Rubén Angel Sierra García (born October 6, 1965) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. Over 20 seasons, Sierra played for the Texas Rangers (1986–92, 2000–01, 2003), Oakland Athletics (1992–95), New York Yankees (1995–96, 2003–05), Detroit Tigers (1996), Cincinnati Reds (1997), Toronto Blue Jays (1997), Chicago White Sox (1998), Seattle Mariners (2002) and Minnesota Twins (2006).
Sierra also was under contract and appeared in spring training for both the Cleveland Indians and New York Mets, but never played in a non-exhibition game with either team. During his playing career, Sierra was known as 'El Indio' or 'El Caballo' (The Horse).
Early life
Sierra graduated from Liceo Interamericano Castro High School in Puerto Rico in 1983, where he played baseball, basketball and volleyball.
MLB career
In November 1982, the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB) signed 17-year-old Sierra as a free agent. Sierra made his major league debut on June 1, 1986, as an outfielder and hit a home run in his second MLB at bat. Sierra hit .264 with 16 home runs and 55 runs batted in (RBIs) in his rookie year.
In 1989, Sierra hit 29 home runs and led the league in RBIs (119), triples (14), slugging percentage (.543), total bases (344) and extra base hits (78), He had three seasons with over 100 RBIs with the Rangers.
In 1995, the Athletics traded Sierra and Jason Beverlin to the New York Yankees for Danny Tartabull. After helping the Yankees reach the playoffs for the first time in 14 years in 1995, Sierra was traded to the Detroit Tigers with Matt Drews for Cecil Fielder.
Sierra won the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award with the Rangers in 2001. He played for the Mariners in 2002 and began the 2003 season with the Rangers. On June 6, 2003, the Rangers traded Sierra to the Yankees for Marcus Thames. Sierra was an important part of the 2004 Yankees, a team that hit over 240 home runs, hitting 17 of them as the usual designated hitter, playing in 56 games at the position. His clutch home run helped the Yankees rally to win the game and the series. However, he was the final out of Game 7 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, hitting a ground ball to Pokey Reese, which secured the dramatic comeback victory of the Boston Red Sox. Sierra had an injury-plagued 2005 season and was let go by the Yankees after hitting just 4 home runs in 61 games.
In January 2007, Sierra signed a minor league contract with the Mets, who invited him to spring training. However, on March 20, he requested and was granted his release by the team after being reassigned the previous Thursday.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Silver Slugger Award winners at outfield
- List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders