Miguel Batista

Miguel Descartes Batista Jerez (born February 19, 1971 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. He has played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals, and St. Louis Cardinals, in his career.

Over his career, Batista has played for eight teams and been utilized extensively as both a starter and a reliever. His best seasons came in 2001 and 2003 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, when he went 11-8 and 10-9 with 3.36 and 3.54 ERAs respectively.

On September 2 2009 Batista was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award. He was nominated because in the off-season he traveled throughout the United States and Latin America to deliver baseball equipment, medical supplies, and speak to kids of all ages to stress the importance of education and determination. Batista said this about being nominated for helping the less fortunate:

Miguel Batista Performance

Best Pose Miguel Batista 

The St. Louis Cardinals announced Miguel Batista signed a minor league deal on January 14, 2011. In a spring training game, Batista hit Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond on the back. Later, when asked if the pitch hurt, Desmond replied, "Miggy throws like Miss Iowa. No big deal."

On January 29, 2010, Batista agreed to a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals with an invite to spring training. On July 27, 2010 Batista was called on to replace the injured Stephen Strasburg a mere 10 minutes before gametime. Surprisingly, Batista threw 5 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and recording 6 strikeouts.

Aside from being a baseball player, Batista is known for his love of poetry and philosophy, and he has written a book of poetry in Spanish titled Sentimientos en Blanco y Negro ("Feelings in Black and White"). Batista has also published The Avenger of Blood, a thriller about a serial killer. The novel was released on December 12, 2006 in the United States, and met with mixed reviews. It was released on January 25, 2007 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and on February 10, 2007 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it has had some success.