico) is a Major League Baseball outfielder who is currently playing for the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. García played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1995-1997), Arizona Diamondbacks (1998), Detroit Tigers (1999-2000), Baltimore Orioles (2000, 2004), Cleveland Indians (2001, 2002-2003), New York Yankees (2002-2003), and New York Mets (2004). He bats and throws left-handed. He is also known as "The Latino Bambino."[1]
Garcia is known for being the player traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Luis Gonzalez and cash. Gonzalez went on to hit 57 home runs in 2001 and lead the Diamondbacks to the World Series. Garcia went on to become a career journeyman, lasting only one full season with the Tigers in 1999 (with 14 home runs) and playing just 8 games with them in 2000.
García is also remembered for an incident in the 2003 ALCS at Fenway Park, when he jumped into the bullpen to assist Yankees teammate Jeff Nelson in a fight with a groundskeeper. In a ten-season major league career, Garcia posted a .241 batting average with 66 home runs and 212 RBI in 488 games played. His first career home run came off of Osvaldo Fernandez at Candlestick Park in 1997.
Following his first foray in the major leagues, Garcia played for the Orix Buffaloes from 2005 to 2006 as the cleanup hitter and right fielder. Thanks to the advice of Hideki Matsui, he became more patient than before, adapting to his new environment in Japan. On August 10-August 11, 2005, García hit three home runs in two consecutive games against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, becoming the only player in Japanese baseball history to accomplish that.
On January 8, 2007, Garcia signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.[2] He was released before he made an official start for them, and after that, played for the Sultanes de Monterrey in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. On January 14, 2008, Garcia signed with the Lotte Giants of the KBO. In the 2008 season Garcia played rightfield, batted fifth, and was one of the crowd favorites in Busan.