Jeremy Salazar

Jeremy Andrew Salazar

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• School Florida State University
• High School Northside High School (Lafayette)

• Born March 18, 1976 in Lafayette, LA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Jeremy Salazar was on the receiving end of Izzy Alcantara's infamous karate kick in an International League game on July 3, 2001. Salazar was playing for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons when Alcantara, playing for the Pawtucket Red Sox took exception when he was buzzed by a pitch by pitcher Blas Cedeno and turned all Bruce Lee on the opposite catcher, kicking him in the face mask and earning himself infamy, a seven-game suspension, and a ban from the circuit's All-Star Game. In Salazar's case, it was one of his only brushes with the news in a six-season minor league career entirely spent in the Philadelphia Phillies organization as a back-up catcher.

He was drafted by the Phillies in the 19th round of the 1998 amateur draft, out of Florida State University, and while he was a good defensive catcher, he was not much of a hitter, with a .238 career average and little power. His college career was pretty good, however, as he played in three editions of the College World Series, in 1995, 1996 and 1998 and was selected as a first-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in his senior year when he batted .337 with 19 homers and 91 RBIs. He started off his professional career well enough batting a combined .283 in 61 games split between the Batavia Muckdogs and the Piedmont Boll Weevils in 1998, and following that by hitting .254 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs in 100 games between Piedmont and the Clearwater Phillies in 1999. That was his last season as a regular, hower. Starting in 2000, he was a back-up, one year with Clearwater and the next three in AAA with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His highest batting average during that stretch was .250 the first of these four seasons, and it went down in each of the next three years, ending at .182 in 72 games in 2003.

Related Sites

• Florida State statistics