Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Former Nats Greats #13

We are on to our lucky 13th edition of Former Nats Great, and in all reality what's more terrifying than some of these players. Today's feature performer came from that not-so-magical 2006 season. Playing in only 15 Games in his entire career, all with the Nationals, Dorta's Baseball Reference page lists him as a "Pinch Hitter, Pinch Runner, and Shortstop"; never a good sign...

So, today's lucky winner is Melvin Dorta!

Welcome to the club, son. Now lets rehash your extremely short career.

Dorta's first career game came on July 21st of 2006, and it came as a pinch runner. Coming in for Former Nats Great #9 (Alex Escobar), Dorta was promptly thrown out at 2nd while trying to steal. In his first official game, he was caught stealing.

Two appearances later (September 2nd), during a Double Header vs the Diamondbacks, Dorta picked up his first career start. Things went surprisingly well, as Dorta roped 2 singles (the first of which was his first career hit). He ended the day 2 for 4, but added another Caught Stealing to his resume. It would be far and away his best performance of the year, and he would only pull 2 more starts for the rest of the season.

So, by this point, our hero has 2 hits to his name, and in the next month he would only garner 2 more...
- His only extra-base hit, a double, vs the Mets in a 12-6 loss.
- A single in a 13-0 drubbing also at the hands of the Metropolitans.

Dorta has never set foot in the Majors since. His career line is as follows...
15 G. 20 PA. .211 AVG. 4 H. 3 R. 0 RBI. 1 BB. 2 K. 2 CS. -0.2 WAR.

So at this point, Dorta, now 29, continues to toil away in the minor leagues, hoping for a chance to improve on his lifetime .211 AVG. That year was a very strange year for the Nationals, as many players reached the Nationals big league team but have never been heard from again.

Congrats to you Dorta, this is a huge accomplishment for someone labeled as a Pinch Runner. Enjoy it.

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