Endy Chávez

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**Endy Chávez**

New York Mets — No. 10
Outfielder
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
May 29, 2001 for the Kansas City Royals
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006 Season)
Avg	.269
HR	15
RBI	148
SB	67
Teams
Kansas City Royals (2001) Montreal Expos (2002-2004) Washington Nationals (2005) Philadelphia Phillies (2005) New York Mets (2006-present)

Endy DeJesus Chávez (Pronounced: Shah-vez) was born February 7, 1978 in Valencia, Carabobo State, Venezuela) is an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets.

Chávez bats and throws left-handed. Chávez does not have power, but is a good contact hitter. He is a groundball hitter who uses the whole field. He also has speed, which allows him to be a mildly successful base stealer. His speed helps him in fielding as well, but he also has higher gifts which allow him to take off with the crack of the bat, and time his leap so that his glove and ball arrive in the same spot at the exact time. His range is good and his arm is above-average. In 2004, Chávez led the Expos in stolen bases (32, sixth in the league) and triples (6), but had a miserable on-base percentage (.318), especially for a lead-off hitter.

In his first five seasons Chávez had a .259 batting average with 11 home runs and 106 RBI in 436 games played.

1 Minor League career
2 Major League career
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Minor League career

Chávez made his Minor League Baseball debut in 1996 with the Dominican Mets, a rookie-level affiliate of the New York Mets. In his first season with the team, he hit .354 in 48 games. He played the next four years in the Mets organization with the Kingsport Mets, Gulf Coast Mets, Capital City Bombers (Columbia), and St. Lucie Mets. On March 30, 2001, Chávez was traded from the Mets to the Kansas City Royals organization. In 2001, Chávez played with Wichita Wranglers and the Omaha Royals before making his MLB debut with the Royals.

In 2002, Chávez found himself in the Montreal Expos organization and playing for the Ottawa Lynx. With Ottawa, Chávez was an International League all-star in 2002. In 2004, Chávez was back with the triple-A affiliate of the Expos, but this time the team was the now defunct Edmonton Trappers and Chávez only appeared in 14 games. Finally, in 2005, Chávez played for the Washington Nationals triple-A affilate New Orleans Zephyrs.

[edit] Major League career

[edit] Kansas City Royals

In 2001, Chávez played his rookie season with the Kansas City Royals. He appeared in 29 games and compiled a career low batting average of just .208.

[edit] Montreal Expos

In the winter Chávez was traded to the Montreal Expos for whom he played for three and a half years (2002-05). In 2002 and 2003, he helped the Expos to be competitive and the team was in the wild-card chace each season, only to drop out during the last month of the season (the team finished 83-79 in each of those two seasons). As an Expo in 2003 and 2004, Chávez was a full-time player and a critical part of the lineup. Throughout those two seasons, he was often the starting center fielder and lead-off man in the lineup (a lineup that usually featured Orlando Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, and José Vidro). He also made a name for himself as a player who was a threat to steal a base; he recorded 18 in 2003 and 32 in 2004. It was also Chávez who made the final out in Montreal Expos' history on October 3, 2004, in the Expos' 8-1 loss to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. He continued with the team after its sale and reincarnation as the Washington Nationals in 2005.

[edit] Washington Nationals

In 2005, Chávez played in only seven games for the Nationals before being traded to Philadelphia.

[edit] Philadelphia Phillies

With the Philadelphia Phillies, Chávez played in 91 games and usually made his appearances in the middle of or late into games. He batted only .215 and stole only two bases.

[edit] New York Mets

2006 Season
Batting Average	.306
Home Runs	4
Runs Batted In	42
Hits	108
Runs Scored	48
Stolen Bases	12
On Base Percentage	.348
Slugging Percentage	.431

Chávez was obtained by the New York Mets for the 2006 campaign. His excellent fielding abilities and speed recommended him for the role of pinch hitter/runner and late-inning defensive replacement.

On December 23, 2005, Chávez inked a one-year, $500,000, major league deal with the Mets. This came three days after he had been non-tendered by the Phillies. Little did they know, Chavez would go on to have arguably the best season fo his career.

During Spring Training, Mets' manager Willie Randolph convinced Chávez to alter his batting style. Chávez had been swinging as if he were a power hitter, for which he was not equipped (and not needed on a team that already had Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Cliff Floyd). What was needed was a speedy runner with a decent on-base percentage to act in tandem with the Mets' primary base-stealing threat, Jose Reyes.

Endy Chávez took the advice and his 2006 season batting average jumped 50 points above his career average. Seeing limited action (353 At Bats), he still managed to pick up a dozen stolen bases. And his fielding remained top-rate.

When Floyd was sidelined due to injury for stretches of the year, Chávez became the most usual replacement. With increasing playing time, his Batting Average rose over the course of the season. His enthusiastic play has made him a fan-favorite at Shea Stadium.

2006 NLCS Game 7 - Endy Chavez' Catch

In Game Seven of the 2006 NLCS, Endy arguably the most spectacular catch in post-season baseball history, leaping to rob Scott Rolen of a tie-breaking two run home run with a snow-cone grab and pulling the ball back into the park, then doubling up Cardinals runner Jim Edmonds to end the inning. Commentators have compared it to such memorable catches as those of Tommie Agee in the 1969 World Series, Sandy Amorós of the 1955 World Series, Dwight Evans in the 1975 World Series and Kirby Puckett during the 1991 World Series The chants of En-dy Cha-vez ensued and he received two curtain calls. Ironically, the part of the wall where Chavez' catch took place bore an advertisement with the slogan, "The Strength To Be There."

[edit] Trivia

Attended high school at Liceo Bataila Carabobo in Venezuela.
Made the final out in Montreal Expos' history on October 3, 2004, in the Expos' 8-1 loss to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.
Like Endy, brother Ender Chávez (who reached AA-level baseball with the Harrisburg Senators in 2006) also played minor league baseball with an affiliate of the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, and Washington Nationals.
The part of the wall where Chavez' catch in Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series took place bore an advertisement with the slogan, "The Strength To Be There."