Kendrys Morales

Kendrys Morales Rodríguez (born June 20, 1983) is a Cuban-Dominican former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, and the New York Yankees.

He also played right field during his MLB career.

Morales joined the Cuba national baseball team in 2002 and immediately became a star player—despite being the first teenager to make the team in nearly 20 years.

In 2002, the first of his two-and-a-half full seasons with Havana's Industriales of the Cuban National Series, Morales had a batting average of .324 with 21 home runs and 82 runs batted in (RBIs).

He set seven rookie records in the process (including HR and RBIs) and was named the league's Rookie of the Year.

In his second season, he suffered an injury and did not hit as many home runs as in his rookie season, but he finished with a .391 batting average.

Morales' stardom in Cuba was short-lived, however.

He was the cleanup hitter on the team during its dramatic 2003 World Cup championship.

His grand slam in the final round against Taiwan secured a 6–3 Cuban victory, one game after hitting a home run that provided the winning runs against Brazil.

In November 2003, he was sent back to Cuba from Panama during the qualifying round of the 2004 Olympics, for making contact with a sports agent; he did not play for the national team again.

By early 2004, Cuba's national team and the Industriales banned Morales from their teams for disciplinary reasons due to their belief that he had met with people in an attempt to flee the nation.

Morales denies this accusation, telling a reporter "That's not true. I never talked to any agent. But from that moment on, I just wanted to leave. I tried to do it several times without success, occasionally ending up in jail."

He escaped on a raft in June 2004 to the shores of southern Florida, his eighth attempt at escape.

As is a practice of baseball players who defect from Cuba, Morales chose to establish residency outside of the United States, in order to avoid being subjected to the Major League Baseball draft, which applies to residents of North America.

He relocated to the Dominican Republic, where he was privately scouted by several major-league teams, as he could be signed as a free agent.

Preston Gómez, in his role as consultant to Los Angeles Angels general manager Bill Stoneman, ended up signing Morales to a six-year deal worth US$3 million up front in December 2004.

Morales played winter ball in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM) for the Estrellas Orientales to keep himself in game shape.

By the spring of 2005, the Angels hoped to have Morales practice in the Cactus League to get ready for a quick ascension through their farm system or possibly even make the team as the designated hitter.

Because he was not yet a citizen, the Dominican government held up granting Morales the necessary passport to fly back to the U.S. for several months.

He was not able to get all his paperwork in order until late May and he finally made his minor league debut on May 21 for the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

After three weeks (his batting average was .344, with five home runs), he was moved up to Double-A Arkansas, where he was second on the team in home runs despite playing there for only half the season.

When that season ended, he was chosen by the Angels to play for the Surprise Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.

Morales had a strong spring training in 2006 for the Angels, but failed to make the 25-man roster.

He ultimately made his Major League debut on May 23, 2006, playing first base and going 3-for-5, including a home run in his second at bat, versus the Texas Rangers.

Thereafter he performed well enough to be the Angels' regular first baseman until his eventual demotion back to Triple-A on July 23, 2006.

Morales enjoyed a breakout year in his first full season.

He hit 34 home runs and slugged .569, ranking second in the AL, behind eventual AL MVP Joe Mauer.

Morales was promoted to starting first baseman after Mark Teixeira (the Angels' first baseman for the 2008 season) left the Angels as a free agent in the winter of 2008.

Morales said of the timing of his promotion, "The guys that played ahead of me were seasoned players, and I didn't deserve to play in the big leagues yet. The one thing I thought about -- not how long I had to wait -- was just to concentrate on playing well once that opportunity came."

He hit well in the first half, and hit extremely well in the second half of 2009, and was named AL Player of the Month in August when he drove in 33 runs in 28 games with 10 homers, batting .385 and slugging .734.

His performance led to talk of him being a possible American League MVP, eventually placing 5th in MVP voting behind Mauer, Teixeira, Derek Jeter, and Miguel Cabrera.

Morales is perhaps most infamous for suffering an ankle injury on May 29, 2010, during a celebration of his walk-off grand slam, which kept him out of Major League Baseball for nearly two years.

Morales hit a walk-off grand slam off of Brandon League to end a 10-inning 5–1 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 29, 2010.

Approaching his celebrating teammates, he jumped up with the intention of stomping on home plate instead of simply stepping on it.

His awkward landing resulted in a fracture in his lower left leg, placing him immediately on the disabled list.

The injury required surgery, and he missed the rest of the 2010 season.

In 51 games in the 2010 season, Morales hit .290 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs.

In 2015 as a member of the Royals, Morales won a Silver Slugger Award and was a member of the Royals' 2015 World Series championship team.

Morales played in Cuba's equivalent of the North American Triple-A level.

With 16- to 17-year-olds in the category, he was the first starter of the pitching staff, and fourth in the batting order, and had the ability to hit home runs from both sides of the plate.