Valeri Platonov

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born July 21, 1981

Biographical Information

Valeri Platonov played for the Russian national team several times.

He hit .417/.500/.667 in the 1999 European Championship, backing up Dmitri Lukin at short and also being used at DH. He had the top average on Russia's team, .084 ahead of Iouri Perepelitsa and German Panyushov. When Russia had their highwater mark in the 2001 European Championship (finishing second, their only top-three through 2024), he batted .320/.393/.520 and had six RBI, while fielding .914. Only Andrey Kripochin had more RBI for Russia. Hitting third in the title game, he was 0-for-4 against the Dutch national team's Rob Cordemans and Patrick De Lange, but he handled 8 chances error-free at short. Facing tougher competition in the 2001 Baseball World Cup, he was at .176/.333/.235 with one run and one RBI in seven games, fielding .926 at short, and stealing two bases in two tries.

He produced at a .261/.320/.391 clip in the 2003 European Championship, fielding .947. He tied for third in those Euros with three doubles, one shy of Erik Pappas and Giovanni Pantaleoni. He was 5th in fielding at short, between Raily Legito and Sebastien Herve. His swan song for the national team came in the 2005 European Championship when he fell to .211/.286/.211 while fielding .906 at 2B as Artemiy Artamonov took over at short.