Bobby Abreu

A five-tool threat, Bobby Abreu combined power, speed, and plate discipline across 18 major-league seasons. He finished with over 2,400 hits, 400 stolen bases, and nearly 1,500 walks. (Jerry Coli / Dreamstime)

On August 3, 2019, the Philadelphia Phillies included on their Wall of Fame a Venezuelan who in the United States was known as Bobby, but in his native country called by many “El Comedulce.”1

Bob Kelly Abreu Vásquez was born in Maracay, Aragua state, on March 11, 1974, the second of six children in the family raised with great effort by Nelson Abreu, a worker at the Kraft Heinz food company, and his wife, Águeda Vásquez de Abreu.

Living in a neighborhood called Sorocaima, Bobby began to show his affinity for sports, playing volleyball, soccer, basketball, foosball, and, of course, baseball.

His love for the sport that brought him fame and fortune was born thanks to his father. “He played baseball too. He was left-handed. And he was the one who took us together with my mother, but we followed my dad a lot, because he was good. My mom says that he didn’t want to sign (to professional baseball),” Abreu said. “The people of Maracay know my dad. He was a well-known man in Maracay and in San Carlos de Cojedes, where he was born. He was our idol and he was the person we followed to play baseball.”2

Bobby, along with his older brother Nelson, and younger brother Dennis, were the ones who applied themselves the most in that sport, all of them later signing to play professional baseball. But before they learned how to play the game, they learned a very good education, along with their other siblings, Nielsen, Anaís (who died in 2018), and Amarily.

“We grew up with the fundamentals and foundations of the home, and when I was about 10 or 11 years old, my father suffered an accident,” Abreu recalled. “My older brother was 15, and that’s the age when we’re all rebellious, and my mom had to deal with the six children alone, because my dad was in bed.”3 Despite experiencing very hard times in their adolescence, the Abreu family managed to prevent their children from taking a bad path on the streets of Sorocaima.

“Sometimes there was not enough to eat and we wanted to make enough food for everybody, making arepas.4 Today we laugh at that very beautiful remembrance, because with a little can of deviled ham we filled five arepas,” Abreu said. “My mother is the fundamental pillar in my life, in my career, because she has been there since we had nothing. My dad was my hero, even though he didn’t see me play in the major leagues, and my mom taught us to respect the values of the home, but it was a pretty hard stage, because we lived in a neighborhood where you could take any path, but we always we stood right there.”5

Bobby began to stand out in baseball from a very young age and represented the state of Aragua in several tournaments, before joining the Houston Astros academy, which was led by Andrés Reiner, who years later became a special assistant to the general manager of the organization.

“I got there at the age of 15. Andrés Reiner for me, and for many of my colleagues, was like our father, who guided you, gave you the best advice, ‘dedicate yourself, you have to work hard, you’re never tired, you have to work twice as hard as others to be able to improve,’” Abreu said. “Andrés Reiner, really, was the best thing that has happened to me as a counselor, because apart from signing me as a scout, he was watching you, how your things were going, if you were doing things well or badly. He knew how to talk to you and we really always carry him with us, because he has been an exemplary person for all of us.” Abreu signed with the Astros on August 21, 1990, and traveled to his first spring training, in the United States, in 1991.

“Before I got to the training camps I was scared. The farthest I (had gone) from my house was to San Carlos de Cojedes, two hours from my house, and always with the family. On that occasion (spring training), I had to be alone, without my father or my mother,” Abreu recalled. “I had to go traveling with Roberto Petagine, Raúl Chávez, Henry Centeno, my compadre, may he rest in peace, Argenis Conde, (Jesús) Aristimuño, who was our coach, and I was behind them, because I had never been even in an airplane, nor in an airport. When I (got) to Miami, at immigration, you have to be alone and when the guy started to speak English to me, I wanted to cry. I wanted to go home.”

Despite the fear, Abreu arrived at his first spring training remembering Reiner’s advice.

“I come to spring training, at 17 years old, and you are rubbing shoulders with older people, and you come to see that the baseball that you played as an amateur was not the same as the one that you played as a professional,” he said. “When they start talking to us about fundamentals, I already came with Andrés Reiner’s class, who had to do everything running, jostling, you’re never tired here. They would say that Venezuelans never get tired,” he stressed. “At that time I was supposedly playing shortstop. I would stand there, but I didn’t have those good hands. That’s why they sent me to the outfield.”

One of his early mentors was legendary Dominican outfielder César Cedeño, a four-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, and a Houston Astros Hall of Famer.

“At that time I was a switch-hitter. I stood right-handed, and César Cedeño saw that I always took BP from the left side. He asked me, ‘How come you hit with both hands and the BP is always left-handed? From now on you are only going to hit left-handed.’… And I ended up hitting left-handed.”

“César Cedeño helped me a lot in hitting. I was taking his advice and I had a good season.”

Abreu played right field throughout his career and was listed as 6 feet tall and 220 pounds.

Abreu debuted with a .301 average in the Gulf Coast League in 1991, and continued to climb the circuit each year, from Class A to Triple A in 1996, also trying to apply what he saw on television from his idols.

“When I began to watch baseball games, I liked Ozzie Guillén a lot, because of the way he played, because he was a great leader and knew how to use his skills. He was not looking to do more than he could do,” he said.

“Also Roberto Alomar. I saw Roberto Alomar a lot, when he went to the World Series with Toronto, also when he was in Baltimore. When I was in the minor leagues, the Baltimore games were on TV a lot and I watched him hit, how he stole the bases, how he played the ball with ease and elegance, with confidence and intelligence, he was always ahead of the plays, and Roberto Alomar was one of the people I admired. The other was Ken Griffey Jr. So I saw those patterns and I wanted to get details from them to continue growing on the game and be like them.”

In 1993, when Abreu was 19, he received one of the hardest blows in his life, the death of his father, Nelson, to whom he wanted to pay a lifetime tribute.

“My dad was called ‘El Comedulce.’ When he passed away, in 1993, I asked the media to call me ‘El Comedulce’ in his honor,” he said.

Abreu not only honored his father with his nickname, but with greater determination in his goal of reaching the major leagues. In 1994 he hit .303 in Double-A and developed more power by hitting 16 home runs and driving in 73 runs.

Little by little he earned his place among the best prospects in the organization and as a more complete player, stealing 24 bases in Triple A in 1996.

“I was looking for my opportunity to reach the major leagues,” he said during spring training. “I think as you go through the minor leagues and start watching the big-league games, you say, ‘Hey, I want to be there.’ More when you go to spring training.”

“The Astros had all four fields and the major-league field next to it.That’s where I want to be,” he recalled. “You have to work hard and you tried harder every day to get to the major leagues.”

The reward for that effort came in the last month of the 1996 season, after Abreu batted.283 with 86 runs scored, 14 doubles, 16 triples, 13 home runs, and 68 RBIs in 132 games in Triple A.

“(Manager) Tim Tolman calls me to his office, and as a baseball player, you don’t want to go to the office. What did I do wrong? Are they going to scold me or are they going to kick me out?” he recalled. “He tells me, ‘Congratulations, because you are going to Pittsburgh.’”

The Astros were finishing a series against the Pirates. “I didn’t believe it. The first thing I did was cry, give (Tolman) a hug and call my mom to say, ‘Mom, you have a major-league son.’”

His big-league debut came at Three Rivers Stadium, where he couldn’t hide his nerves during batting practice.

“I remember that in my first BP I didn’t hit the ball out of the cage. It was pure fly and fly. The nerve hits you,” he said. “In my first at-bat, I was shaking. My legs were shaking. (Manager) Terry Collins tells me, ‘Abreu, you’re going to hit.’ I was so nervous.”

Abreu was called to pinch-hit for reliever Chris Holt in the top of the ninth inning, but he didn’t get to have his first at-bat.

