Erubiel Durazo Cárdenas (born January 23, 1974) is a Mexican former professional baseball player. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks (–) and the Oakland Athletics (–) in Major League Baseball.
Early life and amateur career
Durazo was born on January 23, 1974, in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. He moved to the United States to play baseball at Amphitheater High School in Tucson, Arizona, ahead of his junior year. As a senior in 1993, Durazo batted .410 and helped the Panthers earn the No. 1 ranking in the country. He then enrolled at Pima Community College in Tucson, where he batted .434 over two seasons of play. Durazo's contract was purchased by the Diamondbacks in December 1998. On July 24, 1999, Durazo received his first major-league call-up after David Dellucci was placed on the 60-day disabled list. As a rookie, he hit .329 with 11 home runs in 52 games. Those three runs Durazo batted in turned out to be more than enough, as the Diamondbacks ended up winning 12–9.
Durazo enjoyed his best season in when he hit .321 with 22 home runs and 88 RBI with Oakland. That offseason, he signed a one-year deal to remain with the team. However, his season was cut short by injury and he underwent Tommy John elbow surgery that July. In , the Texas Rangers invited him to spring training, but he did not make the major league club. He split the 2006 season between the Triple A Oklahoma Redhawks of the Rangers organization, the Triple A Columbus Clippers of the New York Yankees organization, and the Triple A Rochester Red Wings of the Minnesota Twins organization.
Durazo was invited to 2007 spring training by the Oakland Athletics, where he played well, but was released before the start of the season. He joined the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League. On July 17, 2007, Durazo signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. He played in 29 games for their Triple-A team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, and became a free agent at the end of the season.
In 624 games over seven seasons, Durazo posted a .281 batting average (547-for-1948) with 333 runs, 108 doubles, 6 triples, 94 home runs, 330 RBI, 307 bases on balls, .381 on-base percentage and .487 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .988 fielding percentage playing at first base and several games at right field. In 16 postseason games, he hit .234 (11-for-47) with 5 runs, 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 7 RBI and 8 walks.
Winter ball
Durazo debuted with the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Mexican Pacific League (LMP) in 1997–98 and won the Rookie of the Year award after hitting .321 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. He played 14 of his 15 LMP seasons with Hermosillo, batting .310 to go with 546 hits, 94 home runs, and 339 RBIs in 494 career games. He was also named the MVP of the 2001 Caribbean Series despite Hermosillo finishing as runner-ups. but was subsequently sent on loan to the Yaquis de Obregón without playing a game for Mexicali. In 32 games with Obregón, he batted .356 with nine home runs and 22 RBIs.
In early 2018, Erubiel Durazo Field was inaugurated in Douglas, Arizona, marking the 40th baseball or softball field built (or refurbished) by the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation.
On December 2, 2018, the Naranjeros retired Durazo's 44 number.
His second cousin is professional bull rider Edgar Durazo.