Please help Baseball Wiki by revising it.
A photo of Aroldis Chapman pitching.
Albertin Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (born September 11, 1987[1]) is a Cuban baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Trivia[]
- He threw the fastest pitch in baseball history that was 107 mph.
Amateur career[]
Template:Expandsection Chapman was part of the Cuban national team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He played domestically for Holguín in the Cuban National Series.
Professional career[]
Defection[]
Chapman failed at an attempt to defect in the spring of 2008. Following the defection attempt, he was brought to Havana to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, who gave him a conditional reprieve, suspending him for the remainder of the National Series season and also keeping him off Cuba's national team for the Beijing Olympics, but allowing him to return to the National Series and play in the World Baseball Classic.[2]
Chapman remained determined to defect[citation needed], waiting for the best moment to arrive. He successfully defected from Cuba while in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where the Cuban national team was participating in the World Port Tournament on July 1, 2009, by walking out the front door of the team hotel and getting into a car driven by an acquaintance.[2][3] Chapman established residency in Andorra[4] and petitioned Major League Baseball to be granted free agent status.[5]
MLB[]
Since establishing himself as a MLB free agent since his defection, Chapman has attracted interest from a number of clubs. Reportedly, the Boston Red Sox have offered $15.5 million and the Florida Marlins have also made an offer, reportedly in the $13 million range. Other teams interested include the Athletics, Angels, Mets, Yankees, Chicago Cubs And Toronto Blue Jays.[6]
Playing style[]
According to major league scouts[7], Chapman's fastball has been clocked as high as 102 MPH. Chapman bats and throws left-handed. He is listed at 6' 4" and 180 pounds.
Family[]
His father is a boxing trainer.[2] When he defected, Chapman left behind his father, mother, two sisters[2]; girlfriend Raidelmis Mendosa Santiestelas and newborn baby Ashanti Brianna[8].
References[]
- ↑ Aroldis Chapman, SP, International Player. USA Today. usatoday.com (Updated December 9, 2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-13.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jose Arangue, Jr. (August 9, 2009). New world of hope awaits Chapman. ESPN. Retrieved on August 9, 2009.
- ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/07/02/Cuban.defector.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories Retrieved on 2009-07-02.
- ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/more/09/18/chapman.andorra/index.html
- ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4491904
- ↑ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091231&content_id=7865718&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedwbc_espn - ↑ A. Chapman piensa en Grandes Ligas para el 2010