“That first at-bat they had a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen and Mike Simms was the right-handed pinch-hitter. They brought in the lefty (Dan Plesac) and they brought in Simms (as a pinch-hitter). It took me like 13 at-bats to get that first hit.”6

His first hit came in his 11th major-league game, on September 24, 1996, at the Astrodome against the New York Mets. His first victim was Bobby Jones; pinch-hitting in the eighth, Abreu sent a line drive to right field. Afterward, he started three games, getting a hit in each, with his first double and his first RBI coming September 28 against the Florida Marlins.

The next season, 1997, Abreu became the starting right fielder for the Astros and after a slow start in the first two months, in which he averaged .245, an injury took him out of action and he underwent surgery in Houston to remove the hook of the hamate bone in his right wrist.

He returned to the field on July 3, but in a substitute role, so in the middle of the month he went to the minor leagues to get more playing time, returning to the majors in September.

Despite Abreu’s being well regarded within the organization, the Astros did not protect him and he was taken in the November 18, 1998, expansion draft to stock the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I was playing in Venezuela. My agent, Peter Greenberg, called me and he tells me, ‘Tampa picked you in the draft.’ I was happy, because I was going to have the opportunity to play,” Abreu said. “Two hours later he calls me again. ‘Peter, what happened? Bob, I have other news for you: They traded you to Philly, they traded you for Kevin Stocker, it’s a good trade for you.”

In a matter of minutes he had moved through three organizations, ultimately ending up with the Phillies, whom he joined in the spring of 1998.

“I went to spring training in Clearwater, in ’98, and I had a good season my first year,” recalled Abreu, who was the undisputed starter and hit .312 with 17 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases, showing signs of a potential that was about to explode.

In Venezuela, in the Winter League, he also displayed that superstar potential and won the batting title with a record .419 average while playing for Leones del Caracas.

“It was very important, because I remember that that year I went to work against lefties, because I was hitting well against righties, but I needed to hit lefties better and use the right midfield and hit home runs toward the opposite field,” he recalled. “In Venezuela, I faced many left-handed pitchers and that allowed me to work on that. Winter ball helped me a lot to work on what I was failing.”

The following season, 2000, Abreu established himself as an undisputed figure for the Phillies by finishing with the third-best batting average in the National League (.335), setting career highs in all offensive categories by finishing with 118 runs scored, 183 hits, 35 doubles, 11 triples (NL leader), 20 home runs, 93 RBIs, and 109 walks, in what was the first of his eight consecutive seasons with 100 or more walks.

“That was a great season. I was fighting for the batting title with Larry Walker and Luis González. I went 20-20 (homers and steals), drove in 93 runs,” Abreu said. “It was a very good year. I was hitting well all year.”

In 2001 Abreu became the first Venezuelan to join the 30-30 club, after finishing with 31 home runs and 36 stolen bases, an achievement he repeated in 2004, when he hit 30 homers and stole 40 bases, the year in which he participated in his first All-Star Game and won the Silver Slugger Award, repaying in a big way the contract the organization gave him in 2002 for five seasons and $64 million.

“That season you wanted to show more of yourself. You had been doing seasons of 40 doubles, you stole 20 to 30 bases, you hit 20 homers, but you wanted more, you wanted to teach more about your game and show all your tools. Hitting, stealing bases, playing defense, taking bases on balls, I tried to get better in all my numbers and be an all-around player.”

Already one of the most complete players in the major leagues, Abreu experienced one of the most exciting moments of his career when he was chosen for his second All-Star Game, in Detroit, where he participated in a memorable Home Run Derby.

“I didn’t expect it, but when they told me, ‘You’re in the Home Run Derby. You are going to represent Venezuela. It was the only one that was made representing countries. You have to understand what it means to represent your country and the weight you have to do things well.”7

Abreu reached the All-Star Game with 18 home runs, but he had no expectations other than putting on a good show for his country.

“They tell me, ‘Bob, you’re the first to hit.’… My legs were shaking, I was nervous, and I was just asking to hit a little home run in Detroit, in a huge stadium, completely packed, and I knew that all of Venezuela was watching me on television.”

