Junior Félix

Speed and power made switch-hitting outfielder Junior Félix a top prospect, but his career was derailed by defensive deficiencies, injuries, and concerns about his real age. Félix was believed to be just 21 when he hit the first pitch that he faced in the majors for a home run in 1989. By 1994, however, when he played his final game at the top level, many suspected that he was already in his mid-30s.

Junior Francisco Félix Sánchez was born in the in the Laguna Salada municipality of the Dominican Republic, about 15 miles south of the Atlantic coast and 40 miles from the country’s western border with Haiti. His birth date was recorded as October 3, 1967.

Moneno Félix and Gladys Sánchez were Junior’s parents, according to New York’s Impacto newspaper, which said he had a brother, Génesis, and a sister, Iris Margarita.1 Another paper said Junior was the youngest of seven.2 (Félix’s personal Facebook page includes a childhood photograph with his parents and five sisters.3 The same social media platform hosts an account belonging to Genis Feliz (b. 1955), who lists his parents’ names as Moneno Féliz and Gladys Estervina Sánchez.4)

Shortly after Junior was born, his father left the home, so he was raised by his mother while his siblings lived in other places. “He won’t say why,” reported the Miami Herald.5 Little is known about the family except that they were poor.

By the time Junior entered professional baseball, he was living about 150 miles southeast of Laguna Salada in Yamasá, an hour’s drive north of Santo Domingo.6 Toronto Blue Jays scout Epy Guerrero discovered him in 1983. “I went to the Dominican national track-and-field competition,” Guerrero described.7 “He was running long and he was running short, and he was winning everything. I’d never seen a faster kid. I had to ask him if he played ball, and he said he did when he was a little kid. He said he wasn’t sure about the rules.”8

Félix confirmed that occasional street games – mostly on Sundays – were the extent of his childhood baseball experience.9 But he insisted that Guerrero’s account was embellished. “I was never in an organized track meet in my life,” Félix said in 1993. “I was just running with two other guys and Epy just happened to see me. He said I was fast and he told me to try playing baseball. So I did.”10

“[Félix] didn’t have a penny, so he lived in my baseball complex for two years. The Jays gave us money to pay for things for him,” Guerrero explained.11 “We taught him to be a switch-hitter. He showed immediate power for a kid who’s not very big.”12

Félix, listed at 6-feet and 170 pounds, signed with Toronto for $3,000 on September 15, 1985. Until he could give the money to his mother, Félix asked the neighborhood man who had brought him to Guerrero to hold it. “I never get it back,” Félix said in 1991. Convinced that involving the police would accomplish nothing, he recalled, “I just let it go. But I told him, if I ever see him and [if] I’m out of baseball after two years, I will go for [after] him.”13

In 1986, Félix made his professional debut in the rookie-level Pioneer League. “I never even picked up a baseball glove until 1986,” he said later. “I didn’t even own a real pair of shoes until Epy gave me a pair.”14 Félix batted .285 with a league-leading 37 stolen bases in 67 games for the Medicine Hat (Alberta, Canada) Blue Jays.

Félix advanced to Class A in 1987 and tied for the South Atlantic League lead with nine triples. He batted .290 with 64 steals in 124 games to help the Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) Blue Jays win the championship. Myrtle Beach coach Leroy Stanton acknowledged Félix’s propensity to get poor jumps on the basepaths and in the outfield, but noted, “He’s so fast that he’s been outrunning his mistakes.”15

Meanwhile, the big-league Blue Jays spent most of the season in first place, led by two Dominican stars. American League MVP George Bell bopped 47 homers, and Gold Glove shortstop Tony Fernández batted .322. That summer, though, Guerrero predicted, “Junior Félix will be the best player to ever come out of the Dominican… He has unlimited talent. Just wait and see.”16

Félix made his Dominican League debut that winter with the Santo Domingo-based Leones del Escogido. He earned Rookie of the Year honors by hitting .322 in 47 games. In the circuit’s All-Star Game, he went 4-for-4.17 After winning the championship, Escogido triumphed in the Caribbean Series for the first time in franchise history.18

