Orlando Merced

Orlando Luis Merced Villanueva (born November 2, 1966) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played all or parts of 13 seasons in the majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1990–1996), Toronto Blue Jays (1997), Minnesota Twins (1998), Boston Red Sox (1998), Chicago Cubs (1998), Montreal Expos (1999), and Houston Astros (2001–2003). He also played one season for the Orix BlueWave (2000) in Japan.

Orlando Merced
Right fielder / First baseman
Born: (1966-11-02) November 2, 1966 (age 58) Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: June 27, 1990, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
NPB: June 3, 2000, for the Orix BlueWave
Last appearance
NPB: July 30, 2000, for the Orix BlueWave
MLB: October 1, 2003, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics
Batting average	.277
Home runs	103
Runs batted in	585
NPB statistics
Batting average	.225
Home runs	2
Runs batted in	15
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1990–1996) Toronto Blue Jays (1997) Minnesota Twins (1998) Boston Red Sox (1998) Chicago Cubs (1998) Montreal Expos (1999) Orix BlueWave (2000) Houston Astros (2001–2003)

Career

Merced was signed as an amateur free agent out of high school at the age of 17 by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1985. Six years later, he made his major league debut. He played for the Pirates for another six years, where he helped the Pirates win the National League East Division in three consecutive seasons, from 1990 through 1992. He was part of the Astros' 2001 NL Central Division champions.^{[citation needed]}

He finished second in voting for 1991 National League Rookie of the Year, behind Jeff Bagwell.^{[citation needed]}

In thirteen seasons, he played in 1,391 games.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet