Oscar Escobar

Santiago Oscar Escobar

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 145 lb.

• Born August 24, 1966

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Oscar Escobar was a minor league infielder for six seasons who later coached and managed for the Venezuelan national team.

Escobar debuted in 1983 with the GCL Blue Jays at age 16; he hit .197/.267/.213 in 51 games but showed superb speed (35 steals in 38 tries) and defense. He led Gulf Coast League second basemen with a .963 fielding percentage, 117 putouts and 28 double plays, beating out the likes of Jose Lind and Mark Lemke. He also led the GCL in swipes. Despite his wretched OPS, he was named team MVP.

In 1984, Oscar batted .195/.236/.207 in 59 games for the Florence Blue Jays and only had 9 steal attempts (8 successful). His fielding percentage fell to .928 and his 17 errors were 6th-most among South Atlantic League second sackers despite ranking tied for 12th in games at the position.

Escobar returned to Florence in 1985 and hit .269/~.329/.359, significant progress at the plate. He stole 14 bases. In 1986, he batted .313/~.357/.438 for the St. Catharines Blue Jays and .245/~.273/.340 for the Ventura County Gulls. His 100 hits led the New York-Penn League and he was 4th in average behind Tommy Hinzo, Ced Landrum and Gary Cooper and right ahead of Trent Hubbard. He was named to the NYPL All-Star team at second base. Baseball America rated him the #5 prospect in the circuit; the #1 prospect was Luis Alicea, who lost All-Star honors at 2B to Escobar.

For the 1987 Myrtle Beach Blue Jays, the 20-year-old hit .267/~.307/.346 and stole 20 bases; his backup was future major leaguer Luis Sojo and his double play mate was future big leaguer Eric Yelding. Escobar's 20 swipes were only 6th on a fleet-footed squad led by Yelding (73 SB), Junior Felix (64 SB) and Mark Whiten (49 SB). The club stole 295 bases en route to taking the South Atlantic League pennant.

Escobar moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates chain in 1988 and hit .226/.268/.373 with 8 steals in 12 tries in 50 games for the Salem Buccaneers. That ended his career in the minors, still just 21 years old.

Escobar coached for Venezuela in both the 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2009 World Baseball Classic, then managed them in the 2009 Baseball World Cup. His brother, Angel Escobar, played in the major leagues.

Primary Sources

• 1984-1985 and 1989 Baseball Guides
• 1986-1987 Baseball America Statistics Reports
• 1988 Baseball Almanac