Despite batting just .253 in 1988, Félix stole 40 bases in his 93 games with the Knoxville (Tennessee) Blue Jays and was selected for the Double-A Southern League All-Star Game. When Félix arrived two hours late for Knoxville’s first game of the second half, however, he was sent home to the Dominican Republic for insubordination. “It was an accumulation of things, nothing real serious,” explained Blue Jays vice president Bobby Mattick. “We think we did it for his own good.”19

That fall, Toronto added Félix to its 40-man roster. Gord Ash, the club’s administrator of player personnel, remarked, “We’ll give him a second chance, but I’m not saying we’re prepared to give him a third chance.”20 After Knoxville catcher Matt Stark was claimed by the Chicago White Sox in the minor-league draft, he complained, “They [the Blue Jays] protect a guy like Junior Félix, who has the worst attitude in the world. He missed bus rides, was late for games, talked back to coaches.”21

During the 1988-89 Dominican League winter season, Félix batted .281 with five homers and 10 steals in 57 games. Escogido repeated as champions.

In early 1989, Guerrero reflected on Félix’s suspension. “It was the best thing that could have happened to him. He’s a completely different guy now. He’s matured a lot… I fully expect that he will be the centre fielder this year.”22

The Blue Jays had another idea. In a National Basketball Association trade just before spring training, former Blue Jay Danny Ainge (a .220 hitter from 1979-1981) went from the contending Boston Celtics to the struggling Sacramento Kings. Toronto GM Pat Gillick called Ainge, suggesting that he quit basketball and return to the Blue Jays. “They always felt like I would be a great defensive centre fielder, even when they signed me as a shortstop they kind of felt that was my future position,” Ainge said in 1995. “He felt they had a good young outfielder in Junior Félix but that he didn’t have any glove. So the idea was that I would have come into games in late innings, along with [closer Tom] Henke.”23

Ainge elected to stick with hoops, and Félix opened the season in the Triple-A International League by homering in his first at-bat for the Syracuse (New York) Chiefs.24 Although he played only 21 games for Syracuse, Félix was named the circuit’s most exciting player and best baserunner.25 On April 30, Toronto traded Jesse Barfield to the New York Yankees. Three nights later, Félix made his big-league debut at Exhibition Stadium by playing the final inning of a Blue Jays victory in right field.

On May 4, Félix started at designated hitter, batting ninth. Leading off the bottom of the third inning, he took the California Angels’ Kirk McCaskill deep to right-center field, becoming just the 13th player in history to homer on the first pitch he faced in the majors.26

In Boston on June 2, Félix hit the first inside-the-park grand slam by a visiting player at Fenway Park.27 Despite minor injuries to both ankles, he circled the bases in just 14.9 seconds. “In the Dominican one time, they got me at 13.7,” he said.28 Two days later, Félix smacked a game-winning, two-run homer in the 12th inning.29 Overall, he collected 11 RBIs during Toronto’s three-game sweep, capping an American League Player of the Week performance despite being benched once for disciplinary reasons.30

Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston kept him out of the lineup again after Félix ran through a coach’s stop sign on June 6 trying (unsuccessfully) to score from first base on a single. On June 10, the Toronto Star’s Bob Duff wrote, “Junior Félix is such a miserable person, even George Bell hates him.”31 (Bell had feuded with former Blue Jays’ skipper Jimy Williams the previous year and had a reputation for being difficult with reporters.)