“When I took out the first ball I felt a relief. I was already calm. Then, with the pitcher I had, Ramón Henderson, I started hitting home runs and that was crazy.”

Abreu stole the show and hit 24 homers in the first round, breaking the record of 15 set by Miguel Tejada.

“Venezuela was paralyzed watching the Home Run Derby. I was just asking God and my dad to help me hit at least a home run. One came out and I began to break some of Miguel Tejada’s records,” he said.

Abreu hit six home runs in the second round to advance to the final with catcher Iván Rodríguez, whom he dispatched with 11 homers, also a record at that time, surpassing the Puerto Rican’s five, and ended up hoisting the championship trophy with a total of 41 home runs, a record for the event at the time.

“It was a very beautiful moment that I lived, a very special moment,” he commented. “I was living a dream. I woke up from that dream when I got to the hotel. When I turned on the television, ESPN was showing what I did, and I was crying alone in the room.”

In 2006, Abreu entered the next to last year of his contract with Philadelphia, making him one of the most coveted pieces on the trade market that season.

On July 30, 2006, he waived his no-trade clause and accepted a trade to the New York Yankees, where he would have a chance to play in the postseason, something he hadn’t done since 1997 with the Astros.

“I thought I was going to spend my entire career with Philadelphia. That opportunity was given to go to the Yankees, to the Big Apple, Yankee Stadium. … “I had the no-trade clause in my contract and I agreed to go to New York.”

Abreu went to the Yankees along with Cory Lidle in a trade for C.J. Henry, Matt Smith, Jesus Sanchez, and Carlos Monasterios.

He made the most of that big stage and he began to perform. He came from Philadelphia hitting .277 and in 58 games with his new club he hit .330 to help the Yankees capture the AL East championship with a 97-65 record.

In the Division Series, Abreu hit .333 with four RBIs, but he couldn’t stop New York from being eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in four games.

In 2007 he hit .283 with 40 doubles and 101 RBIs to help the Yankees return to the postseason, but again they lost in the Division Series, also in four games, to the Cleveland Indians.

New York took the option of his 2008 contract for $16 million and the Venezuelan responded with a .296 average, 100 runs scored, 39 doubles, 20 home runs, and 100 RBIs, but they did not offer him a new deal and he became a free agent.

“It was a very nice experience playing for the Yankees, because of the city, the organization, that name weighs heavily,” said Abreu. “It was nice to play with ‘The Captain’ (Derek Jeter), with Alex Rodríguez, and I met two people who were my buddies, like Robinson Canó and Melky Cabrera.”

“I thought I was going to re-sign with the Yankees, because I was a free agent. It didn’t happen and I signed with Anaheim,” said Abreu, who reached a deal for one season and $5 million.

Abreu didn’t slow down and for the seventh straight season he finished with at least 100 RBIs (103) and hit .293, helping the Angels win the AL West title.

In 2009 he played in the postseason for the last time and in the Division Series he was 5-for-9 with four runs scored, two doubles and an RBI to be key in the three-game sweep against the Boston Red Sox.

In the American League Championship Series, Abreu had to face his former Yankees teammates, who ended up winning the ALCS and the World Series, both in six games.

“We went to the playoffs, to the league finals to play against the Yankees. We lost that year, when they were champions, and I didn’t have that luck to win a World Series,” Abreu said. “I have been blessed to play alongside great players. Playing with Vladimir (Guerrero) was excellent. There was Maicer Izturis, (Mike) Napoli. I was one of the oldest and we enjoyed a lot.”

After the 2009 season, Abreu signed a two-year, $19 million deal with the Angels, with a $9 million option for 2012 if he had 550 plate appearances in 2011 or a combined 1,200 in 2010-11.

In 2010 he hit 41 doubles and 20 home runs, but for the first time since 1998 he fell short of 100 RBIs, and for the first time since 1997 his batting average dipped below .280; he hit just .253.

