Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Top 30 Las Vegas 51s Players:

2. Sandy Alomar Jr. (1988-89)

Sandy Alomar Jr.

Sandy Alomar Jr.

Coming in at No. 2 on the all-time list is Sandy Alomar Jr., who spent two years with the Stars, 1988-89.

Alomar, who gained fame as an all-star catcher during a 20-year major-league career, was Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year in 1989 and the Pacific Coast League’s Player of the Year in both 1988 and 1989 with the Las Vegas Stars.

In 1988, Alomar hit .297 with 71 RBI in 93 games with the Stars. He improved on those numbers in 1989, when he hit .306 with 101 RBI in 131 games.

These days, you would be hard-pressed to find a player of Alomar’s talent stuck in Triple-A. But at the time, Benito Santiago was the best catcher in baseball with Las Vegas’ parent club, the Padres. At the end of the 1989 season, a blockbuster deal between the Indians and Padres sent Alomar, Carlos Baerga and Chris James to Cleveland in exchange for Joe Carter. In his first season with the Indians, Alomar won rookie of the year honors.

Alomar, the son of former big-league second baseman and manager Sandy Alomar Sr. and the brother of hall-of-fame second baseman Roberto Alomar, retired in 2007 and is now Cleveland’s bench coach.

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