Alberto Callaspo

For about a half-hour, Alberto Callaspo was a hero in Oakland. But ultimately, through no fault of his own, Callaspo would become a footnote in baseball history. It was rather a shame for a player who had a solid 10-year career in the majors.

The Kansas City Royals had already made the 2014 American League wild-card game memorable by rallying from a 7-3 deficit, tying the Oakland A’s with three runs in the eighth inning and one more in the ninth. The teams traded zeros in the 10th and 11th innings before Oakland’s Josh Reddick worked a walk to lead off the 12th. After a sacrifice bunt, the switch-hitting Callaspo stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter, looking to send one of his former teams home for the winter. Jason Frasor’s second pitch to Callaspo was in the dirt and bounced away from catcher Salvador Perez, moving Reddick to third. After a foul ball, Callaspo lined a high fastball into left field, giving the Athletics the lead again. Callaspo was stranded at first but returned to the dugout as the potential hero for the A’s.

It was not meant to be. The Royals moved the game to classic status with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, earning a walk-off win in the franchise’s first postseason game in 29 years and relegating Callaspo’s big hit to an afterthought. The ironic element to this story was that it had been the Royals who first gave Callaspo a real chance to play in the majors, after a bit of a circuitous route to becoming a regular.

Alberto Jose Callaspo Brito was born on April 19, 1983, in Maracay, Venezuela. After attending the Institucion de Formacion in Aragua, Callaspo was signed by Anaheim Angels scouts Carlos Porte and Amador Arias.1 The signing happened on February 16, 2001, a couple of months before Callaspo’s 18th birthday.

Callaspo’s first professional experience came with the Angels’ Dominican Summer League team. From there, it was on to a successful minor-league career. In 2002 he made Baseball America’s Pioneer League all-star team after batting .338/.374/.488 in 70 games for the Angels’ Rookie League team in Provo, Utah. Not surprisingly, his manager in Provo, Tom Kotchman, later said, “He was just very, very talented. He was very advanced for his age. When you see guys at that level, you might get some inflated numbers offensively because of the light air, but the talent was definitely there.”2

Callaspo continued to impress in 2003, playing for Class-A Cedar Rapids (Iowa) in the Midwest League and batting .327/.377/.428. That got him a number-71 ranking in Baseball America’s prospect rankings before the 2004 season. Callaspo rewarded that faith with a .284/.338/.376 line for Double-A Arkansas, while also trying to adjust to the shortstop position after playing mostly second base in his professional career. In 2005, for the first time in his minor-league career, Callaspo started a season at the same level he had played at the year before, but after hitting .297/.346/.406 for Arkansas, he was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake for the rest of the season.

Callaspo’s first taste of the Pacific Coast League was a success; he hit .316/.345/.488 in 50 games for the Stingers. The prospect was gaining a reputation as a natural hitter, nearly impossible to strike out (97 K’s in 1,925 at-bats from 2002 to 2005). But Callaspo was facing tough odds as a middle-infield prospect in the Angels’ organization. Los Angeles already had Adam Kennedy and Orlando Cabrera at the major-league level, plus Maicer Izturis and Chone Figgins, both capable of playing second base but moved to other positions. Meanwhile, Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick were establishing themselves as prospects at Triple-A Arkansas.3 The Angels, with a wealth of middle-infield talent, dealt Callaspo to Arizona for pitching prospect Jason Bulger in February of 2006.

Callaspo returned to the PCL to start the 2006 season, playing for Tucson. After hitting .337/.404/.478 in 114 games, he made his major-league debut on August 6, grounding out as a pinch-hitter against Houston’s Andy Pettitte. Callaspo remained in the majors, picking up 47 plate appearances and hitting .238/.298/.310 through the end of the season. He collected his first hit on August 8, a double off San Francisco’s Brian Wilson. Although his first stint in the big leagues wasn’t outstanding, his exceptional season for Tucson earned him Arizona’s Minor League Player of the Year honors.

Arizona began the 2007 season with Callaspo on the roster, but an off-field incident in mid-May put a damper on his season. On May 10 he was arrested at his home on suspicion of assaulting his wife, Marianny Paola. The Diamondbacks placed Callaspo on the restricted list, but the charges were soon dropped. Court documents indicated that the couple had had previous disputes turn physical, but Paola, new to living in the United States, was unsure how to contact the police.4 Once the charges were dropped and the players union filed a grievance, Callaspo was reinstated. However, batting just .206/.257/.254 on June 14, he was sent back to Triple A.

Back in Tucson, Callaspo rediscovered his hitting form, batting .341/.406/.491 in 59 games. That got him a September call-up, although he had just 19 plate appearances as the Diamondbacks managed to hold off surging Colorado for the NL West title. Callaspo did not appear in Arizona’s Division Series victory over Chicago, but had two hitless at-bats in the National League Championship Series, which saw the Rockies sweep their division rivals.

Once again, Callaspo found himself behind established major leaguers, this time second baseman Orlando Hudson and shortstop Stephen Drew. With the off-field issues on top of that, Arizona was willing to trade Callaspo, this time to Kansas City for pitcher Billy Buckner.

