Kevin Baez

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Kevin Richard Baez

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Kevin Baez was a longtime minor leaguer who played briefly in the majors with the New York Mets.

A native of Brooklyn, Baez attended nearby Dominican College before being selected by the Mets in the 7th round of the 1988 amateur draft. He earned a September call-up to New York in 1990, appearing in 5 games and making 3 starts at shortstop. He spent the majority of the next two seasons with the Triple A Tidewater Tides with two brief stints with the big league club in 1992. He made 52 appearances in the majors with the Mets in 1993, the majority coming after Howard Johnson suffered a season-ending injury. Facing the St. Louis Cardinals on August 1st that year, he went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI.

Prior to the 1994 season, Baez was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in a deal that brought David Segui to New York. After one year in the O's chain, he became a free agent and signed with the Detroit Tigers. He played for the Toledo Mud Hens for two years, then moved on to the Salt Lake Buzz in the Minnesota Twins organization for 1997. Baez was re-signed by the Tigers in early 1998 but was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for Tim Belk before the season began. He spent a season and a half in their system before returning for a second stint in the Mets organization. In 2000, at age 33, he put together one of his finest seasons at the plate, hitting .278 with 27 doubles for the Norfolk Tides.

Baez moved on to the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League in 2002. He was an All-Star for the Ducks' 2004 squad, hitting .256 with 40 RBI in 98 games and earning MVP honors in the circuit's All-Star Game. He spent 2005 as a player-coach with the club and was a full-time member of the coaching staff beginning the following season. He became skipper of the team in 2011 and led Long Island to a league-best 78-47 record and Liberty Division titles in both halves of the season. He led the Ducks to consecutive championships in 2012 and 2013 before stepping down following the 2018 campaign to take the helm of the Rockland Boulders in the Can-Am Association.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record[edit]

Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs
2011 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 78-47 1st Independent Leagues Lost League Finals
2012 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 63-74 7th Independent Leagues League Champs
2013 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 63-77 6th Independent Leagues League Champs
2014 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 73-67 5th Independent Leagues
2015 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 80-59 2nd Independent Leagues Lost in 1st round
2016 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 72-68 4th Independent Leagues Lost League Finals
2017 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 73-67 3rd Independent Leagues Lost League Finals
2018 Long Island Ducks Atlantic League 69-57 2nd Independent Leagues Lost League Finals
2019 Rockland Boulders Can-Am Association 42-50 4th Independent Leagues Lost in 1st round

Related Sites[edit]