César King

César Augusto Geraldo King

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 215 lbs.

• Born February 28, 1978 in La Romana, La Romana D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

César King played for 8 years in the minor leagues and was on a major league roster during the regular season, though he did not appear in a big league game.

King debuted with the 1995 DSL Rangers, hitting .302 with 3 HR and 22 RBI. In 1996, he was on the Charleston RiverDogs and batted .250/.303/.370 as a teenager in a full-season A ball league. His 7 home runs were one shy of the team lead.

In 1997, King hit .296/.368/.427 for the Charlotte Rangers and .356/.420/.444 in 14 games for the Tulsa Drillers. Baseball America rated him the best defensive catcher in the Florida State League and the #7 prospect, between Jacque Jones and Lance Berkman. King led the FSL's catchers with 10 double plays, and just missed the top 10 in batting average. He made the FSL All-Star team alongside Ramon Castro at catcher.

King struggled mightily in 1998, only posting a .222/.289/.313 batting line for Tulsa. His 12 double plays led Texas League catchers but so did his 18 passed balls. Back in Tulsa in 1999, César batted .227/.297/.402, showing power but little else. His 19 passed balls again paced the TL. King still got the call to start for the World team in the 1999 Futures Game, the first Futures Game ever. He was 1 for 2 with a run in their 7-0 rout before being replaced by Yamid Haad.

King began 2000 with the Oklahoma RedHawks but hit just .143/.238/.234 in 13 games. Waived by Texas, he was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies and hit .233/.284/.333 in 43 games as Gary Bennett's backup for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.

King was signed that off-season by the Kansas City Royals. He hit .286/.288/.500 in 19 games for the Omaha Royals. He got the call every player dreams of and spent 5 days, May 19-23, on the Royals' active roster in 2001. Unfortunately, the record books leave him out since he never appeared in a game. He joins Duane Dewey and Russ Stephans as Royals catchers that spent time with the parent club without seeing game action.

In 2002, King finished his career with the Chattanooga Lookouts (.206/.270/.382 in 12 games) and the Elmira Pioneers (.323, .371 SlG in 62 AB).

Sources

2000 Texas Rangers Media Guide, 2002 Kansas City Royals Media Guide, KCRoyalsHistory.com, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database, 1996-2003 Baseball Almanacs