In 2011 his performance dipped further as he hit .253 with just 30 doubles, 8 home runs, and 60 RBIs, but he reached 585 plate appearances to exercise the option on his contract.

In 2012 Abreu’s place in the lineup was no longer guaranteed. With Albert Pujols as designated hitter and with Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells covering the outfield corners, Abreu didn’t have a day-to-day game in manager Mike Scioscia’s lineup.

On April 27, after Abreu hit just .208 (5-for-24), with three doubles and five RBIs in eight games, the Angels released him to call up their best prospect, Mike Trout.

“I arrived in 2009 and he started in the major leagues in 2011. I saw him in spring training and he was with us playing up front. He was a very mature person in the game, respectful in the game and respectful as a person. Excellent person,” Abreu said of Trout. “He is a very humble person, who respects everyone, and when I saw him in spring training I knew that when they gave him the opportunity to play he was going to lose sight of them.”

So it was. Trout’s impact was immediate and at the age of 20 he batted .326 and hit 30 home runs, leading the majors in runs scored (129) and stolen bases (49), unanimously taking the AL Rookie of the Year Award, and being second in the voting for the Most Valuable Player Award, removing the unanimity of the winner of the first Triple Crown since 1967, Miguel Cabrera.

Abreu didn’t last long without a job, nor did he have to make a lengthy move, after signing as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 4, 2012.

With the Dodgers he also didn’t see regular action and in 92 games he hit .246.

Unable to get a satisfactory contract, Abreu did not play in the majors in 2013; he played winter ball in 2013-2014 with Leones del Caracas, showing that he still had one more cartridge to burn.

In Venezuela, he batted .322/.416/.461, with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, and 28 RBIs in 50 games. In the postseason he batted .441/.533/.932, with 22 runs scored, 5 doubles, 8 home runs, 26 RBIs, and 13 walks in 16 games.

On his way to turning 40, the Philadelphia Phillies granted Abreu a minor-league deal on January 21, 2014, with an invitation to spring training. Abreu was released on March 27 after hitting .244/.404/.366 in 17 games.

On March 31, the New York Mets gave Abreu a minor-league contract. At Triple-A Las Vegas, he hit .360/.473/.507, with 8 doubles, 1 home run and 18 RBIs in 26 games, and the Mets brought him up.

In 78 games with the Mets, Abreu batted .248. He played his last major-league game on September 28, the last day of the regular season, against the Astros, the team that signed him and the one he made his major-league debut in 1996.

“Something curious. … Fate is fate. When I get to the big leagues, I got my first hit against the Mets and my manager was Terry Collins. And I gave my last hit with the Mets, my manager was Terry Collins and I gave it against the Houston Astros,” said Abreu, who played right field that day.

In his first at-bat he grounded out to second base. In the third inning he took a walk, the 1,476th of his career, while in the fifth inning, against Nick Tropeano, he singled to left field, his 2,470th hit to end his career, leaving Citi Field to a standing ovation.

“In baseball the first at-bat and the last at-bat are the most nervous at-bats you have. In that last at-bat I was very anxious and excited, I had to control myself,” Abreu recalled. “After I hit that hit to left field, Terry Collins gives me the sign, ‘What do you want to do?’ I told him, ‘I’m done. I retire here.’ I retired through the big door, with the hit I needed to say goodbye.”

Collins, Abreu’s first and last major-league manager, smiled and replaced him with a pinch-runner. Another Venezuelan born in Maracay, José Altuve, the Houston Astros second baseman, went to say goodbye to one of the best baseball players that Venezuela has produced.

“Altuve went to first and gave me a congratulatory hug. I couldn’t control myself. At that moment there was an ovation in the New York stadium,” he recalled. “It gave me chills. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh, but it was very nice to say goodbye that way, with a very pleasant ovation, because they appreciated the way I played ball and I enjoyed it to the fullest.”

