Freddy Herrera

Freddy Eladio Herrera Cheng

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born December 17, 1973

Biographical Information

Outfielder Freddy Herrera played for the Panamanian national team for at least a decade.

Herrera played for Panama in the 1999 Pan American Games; his 2-run homer provided all of the team's offense in their loss to Team USA. He helped Panama to a Gold in the 2001 Bolivarian Games. In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, he hit .387/.441/.710 with 7 doubles; he had a better OPS than All-Star outfielders Mark Budzinski and Yoshinobu Takahashi as Chin-Feng Chen was the only All-Star flyhawk with a better OPS. He led the Cup in doubles.

In the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, Freddy batted .324/.398/.459 as Panama's center fielder (former major league center fielder Roberto Kelly moved to right). Panama won Bronze but was stripped of the Medal when Kelly, Roberto Gutierrez, Earl Agnoly and Jorge Cortez tested positive for banned substances. He was with Panama for the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games but was caught with his own positive test for banned substances (alongside team Alfonso Brown) and did not get a Silver Medal with the rest of the team; he was banned from international play for two years.

During the 2005 Baseball World Cup, Herrera's batting line was .389/.476/.639 with 10 runs and 10 RBI in 11 games. Panama won Bronze and he was their lone player chosen for the All-Tournament team, joining Tiago Magalhães and Danny Rombley in the outfield. Hitting cleanup in the Bronze Medal game, he was 0 for 3 with a walk and a run in the win over the host Dutch national team.

The veteran was 1 for 7 with two walks in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and 3 for 17 in the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games. In the 2006 COPABE qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics, he hit .219/.286/.344. In the 2007 Pan American Games, he went 3 for 11 with 2 walks and 3 runs. Herrera was 3 for 9 with a triple and walk in the 2007 Baseball World Cup.

In the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup, the 34-year-old hit .160/.300/.160.

Sources

• IBAF
• Baseballdecuba.com
• 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games
• World Baseball Classic