Plácido Polanco

The fabulously talented sportsman Plácido “Polly” Polanco is a former professional baseball player, who was mostly seen as a second baseman, but who also played third base, and shortstop. He was twice voted to start in the Major League Baseball All-Star Games, and retired with the highest all-time career fielding percentage for a second basemen at 99.27%, as well as with the highest all-time career fielding percentage for a third basemen at 98.34%. He is a three-time Gold Glove Award winner (2007, 2009, 2011), and won the Silver Slugger Award in 2007.

The Dominican-American was born in Santo Domingo, and began playing baseball at an early age. He was drafted as a teenager by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 19th round of the 1994 MLB Draft. A naturally skilled player, it wasn’t long before he led the Florida State League with 157 hits and 137 games played while playing with Single-A St. Petersburg. He was promoted to the major leagues in 1998. By 2001 he had earned the starting third base job, with his low strikeout/walk ratio and extra base hit numbers establishing him as a contact hitter. Since then he has gone on to play with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Detroit Tigers, back to the Phillies, and then finally to the Miami Marlins. He made his last MLB appearance in 2013, and retired from the game officially in 2016.

Polanco does not engage on social media.