Despite not winning numerous individual awards, only a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, and participating in only two All-Star Games, Abreu retired as one of the most consistent players of his generation, with extraordinary hitting ability and an outstanding discipline that allowed him to play eight consecutive seasons with 100 or more bases on balls, and finish with a lifetime average of .291/.395/.475, with 1,453 runs scored, 574 doubles, 288 home runs, 1,363 RBIs, and 400 stolen bases.

Abreu is one of only four players in history with at least 200 home runs, 1,200 walks, and 400 stolen bases, joining Hall of Famers Joe Morgan and Rickey Henderson, as well as Barry Bonds.

Abreu also joined Bonds in the exclusive group of five players in major-league history with at least 1,000 runs scored, 1,000 RBIs, 2,000 hits, 1,000 walks, 250 home runs, and 400 stolen bases.8

Abreu first appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2020, obtaining 22 votes for 5.5 percent, enough to stay on the ballot.

In 2021 his vote rose to 8.7 percent and in 2022 it fell to 8.6 percent. It climbed to 15.4 percent in 2023, fell again with 14.8 percent in 2024 and rising to his best voting in 2025, 19.5 percent.

His consistency has slowly earned Abreu some support for his Cooperstown candidacy.

“I think we have to keep thinking positive. I very respectfully say that there are numbers. I’m placed with select groups, with Craig Biggio, Roberto Alomar, Rickey Henderson. Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds. … So you see that you do have numbers, because there are people who are in the Hall of Fame and you are with them, so you see that you have numbers to be there,” he said. “There is a group with Willie Mays and myself, with 150 games and more played for 13 consecutive seasons. … You have to stay positive and ask God to make it happen.”

Although he still doesn’t have enough support to enter Cooperstown, Abreu has already achieved immortality in Philadelphia, where he was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2019.

“When they called me to tell me that I was going to the Wall of Fame, I said, ‘I did it. So many stars that have played for that team and your mind takes you back to your childhood, to that young man who grew up and wanted to play ball, wanted to play major-league baseball and then it takes you to put a plaque where you are immortal, because your immortality is reflected there with that team, and you just say, ‘Thank you, Lord, for all of this. It is a blessing from God to give me that gift.’”

And while he waits for sufficient support to join the only Venezuelan in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, Luis Aparicio, Abreu dedicates himself to his business as an entrepreneur, as owner of two professional teams in Venezuela, Panteras de Miranda (basketball) and Mineros de Guayana (soccer), without abandoning the sport he loves, baseball, helping to train new talents in his own academy, the Bob Abreu Baseball Academy 53.

“The academy is a dream I’ve always had. I always wanted to have a facility where I can provide the kids with the knowledge I’ve gained throughout my career, as well as teach them all the techniques they need to help them achieve their dream of signing and going far,” Abreu said of his academy, located in San Diego, Carabobo state, which is part of the MLB Trainer Partnership Program.

“I want to prepare them, educate them in every aspect. At the academy, we give them English classes, because that’s important for their entrepreneurship, and they also have school classes. It’s something different from what we see in Venezuela at the academy level, with a complete facility to provide the kids with comprehensive development so they can achieve their dreams.”9

Last revised: September 15, 2025

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted baseballreference.com, MLB.com, espn.com, and latimes.com.

NOTES

1 A nickname meaning a person that eats a lot of candy.

2 Carlos Baerga: entrevista con el ex Grandes Ligas Bobby Abreu. June 28, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Vjv2mVSeg. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations attributed to Bobby Abreu come from this interview.

3 La Estrella Invitada en IG: Bob Abreu. August 5, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN7PqmPh99Y.

4 Arepas is a type of flatbread made of ground maize dough stuffed with a filling like cheese, meat, chicken, etc., and is a very popular meal in Venezuela.

5 La Estrella Invitada en IG: Bob Abreu.

6 Abreu had 11 plate appearances before his first base hit.

7 La Estrella Invitada en IG: Bob Abreu. All quotations related to the Home Run Derby are from this interview.

8 The other four are Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Craig Biggio, and Joe Morgan.

9 Author interview with Bobby Abreu, August 7, 2023.