But Félix’s combination of speed and power was impossible to ignore. His four-hit performance against the Tigers on June 11 featured a home run and two infield singles. In June, his 26 RBIs led all major leaguers.32 “If he’s Junior Félix, I’d like to see Senior Félix,” joked Orioles scout Ed Farmer.33

Blue Jays pitcher Mike Flanagan observed, “[Félix]’s a very dangerous player. He plays the game with reckless abandon, full speed ahead. It’s hard to fault that.”34 Through July 30, Félix had led off 71 of Toronto’s last 74 games and was batting .283 with his unusual open batting stance. That afternoon, though, he ran into the wall at Yankee Stadium while pursuing a double and separated his left shoulder.35

Félix started fewer than half of Toronto’s remaining contests and batted just .183 after returning. “I tried to come back too quickly,” he said the following spring.36 “I was worried about someone maybe taking my job.”37

In 110 games – mostly playing right field – Félix slashed .258/.315/.395, with eight triples, nine homers and 18 steals. The Blue Jays, in sixth place with a 9-17 record when he joined the team, then went 80-56 – trailing only the Oakland Athletics (84-55).38 “He came in and really gave us a lift,” said Gaston.39 On the season’s final weekend, Toronto edged the Baltimore Orioles to win the AL East. Félix started three ALCS contests against Oakland and went 3-for-11 (.273), but the Blue Jays fell in five games.

Next, Félix helped Escogido claim a third straight Dominican League title. He hit .412 (21-for-51) in 16 regular season contests, and .294 in 23 playoff games. For the second time in three years, Escogido also won the Caribbean Series.

With the Blue Jays in 1990, Félix produced a .284/.359/.488 slash line prior to the All-Star break, with 11 homers and 11 steals. But he tore a right calf muscle in the first game of the second half. After it hemorrhaged overnight, surgery was required to relieve the pressure, and he missed four weeks.40 He wasn’t the same player when he returned, batting .227 with diminished power and speed. Toronto finished two games behind Boston.

Félix exasperated his teammates by repeating correctable mistakes like overthrowing the cutoff man and not hustling after balls. “All you can do is keep talking to him,” said Gaston. “You can’t take him in a room and beat him up.”41 Félix, however, had reportedly tried to punch Bell in the locker room that summer after the latter accused him of being “very stupid for such an old man” in Spanish.42 The barb made more sense that fall when Toronto’s Globe and Mail published comments from Dominican sportswriter Roosevelt Comarazamy. “People who know Félix from his neighborhood say that he is a lot older than he says he is,” remarked Comarazamy. “Félix was a weightlifter in men’s competitions here a few years before he signed with the Jays. Well, you can’t be a 14-year-old kid in those competitions. He had to be a lot older at the time.”43

The same article confirmed that Félix – who had ostensibly turned 23 on October 3 – was on Toronto’s trading block. “He needs to be more dedicated,” said Gaston. “He has to want to be better. You have to have that inside of you.”44 On December 2, Félix, infielder Luis Sojo, and a player to be named later (catcher Ken Rivers) were traded to the Angels for center fielder Devon White, and pitchers Willie Fraser and Marcus Moore.

That offseason, Félix married Paula Treadway, a Myrtle Beach native whom he had met in the minors.45 Félix also helped Escogido reach another Dominican League finals, but they were dethroned by the Tigres del Licey.

During spring training in 1991, veteran Angels outfielders Dave Winfield and Dave Parker sought out Félix to work with him.46 “I don’t like it here. I love the people here,” Félix told the Los Angeles Times.47 California made Félix the full-time center fielder, but he batted just .183 in his first 24 games. Nevertheless, Angels manager Doug Rader insisted, “Félix probably has the God-given ability to hit third.”48

Félix heated up at bat. But on June 1 he strained a muscle in the same calf on which he’d had surgery the previous year. Following a stint on the 15-day disabled list, he aggravated the injury in his third game back and missed more than two months.49 While Félix was sidelined, he was fined by the Angels’ kangaroo court for asking the name of a pitcher (Floyd Bannister) who had been with California all season. When Félix protested that he didn’t know the name of reliever Mike Fetters either, he was fined again.50 Although Félix raised his batting average to .283 with a strong finish, he appeared in only 66 games. “Maybe he didn’t care too much to come back,” teammate Luis Polonia said later. “You have to push yourself to come back. I know he didn’t.”51

Escogido claimed its fourth Dominican League title in five years in 1991-92. Although Félix hit just .215 in 19 regular-season games, he batted .397 in 15 round-robin playoff contests and .538 (7-for-13) in the finals.

