Rafael Ozuna

From BR Bullpen

Rafael Mercedes Ozuna Guillen

  • Bats Both, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 11", Weight 176 lb.

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Rafael Ozuna was a globetrotting player, appearing for teams in the Dominican Republic, United States, Italy and Taiwan. He also has coached.

Organized Baseball[edit]

Ozuna hit .245 for the DSL Angels/Dodgers in 1993 and .284 for the 1994 DSL Dodgers II. In 1995, he batted .327/.372/.465 for the Great Falls Dodgers and scored 45 runs in 62 games. In the high-offense Pioneer League, he did not crack the top 10 in runs or average (.006 behind #11 Andy Barkett) and failed to make the All-Star team (Rick Gama was picked at 2B). He split 1996 between the Savannah Sand Gnats (.244/.310/.365 in 87 G) and Vero Beach Dodgers (.221/.305/.248 in 33 G) to end his time in the Los Angeles Dodgers system.

Independent Leagues[edit]

Moving to the independent leagues, Ozuna hit .257/.338/.373 for the 1998 Pacific Suns and stole 24 bases in 32 tries. He was 10th in the Western Baseball League in steals. In 1999, he batted .254/.331/.379 for the Sonoma County Crushers. Moving from 2B to SS (a position change which lasted the rest of his career), he produced at a .286/.337/.417 clip for the '01 Solano Steelheads.

Taiwan and Italy[edit]

Rafael hit .280/?/.379 with 20 steals for the 2002 Kaoping Fala of the Taiwan Major League. He tied Roberto Mejia for third in the league in stolen bases. After that loop folded, he batted .281/.337/.458 in 27 games for the First Financial Holdings Agan of the 2003 CPBL. He went to Europe in 2004 and put up a batting line of .391/.473/.603 with 45 runs, 6 triples and 50 RBI in 52 games for BBC Grosseto while fielding .940 as their main shortstop. In the finals, he was 6 for 22 with 2 doubles, 3 walks, 2 steals, 3 runs and 5 RBI to help Grosseto win it all. In the regular season, he had finished second in Serie A1 in average (.010 behind Gabriele Ermini), 8th in runs, tied for 6th in hits (70, even with Eric Martins), tied for 7th in doubles (14), third in triples (6), tied for fifth in home runs (4), tied with Jhonny Carvajal for second in RBI (trailing Fausto Solano), second in OBP (.033 behind Claudio Liverziani), first in slugging (.032 ahead of Willie Canate) and first in OPS. Teammate Jaime Navarro took the MVP for his mound work while Canate and Liverziani finished second and third with Ozuna 4th; Ozuna was named the All-Star shortstop, beating out Orlando Munoz.

Returning to Grosseto in 2005, he looked far more mortal, hitting .282/.365/.431. He moved to Parma in 2006 but put up similar numbers at the plate (.273/.347/.448). He did finish third in both RBI (35) and home runs (6). He finished his Italian career with a batting line of .314/.395/.484.

Indies, take two[edit]

Ozuna wrapped up back in the independent leagues. He hit .326/.410/.575 with 10 HR and 42 RBI in 46 games for the 2008 Alexandria Aces. He split 2009 between the Shreveport-Bossier Captains (.250/.319/.310 in 28 G), Laredo Broncos and Amarillo Dillas to end his playing career.

Coaching[edit]

Family[edit]

His son Raffy Ozuna turned pro in 2015.

Sources[edit]

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