Houston Astros Baseball

Player Profile: Miguel Tejada

Miguel Odalis Tejada (born May 25, 1976 in Baní, Dominican Republic) currently holds the fifth longest consecutive games played streak (1,152), behind Cal Ripken, Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott and Steve Garvey. That streak includes time on The Oakland A's and The Baltimore Orioles.



The Oakland A's
Tejada was signed for $2,000 when he was only 17 years old and reached the majors 4 years later in 1997. In 2000 Tejada helped lead The A's for their first division title in eight years. In 2001 Tejada helped lead The A's to a 102-60 record which strangely was only good enough for The Wildcard. For the second year in a row, The A's fell to The Yankees in the first round of The Playoffs.

In 2002 Tejada broke out. He won The AL MVP award and helped lead The A's to the playoffs once again, and again were defeated in the first round. By the end of 2003 Tejada would need to either resign or look elsewhere and The A's chose the latter.

During the 2003 off-season Tejada signed a 6 year $72 Million deal with The Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles
Signing with The Orioles seemed like a fit considering Cal Ripken Jr. was Tejada's favorite player and it only seemed natural that he fill his shoes at the same position on the same team.

In 2004 Tejada was again elected to The All-Star Team and won the Home Run derby in Houston against Houston Fan Favorite Lance Berkman. Tejada totaled a record setting 27 HR's. Another notable stat was that Tejada led all of baseball with 150 RBI's in that same season.

In 2005, Tejada was once again at The All-Star game but did not complete in The Home Run Derby. Instead he simply won The All Star MVP award. Although Tejada seemed to be thriving The Orioles were terrible, and had been terrible for several years. Towards the end of the 2005 season it was reported that Tejada asked to be traded to a contending team or that The Orioles would re-staff with players that could put the team in contention. Neither of those requests were met.

In 2006, trade rumors continued until Tejada finally said "I will remain an Oriole the rest of my career."

2007 was a typical year for Tejada, who was o the verge of eight straight 20+ HR seasons was hurt. Tejada was hit by pitch on the wrist by Doug Brocail (now teammates) and had to be placed on the DL. This injury cost Tejada twenty nine games, his streak of 20+ HR seasons and more importantly his consecutive games played streak.

During the 2007 off-season Tejada was traded for the last two remaining contract years to The Houston Astros for five players.

Steroids
During his career Tejada has been linked to steroids from several sources. The most detrimental of those sources being Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, and The Mitchell Report. Currently, Tejada is still under investigation for an interview with a house committee member.

Miguel Tejada Stats (BR)

Miguel Tejada Stats (THT)


Astros 2008 Schedule
TAGS Tejada

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