Back in the United States, though, Felix still had his skeptics. During spring training 1992, Angels vice president Whitey Herzog said of Félix, “He’s a dog, always has been. They say he’s got talent, but a lot of players have talent.”52 Félix worked on his defense with outfield instructor Sam Suplizio and staved off a challenge from rookie Chad Curtis to retain the center field position. “Last year [Félix] learned a lesson,” Polonia observed. “He understands that if he doesn’t work, he could lose his job… And he’s listening to people for the first time.”53

Before April was over Rader’s successor, Buck Rodgers, said that Félix’s bat, glove, and speed had already keyed California victories. “Junior Félix has been a joy,” Rodgers said. “Junior Félix is turning into a good, good player. We’re seeing some of his overall talent, complete talent.”54

On May 21, one of the Angels’ team buses flipped over on the New Jersey Turnpike. Thirteen members of the traveling party were injured, including Rodgers, who missed more than three months. Félix emerged with a sore knee and back but kept playing.55 Five nights later, however, he caught his spikes while backpedaling after a ball hit over his head.56 Félix strained his left groin and wound up on the 15-day disabled list. At the time, he was batting .287 with a team-high 31 RBIs.57

Despite Félix’s improvement, shortly after he returned to action, the Los Angeles Times reported that he had nearly been traded to the Red Sox for 36-year-old designated hitter Jack Clark. The same paper noted that Félix had also been offered to the Cubs for center fielder Jerome Walton, but Chicago’s GM wasn’t interested.58 In July, Herzog told a group of Angels boosters that the club couldn’t win a pennant with Félix in center field.59

California’s interim manager, John Wathan, fined Félix multiple times for failing to slide, and said he was tempted to bench him following another baserunning gaffe.60 That winter Rodgers, who reclaimed the managerial reins on August 28, described how Félix could frustrate teammates. “He was making mistakes that you would expect from a youngster, not from a guy who was over 30… We always suspected that he was 30-plus.”61

Félix insisted that his graying hair was hereditary. Although he appeared in a career-high 139 games during his “age 24” season and led the fifth-place Angels with 72 RBIs, his batting average dropped to .246, and he struck out 128 times while producing only nine homers and eight steals. Nevertheless, as the fall expansion draft to stock the rosters of two franchises approached, Rodgers said California’s 15-player protected list would include Félix if the decision were his to make.62 But the Angels brass disagreed. On November 17, 1992, the Florida Marlins selected Félix in the third round with the 60th overall pick.

Félix agreed to a one-year, $1.25 million contract and bought his mother a new seven-bedroom home in the Dominican Republic.63 When Miami Herald writer Dan Le Batard contacted her, “She said, in a mysterious voice, that she wasn’t really sure how old her son was.”64 Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski said, “We’re aware that Junior probably is older than the records say. But it’s not a big ordeal for us… He’s our right fielder.”65

For the first time in six years, Félix skipped winter ball, though he sponsored four youth teams in his native country.66 He spent the bulk of his offseason in South Carolina, where his wife gave birth to their first child, Junior Félix Jr. Upon joining the Marlins, he reiterated that his listed age was correct – “until someone can prove that I’m not 25” – but said the team’s media guide was wrong to report that he had one son. “I have three – with three different women,” he clarified.67

Rookie Scott Pose had a good spring training and won the starting job in center for Florida. On April 5, 1993, Félix started in right field and batted third when the Marlins made their National League debut, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Joe Robbie Stadium. He lost the first ball hit his way in the sun and was charged with an error, but he recorded an outfield assist on the same play.68 Félix went 1-for-4, and Florida won, 6-3.

