Andres Jose Padovani Galarraga (Spanish: [an'drez gala'raga]; born June 18, 1961) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Montreal Expos (1985-1991 and 2002), St. Louis Cardinals (1992), Colorado Rockies (1993-1997), Atlanta Braves (1998-2000), Texas Rangers (2001), San Francisco Giants (2001 and 2003) and Anaheim Angels (2004). He batted and threw right-handed. At six-foot-three and 235 pounds (1.91 m, 117 kg), Galarraga began his professional career in Venezuela at the age of 16.

By joining the Rockies, he was given new life for his career. In a 1993 season full of remarkable individual achievements, Galarraga showed he was an accomplished hitter, and flirted with the .400 mark for much of the season. His final .370 BA was a 127-point increase over his previous year mark. He led National League batters in batting average, and it was the highest average by a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio batted .381 in 1939. Despite missing 42 games with assorted injuries, The Big Cat compiled 56 multi-hit games to lead the league. He added 22 homers, 98 RBI, 71 runs, 35 doubles, four triples, a .403 on-base percentage, and his .602 slugging percentage was second in the league. His .370 mark was the first player on an expansion team as well as the first Venezuelan to win a batting title. Tony Gwynn hit .358 to finish as runner-up in the title race. Galarraga's improvement began when Baylor drastically opened up his stance to make him quicker on inside pitches. The new stance also helped Galarraga generate more power to the opposite field. At the same time, facing the pitcher with two eyes gave him a better view at pitches, lowering his strikeout rate and making him much more consistent at the plate with better contact. Galarraga finished 10th in the MVP selection, but won The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award. After the season, and for third time, he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. In the strike shortened 1994 season, Galarraga set a new National League record in April by driving in 30 runs in a month. He seemed to be on his way to a terrific year again, but he fractured his right hand on July 28. At the time of his injury, Colorado had climbed to within a half-game of the first place Dodgers. Without him however, the Rockies went 3-10 the rest of the way. Galarraga paced the club with 31 homers (fifth in the league), and batted .319 with 85 RBI. On June 25, 1995, Galarraga hit a home run in three consecutive innings to tie an MLB record. He finished the season hitting .280, with 31 homers and 106 RBI. His numbers were helped by the fact that he stayed healthy for the first time in four years. That season, the Rockies had four players with 30 or more home runs, matching the 1977 Dodgers. On August 29 of the same season, in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Galarraga spoiled Paul Wagner's bid for a no-hitter by singling with two out in the ninth, the only hit Wagner would allow in defeating the Rockies 4-0. Over the next few seasons, Galarraga developed into one of the best RBI-men in baseball, driving in a combined 396 runs between 1996 and 1998 (150, 140, 121). In the same period, he batted .279, .303 and .318, with 31, 47, and 41 HRs. Some critics argued that his achievements were possible thanks to the thin-air, mile-high, hitter-friendly Coors Field, but Galarraga belted many homers on the road that traveled over 450 feet (140 m).

Ask a question about this article.
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?