SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -Omar Vizquel prides himself most in making the routine play, more so than pulling off the spectacular leaping catch of a sharp line drive or a difficult diving stop.
He long strived to play defense like Luis Aparicio, his Venezuelan countryman and fellow shortstop. On Friday, Vizquel sat alongside the Hall of Famer as they celebrated him passing Aparicio for most games played at their position.
“It’s hard for me to believe I am sitting next to Mr. Luis Aparicio, because never in my dreams in my baseball career did I think I was going to be sitting in this spot right now and talk about records and stuff like that,” Vizquel said. “Aparicio has always been the biggest baseball player ever to come out of Venezuela. Just to talk about him was like a fantasy.”
The 41-year-old Vizquel, an 11-time Gold Glove winner, was in the starting lineup for the series opener against San Diego on Friday night for his 2,587th game at shortstop – most at the position in major league history.
He played his 2,584th game Sunday at Florida to break the major league record previously held by Aparicio, who played 18 seasons from 1956-1973. Derek Jeter is second among active big leaguers for games played at the position but the 33-year-old Yankees captain trailed Vizquel by 714 games heading into Friday.
Aparicio, who turned 74 on April 29, traveled from Venezuela to be on hand for a pregame ceremony in honor of Vizquel’s milestone. Former Giants manager Felipe Alou also attended to support Vizquel and his achievement.
“I remember when I tied Davey Concepcion for Gold Gloves, everybody was talking about, ‘Is there a chance, is there a possibility you can even tie Luis Aparicio?’ It was so far away,” Vizquel recalled. “It was just unbelievable. Year by year I was doing a little bit, a little bit, that all of a sudden I’m sitting here in this position.”
Vizquel tied the record in the opener of a doubleheader Sunday, then received a standing ovation from the Marlins crowd when his record became official after the fifth inning of the second game.
Aparicio said he has admired Vizquel’s style, not too much different from his own back in his day. Vizquel made a great impression the first time Aparicio saw him play years ago.
“I was in Caracas and I was sitting right next to Chico Carrasquel,” Aparicio said of the late Carrasquel, a Latin American pioneer also from Venezuela. “Omar made a few good plays. Chico was looking at me and I was looking at him. We didn’t say anything. We just looked at each other.”
Aparicio can’t remember what happened when he broke Luke Appling’s mark in 1970 at Comiskey Park. Appling, also a Hall of Famer whose nickname was “Old Aches and Pains,” was a coach with the White Sox at the time.
“I don’t remember. It was too far back,” Aparicio said with a grin.
Like Vizquel, Aparicio isn’t very big. He’s 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds and was known as “Little Louie.” Vizquel is 5-9 and 165 pounds.
Vizquel’s 2008 season didn’t even begin until May 10 after he began the year on the disabled list recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He has said he might play another season if his body allows it.
“I’m fortunate,” said Vizquel, in his 20th major league season. “I’m lucky that God gave me health and kept me healthy throughout my career. Like Luis said, it’s not easy to play a demanding position like shortstop. I’ve been able to be there and play at least 150 games in 18 years. You need to be lucky, you have to have the talent, you have to work hard and you have to have a lot of things to play every day at shortstop and become one of the guys who played the most at the position.”
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