Félix hit the first grand slam in Marlins’ history on April 25, off the Rockies’ Scott Aldred at Mile High Stadium with 71,192 in attendance.69 Félix told the Globe and Mail he was more relaxed than ever. “But I’m still learning,” he said. “I have a long way to go before I’m an established player.”70

In the eighth inning of a tie game against the Cubs on May 21, Félix dropped a fly ball that he lost in the lights. He heard about it from Marlins’ fans and had a beer thrown at him, but no runs scored. In the bottom of the frame, he clobbered a high fastball on an 0-2 count for what proved to be a game-winning homer. “They were booing him like crazy. Then he gets a standing ovation. That’s what the game is all about,” said Florida manager Rene Lachemann.71

But when Félix earned another standing ovation six night later, it came from the opposing fans in Pittsburgh. He had misplayed three balls, leading to six runs – including an inside-the-park homer by slow-footed catcher Tom Prince. (The previous evening, Pittsburgh had tallied another inside-the-park homer when Marlins right fielder Geronimo Berroa allowed an in-between hop to skip past him.) “Right field for us was like the Bermuda Triangle in this series,” said Lachemann. “The problem is you have to catch the ball to play right field.”72

Marlins coach Vada Pinson, a former Gold Glove outfielder, described hitting balls to rookie center fielder Chuck Carr (who’d claimed that job in mid-April) before one game when Félix approached and said he needed the help more. “When I made eye contact with him, I saw he was sincere. It hurt me,” Pinson said.73

The Marlins sent Félix down to the Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Trappers for a defensive refresher in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, where he played center field. “Playing in center field was a little bit of a joke because center field and right field are completely different,” he said upon returning to the majors two weeks later. Lachemann defended Félix’s effort and compared him to a former teammate. “He`s a lot like George Hendrick… George often looked like he wasn`t giving 100 percent, but he drove in 100 runs, had a great arm and was a good outfielder.”74

Félix’s return to the Marlins, though, lasted only 13 games. In 57 overall appearances for Florida, he batted .238 with a dismal .940 fielding percentage. Shortly before Félix was designated for assignment on June 25, he responded to a question about which teammates had been the most supportive by saying, “Friends? I don’t have any.” The Orlando Sentinel‘s Jorge Milian wrote, “In his short stay with the Marlins, Félix lived up to his reputation as a moody loner.”75

No other major-league team claimed Félix on waivers.76 Initially, the Marlins refused to release him, preferring to keep him in Triple-A as insurance. Just four days after he reported to Edmonton, however, Félix was indeed released outright. “The way he responded to being sent down and his attitude complicated things,” explained Marlins assistant GM Frank Wren. Trappers manager Sal Rende said, “When a guy doesn’t want to be somewhere and shows he doesn’t want to put out, it’s pretty obvious.”77

Félix did not catch on with another organization in 1993. In winter ball, he joined Escogido just before the playoffs, but the Leones were eliminated before the finals.

The Detroit Tigers invited Félix to spring training in 1994. “He needs somebody to not only treat him nice, but also to demand out of him what he has to offer,” said Tigers skipper Sparky Anderson. “I’m at the stage now, 25 years managing, that I have a luxury other managers don’t have. I’m no longer trying to save him for me. I’d like to save him for himself.”78

Félix made the team but didn’t produce much early on. He spent time on the disabled list after straining his left hip flexor by playfully sliding between pitcher Mike Henneman’s legs during batting practice on May 6.79 When Félix returned, though, he went deep four times in the final week of May. In June, he batted .351 with 20 extra-base hits (13 doubles, seven homers) in 27 games. Overall, Félix slashed .306/.372/.525 in 86 games for Detroit before a players’ strike ended the season prematurely on August 11.

