Antonio Salazar

Antonio Salazar Calzado

• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.

• Born October 15, 1965 in Madrid Spain

Olympics-Reference page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Antonio Salazar played for the Spanish national team that won Bronze at the 1987 European Championship. He hit .194/.265/.194 with 11 strikeouts in 31 AB in the 1988 Baseball World Cup; he had 3 assists from center field but also made two errors in nine games. He was third in batting average among the starters on a light-hitting Spanish club. He helped his country win Bronze in the 1989 European Championship.

Salazar hit .182/.250/.182 in the 1991 Intercontinental Cup; he turned one double play in center field while making no errors. In the 1992 Olympics, Antonio led Spain's starters in average and OBP, hitting .316/.316/.316; sadly, the one game he sat out (versus Puerto Rico) was Spain's only win in the Summer Games they were hosting.

Salazar batted .222/.382/.296 in the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, second on Spain in OBP; he moved to first base in that event. Splitting time between CF and 1B in the 1993 European Championship, his batting line was .424/.500/.576, he had 12 runs and 9 RBI in 8 games and handled 14 chances without a miscue. He led center fielders in fielding, was second in the event in average (.061 behind Johan Hasselström), was 6th in slugging (between Paolo Ceccaroli and Jeffrey Cranston), 9th in OBP (between Marco Ubani and Marcos Berenguer), tied Roberto De Franceschi for second in runs (two behind Marcel Joost), tied for 8th in RBI (with Olof Lindfors, Peter Schöön and Anthony Meurant), tied for 7th in steals (4 for 4), tied Steve Janssen and David Meurant for 5th with 19 total bases and tied Lindfors for 3rd in hits (14).

Antonio put on a show in the 1995 European Championship, when he produced at a .378/.477/.432 rate with 13 runs and 9 steals (in 10 tries) in 10 games. He was second in steals, one behind co-leaders Eddy Dix and Johnny Balentina, and tied for 4th in runs.

The veteran hit .208/.240/.250 in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup, back in center field. In the 1998 Baseball World Cup, he batted .304/.433/.348 with one assist and no errors in center; he was third on a stronger Spanish club in OBP. His 11 runs produced led the squad.

At age 33 in the 1999 European Championship, Salazar was 8 for 17 with five walks, a double, 7 runs and 4 RBI in six games. He was 4th in average behind former Organized Baseball players Daniel Newman, Rikkert Faneyte and Elston Hansen. He tied for 4th in runs and was 5th in OBP (behind four former OB players).

Salazar later became a coach for the Spanish national team, working for them in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, 2007 Baseball World Cup, 2007 European Championship, 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament and 2009 European Junior Championship.