Sil Campusano

Silvestre Diaz Campusano (born December 31, 1965) is a Dominican former professional baseball center fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies, and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Wei Chuan Dragons. Campusano batted and threw right-handed.

Sil Campusano
Center fielder
Born: (1965-12-31) December 31, 1965
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: April 4, 1988, for the Toronto Blue Jays
CPBL: March 18, 1994, for the Wei Chuan Dragons
Last appearance
MLB: July 6, 1991, for the Philadelphia Phillies
CPBL: October 12, 1996, for the Wei Chuan Dragons
MLB statistics
Batting average.202
Home runs5
Runs batted in23
CPBL statistics
Batting average.297
Home runs65
Runs batted in209
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Campusano grew up in the Santo Domingo suburb of Manoguayabo, along with Ramón Martínez and Juan Guzmán; together, they paved the pathway for MLB Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez to play for the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM) Tigres del Licey.[1]

Playing career

Major league baseball

Campusano was signed by the Dominican scout Epy Guerrero, as an international free agent, for the Toronto Blue Jays, in 1983.[2] He was ranked as one of Baseball America's top prospects, from 1986 to 1988.[3][4]

Campusano‘s MLB debut was with the Blue Jays, in the 1988 season. He played 79 games (G), with 142 at bats (AB), 31 hits (H), 14 runs scored (R), 2 home runs (HR), and 12 runs batted in (RBI). Campusano was relegated to playing the entire 1989 season for the Blue Jays’ Triple-A Minor League Baseball (MiLB) affiliate in Syracuse.

Then, on December 4, 1989, Campusano was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1989 Rule 5 draft. His entire 1990 season was spent with the Philadelphia MLB squad, where he posted 18 H, in 85 AB, 66 G, with 2 HR (again), and 9 RBI. Returning for a second year with the Phillies (1991), he played mostly for their AAA minor-league team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. That season was to be Campusano’s last in the big leagues, with only 15 MLB game appearances.

For Phillies fans, Campusano is perhaps best remembered as a light-hitting reserve player, who broke up Pittsburgh Pirate Doug Drabek's no-hitter, on August 3, 1990.[5] Campusano said of the event that he did not feel nervous or any pressure going into the at bat.[6]

Dominican winter league

Campusano played for Tigres del Licey, in the Dominican Republic, for 11 years,[7] going undefeated in winning the 1991 Caribbean Series title,[8] while also capturing the 1994 Caribbean Series championship.[7] He led the league in doubles (1991–1992) and runs (1992–1993). In 1993–1994, he was the league leader in runs, home runs, and walks,[9] batted for the cycle (in the final series),[10] and was named Most Valuable Player (MVP).[11]

Taiwan leagues and aftermath

After leaving MLB, Campusano enjoyed a prosperous career in CPBL. While playing for the Wei Chuan Dragons (1994–1996), he won the 1994 HR championship. Campusano also played for the Chiayi-Tainan Luka (1997–1999), winning the 1997 Taiwan Major League title.

Campusano ended his career in the Mexican League, acting as a player/manager, with the Langosteros de Cancún, in 2000.[7][12] From 2013 to 2014, he served as batting coach for Tigres del Licey.[7]

References
  1. "Licey retira el 45 de Pedro". 7 dias (in Spanish). November 15, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  2. Tapia, Freddy (May 24, 2013). "Epy fue uno de los grandes y pioneros entre scouts de RD". Listin Diario (in Spanish). Santo Domingo. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  3. "Top 10 Jays, Expos prospects from 1983-2000". Sportsnet.ca. March 18, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  4. Penner, Mike (March 18, 1987). "Angel Notebook: Witt's Hitless Streak Reaches 27 Batters in Team's Loss to A's". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  5. Hagen, Paul (August 4, 1990). "Campusano No Hit On Drabek's Chart". philly.com. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  6. "Campusano's Hit In 9Th Spoils Drabek's No-Hitter". The Seattle Times. Philadelphia. AP. August 4, 1990. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  7. "Informacion de Medios 2014-2015" (PDF) (in Spanish). Licey. October 17, 2014. p. 3. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  8. Soldevila, Dionicio (January 27, 2004). "Henry, Berroa y Mélido: figuras claves en victoria Licey en 1991". Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  9. "Silvestre Campusano" (in Spanish). Winterball. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  10. Valdez, Julio (January 9, 2009). "Timo fue un gigante: batea para el ciclo en triunfo del Licey". El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  11. Piña, Tony (January 28, 2014). "Hoy 28 de enero ... en béisbol invernal dominicano" (in Spanish). LIDOM. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  12. "2000 Cancun Langosteros". Retrieved April 26, 2016.
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