The labor dispute was not settled until April 1995. Meanwhile, Félix was granted free agency. That June, Félix – described as “a little overweight” by Expos GM Kevin Malone – was still unsigned and working out at Montreal’s minor-league spring training facility.80 Félix joined Montreal’s Triple-A affiliate, the Ottawa Lynx, for 51 games but batted only .225 before he was released on August 13.81

Félix saw action with four different teams in the Triple-A Mexican League over the next three years: the Broncos de Reynosa in 1996, the Mexico City Reds and Leones de Yucatan in 1997, and the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna in 1998. He went to spring training with the Pirates in 1997 but didn’t make the team.82 Félix finished the ’98 campaign with the Seoul-based LG Twins in the Korean Baseball Organization. He returned to that KBO team in 1999 and batted .253 with 13 homers in 97 games.

In 2000, Félix went back to the Mexican League. After 17 games with the Algondoneros, he rejoined to the Leones de Yucatan and helped them claim the South Division title by hitting .294 with a team-high 22 homers in 94 games. “I’m doin’ pretty good,” he told a Toronto Star reporter who tracked him down that June. Félix said he was up to five sons – “all Juniors” – and insisted that his official listed age of 32 was correct. (Félix’s sons with his wife Paula were named Ethan, Deanny and Gabby according to her personal Facebook page.) Regarding the reputation he built for himself over six major-league seasons, he said, “Hey, I was young. I see plenty of guys now just like I was. Hardheads. Can’t tell them anything. So I just laugh.”83

Félix continued to play sporadically in the Dominican Winter League – with Escogido and the Azucareros del Este – until 2000-01. In his native country, he hit .283 with 12 homers and 29 steals in 247 regular season games over 10 seasons, plus .275 with eight homers and 16 steals in 147 playoff contests.

In 2001, Félix played his final 75 games as a professional and slashed .305/.429/.461 for the Leones de Yucatan.

After baseball, Félix divorced, remarried and fathered a daughter, Efraisa. (The name of the woman he identified as his wife in a photo posted to his personal Facebook account in 2011 wasn’t specified.) As of 2022, he was the proprietor of Super Colmado Junior Félix, a grocery store that hosted karaoke nights in Santo Domingo.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Paul Proia.

The author would like to thank SABR colleague Paul Proia for research assistance.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.baseball-reference.com, www.retrosheet.org and https://sabr.org/bioproject.

Junior Félix’s Dominican League statistics from  https://stats.winterballdata.com/home (Subscription service. Last accessed May 20, 2022.)

Notes

1 Martin Zapata, “Junior Félix Regala a Su Hermano en Nueva York Automóvil Modelo 1999,” Impacto (New York, New York), April 13, 1999: 31.

2 Tim Brown, “Former Jay Félix Making Friends with Angels This Year,” Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) Citizen, May 13, 1992: F3.

3 Junior Félix, Facebook post from June 6, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=895144307219517&set=ecnf.100001718683320 (last accessed August 27, 2022).

4 Genis Féliz, Facebook post from April 28, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10207214668139131&set=pb.1056309619.-2207520000..,  (last accessed August 27, 2022).

5 Dan Le Batard, “Marlins’ Félix: Talent with a Question Mark,” Miami Herald, March 3, 1993: 6D.

6 Junior Félix, 1987 ProCards Myrtle Beach Blue Jays baseball card.

7 Marty York, “Superb Play by Félix May Hasten Trading Bell,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), May 10, 1989: A15.

8 Marty York, “Speedster Next Jay Superstar,” Globe and Mail, June 25, 1987: D13.

9 Robyn Norwood, “On Center Stage in Center,” Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1991: C1.

10 Marty York, “Genuinely Junior Credits Cartoons with Improved Relaxation,” Globe and Mail, May 14, 1993: C10.

11 York, “Superb Play by Félix May Hasten Trading Bell.”

12 York, “Speedster Next Jay Superstar.”

13 Norwood, “On Center Stage in Center.”

14 York, “Genuinely Junior Credits Cartoons with Improved Relaxation.”

15 York, “Speedster Next Jay Superstar.”

16 York, “Speedster Next Jay Superstar.”

17 Larry Millson, “Draft Halts Jay Effort for Rookie,” Globe and Mail, December 16, 1987: D3.

18 Gustavo Rodríguez, “Leones Rugen Logran Premera Serie del Caribe 1988,” Hoy (Dominican Republic), January 19, 2016, https://hoy.com.do/leones-rugen-logran-primera-serie-del-caribe-1988/ (last accessed May 28, 2022).

19 Larry Millson, “Jays Cite Insubordination as Top Farmhand Gets Boot,” Globe and Mail, August 3, 1988: A15.

20 Larry Millson, “Tenace Hired by Jays as Minor-League Coach,” Globe and Mail, November 17, 1988: A26.7

21 Larry Millson, “Stark Bitter After Draft and Lashes Out at Jays,” Globe and Mail, December 6, 1988: A28.

22 Marty York, “Superscout Says Félix Jays’ Top Outfielder,” Globe and Mail, February 1, 1989: A14.

23 Neil A. Campbell, “Ainge Eyes Return to His Diamond Roots,” Globe and Mail, February 23, 1995: C12.

24 Dave Perkins, “First-toss Homer Old Hat to Félix,” Toronto Star, May 5, 1989: B5.

25 Neal MacCarl, “Rose Turns Down Cooperstown Trip,” Toronto Star, July 21, 1989: D2.

26 David Adler, “Players Who Homered on First Career Pitch,” MLB.com, April 4, 2021, https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rare-feats-home-run-on-1st-career-pitch-c265964496#:~:text=Walter%20Mueller%2C%20Pirates%3A%20May%207%2C%201922%2C%20vs.&text=Mueller%20is%20the%20first%20Major,of%20Famer%20Grover%20Cleveland%20Alexander. (last accessed May 28, 2022).

27 Two Red Sox players had hit inside-the-park grand slams at Fenway Park before Félix: Don Lenhardt on April 19, 1952, and Gary Geiger on August 8, 1961. Associated Press, “Around the Parks,” Globe and Mail, June 5, 1989: C7.

28 Dave Perkins, “Félix Burns Up the Basepaths in Beantown,” Toronto Star, June 4, 1989: H3.

29 Mark, Blaudschun, “From 10-nothing to Nothing,” Boston Globe, June 5, 1989: 35.

30 Bob Duff, “Félix Alienating Own Teammates,” Toronto Star, June 10, 1989: B3.

31 Duff, “Félix Alienating Own Teammates.”

32 Norwood, “On Center Stage in Center.”

33 Tim Kurkjian, “Anderson Skips Batting Practice After Undergoing Back Exam,” Baltimore Sun, June 23, 1989: 3C.

34 Bob Duff, “Félix a Dangerous Player,” Windsor (Ontario) Star, June 12, 1989: C2.

35 Neil A. Campbell, “Jays Reeling After Losing Félix, Game,” Globe and Mail, July 31, 1989: C1.

36 Tom Laloney, “Félix Flies for the Jays,” Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 1990: B2.

37 Tom Salter, “A Healthy Félix Resumes Assault on AL Pitchers,” Toronto Star, April 18, 1990: E3.

38 The National League’s best records after May 2 in 1989 belonged to the Chicago Cubs (80-57) and San Francisco Giants (79-57).

39 Larry Millson, “Félix Working Hard on Breaking Ball,” Globe and Mail, June 28, 1989: A16.

40 Larry Millson, “Félix Rejoins Jays” Globe and Mail, August 10, 1990: C12.

41 Larry Millson, “Jays on Rough Road to Recovery,” Globe and Mail, June 29, 1990: C14.

42 Marty York, “Clubhouse Boxscore: Félix No Hits, Bell No Catches,” Globe and Mail, December 20, 1990: C12.

43 Marty York, “Jays Have the Not-So-Junior Félix on the Trading Block,” Globe and Mail, November 7, 1990: C14.

44 York, “Jays Have the Not-So-Junior Félix on the Trading Block.”

45 Norwood, “On Center Stage in Center.”

46 Marty York, “Jays Look Like Big Losers for Trading Félix,” Globe and Mail, April 6, 1991: A13.

47 Helene Elliott, “Félix Making a Good Impression,” Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1991: C4.

48 Norwood, “On Center Stage in Center.”

49 “Junior Félix Goes on DL,” Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1991: C9.

50 Le Batard, “Marlins’ Félix: Talent with a Question Mark.”

51 Tim Brown, “Former Jay Félix Making Friends with Angels This Year,” Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 1992: F3.

52 David Cunningham, “Fly on the Wall,” The Sporting News, May 25, 1992: 25.

53 Brown, “Former Jay Félix Making Friends with Angels This Year.”

54 Helene Elliott, “He Can’t Serve When He Sits and Waits,” Los Angeles Times, April 28, 1992: C4.

55 Helene Elliott, “Tree Saved Angels Rodgers Injured in Bus Crash,” Los Angeles Times, May 22, 1992: 204.

56 Ross Newhan, “Red Sox Dampen Return by Angels,” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1992: C1.

57 “Muscle Strain Puts Félix on Disabled List,” Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1992: OCCC7.

58 Helene Elliott, “Jackie Autry Vetoes Félix for Clark,” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1992: C8.

59 Gordon Edes, “On Baseball,” Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), July 26, 1992: 5C.

60 Helene Elliott, “Félix Says He Wants to Be Traded,” Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1992: C3.

61 Marty York, “Marlins Took the Bait on Not-So-Junior Félix,” Globe and Mail, January 27, 1993: C8.

62 Helene Elliott, “Rodgers Says Trade Might be Answer,” Los Angeles Times, October 3, 1992: C4.

63 Le Batard, “Marlins’ Félix: Talent with a Question Mark.”

64 Dan Le Batard, “Junior Félix? Not Exactly,” Miami Herald, January 19, 1993: 1D.

65 York, “Marlins Took the Bait on Not-So-Junior Félix.”

66 York, “Genuinely Junior Credits Cartoons with Improved Relaxation.”

67 York, “Genuinely Junior Credits Cartoons with Improved Relaxation.”

68 Gordon Edes, “Day of the Marlin,” Sun Sentinel, April 6, 1993: 1A.

69 Mike Klis, “Florida Comes Away with First Series of the ‘Rivalry,’” Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, April 26, 1993: C1.

70 York, “Genuinely Junior Credits Cartoons with Improved Relaxation.”

71 Associated Press, “Félix’s 2-Run Shot Revives Marlins,” Orlando Sentinel, May 22, 1993: C1.

72 Gordon Edes, “Marlins a Fright in Right,” Orlando Sentinel, May 28, 1993: 1C.

73 Amy Niedzielka, “Marlins Call Up Whitmore,” Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Journal, June 26, 1993: H5.

74 Craig Barnes, “Long Journey Pays Dividend for Félix,” Orlando Sentinel, June 12, 1993: 5C.

75 Jorge Milian, “Marlins May Tell Félix to Throw in His Cards,” Orlando Sentinel, June 29, 1993: D1.

76 SouthamStar Network, “No One Wants Junior Félix,” Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) Record, July 5, 1993: C4.

77 Robin Brownlee, “Marlins Cut Junior Loose,” Edmonton Journal, July 7, 1993: C2.

78 Alan Solomon, “Out to Save a Career, Anderson Goes to Bat for Félix in Field,” Chicago Tribune, March 27, 1994: 11.

79 Jayson Stark, “Injuries of the Week,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 15, 1994: 45

80 Jeff Blair, “Rodriguez Could Be Out for Month,” (Montreal) Gazette, June 4, 1995: D4.

81 Allen Panzeri, “Missing Lynx,” Ottawa Citizen, August 14, 1995: D3.

82 “Transactions,” Baltimore Sun, March 6, 1997: 2C.

83 “A Grown-Up Junior Félix Still Playing a Kid’s Game,” Toronto Star, June 6, 2000: E11.