While the trade seemed like a minor one, former Royals player Kevin Seitzer, who had been Arizona’s hitting coach for the first part of the 2007 season, assured Royals fans the team had acquired a good player. He told the Kansas City Star, “I liked him, and I liked his ability a lot. He’s the type of guy that if he ever got into the lineup, you might not ever get him out of it. The big thing with him is, he needs to play.”5

Seitzer was correct, as the fresh start seemed to be just what Callaspo needed. Although the Royals were using him as a utility player, he was playing a lot and hitting well, batting .290/.349/.330 through June 25. But another off-field issue arose, as Callaspo was pulled over by campus police at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and arrested for driving under the influence. The Royals placed Callaspo on the disabled list for “an unspecified ailment,” and he did not return to the team until late August. He did hit a solid .319/.371/.407 the rest of the season, giving him the inside track on the Royals’ second-base spot heading into 2009.

However, he was not guaranteed the job, as there were concerns about his defense. The Royals made noises about moving Mark Teahen to second base and they signed Willie Bloomquist as additional competition for the job.6 Teahen was the second baseman on Opening Day. But just three games into the season, Teahen was moved to right field in place of an injured Jose Guillen. Callaspo took advantage, hitting .379/.432/.545 for the first month of the season. It was a springboard to his finest year in the majors, which resulted in a .300/.356/.457 line, the first 11 home runs of his major-league career, and 41 doubles.

On the other hand, Callaspo led American League second basemen with 17 errors, despite concerns about his lack of range. Seeking a defensive upgrade, the Royals acquired Chris Getz. The Royals were unable to move Callaspo over the winter, but clearly his days in Kansas City were numbered.

Playing more often at third base in 2010, and with trade rumors swirling, Callaspo saw his offense fall off a bit. He hit .275/.308/.410 in 88 games for Kansas City before he was finally traded on July 22. Callaspo was headed back to his original major-league organization, as the Angels sent pitchers Sean O’Sullivan and Will Smith to Kansas City. Callaspo hit a disappointing .249/.291/.315 for the Angels, who had been on the fringes of contention when they acquired Callaspo and pitcher Dan Haren right before the trade deadline.

But Callaspo rebounded in 2011, with a .288/.366/.375 line that helped the Angels remain in contention for the whole season, although they ultimately missed the wild-card spot by five games. Callaspo held the Angels’ third-base job for another season and half of 2013, before he was traded once again. This deal moved him up the coast, where he joined the Oakland A’s for the stretch run. Callaspo hit .270/.350/.409 in 50 games to help Oakland to a division title. However, he was limited to six plate appearances in the AL Division Series loss to Detroit.

Callaspo was something of a supersub for the A’s in 2014, playing three infield positions and serving as a DH for a total of 451 plate appearances. However, he hit a disappointing .223/.290/.290. Despite his big hit in the wild-card game, the Athletics let him leave as a free agent.

He signed with Atlanta, but his stay with the Braves would be brief. On May 27, 2015, Callaspo was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a six-player deal. He played in 60 games for the Dodgers, hitting .260/.336/.301 in 138 plate appearances before Los Angeles released him on August 27.

That was the end of Callaspo’s major-league career, but not the end of his playing days. He signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish in the independent Atlantic League for the start of the 2017 season, then moved to Laguna in the Mexican League that same year. Before the 2018 season, he was traded to Yucatan, then dealt back to Laguna after just a few weeks. He was released after about a month. But Callaspo didn’t give up on baseball that easily – he signed with the Welland Jackfish of the Intercounty Baseball League in Canada for the 2021 season but was released before ever playing a game for them. He then signed with the West Virginia Power/Charleston Dirty Birds of the Atlantic League, and batted .335/.469/.461 in 429 plate appearances.

Of course, no accounting of Callaspo’s career would be complete without mentioning his numerous appearances in Venezuela’s Winter League. After making his debut with Caribes de Oriente in the 2006-07 season, he moved to Aguilas del Zulia for the final 13 games of the campaign. He returned to Zulia for the following three seasons, then played for Navegantes del Magallanes in three of the next four seasons (skipping the 2012-13 one), albeit for a total of 52 games. He then joined his hometown Tigres de Aragua, playing four seasons for them, including a stellar .351/.449/.442 line in 227 plate appearances in the 2017-18 season. Callaspo was part of three championship teams in Venezuela, one with Magallanes and two with Aragua. For the 2019-20 winter ball season, he signed with Vaqueros de Montería of the Colombian Baseball League, having an outstanding performance in the postseason and helping Vaqueros to win the first title for the franchise. Callaspo participated in the Caribbean Series 2020 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, representing Colombia, which went winless in five games.

For the 2020-21 winter baseball season, Callaspo signed with Tigres de Chinandega of the Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League and was released after the first month of the season, then rejoined Vaqueros de Montería. For the 2021-22 season he signed with the Cardenales de Lara, hitting .262/.373/.310 in 18 games. For 2022-23, he was back with Aragua, batting .281/.395/.344 in 28 plate appearances.

Last revised: January 31, 2026

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed Baseball-reference.com.

Photo credit: Alberto Callaspo, Getty Images.

Notes

1 http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=20302.

2 Robert Emrich, “Path of the Pros: Alberto Callaspo,” milb.com, March 24, 2010. https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-8101760.

3 Kevin ________, “The Alberto Callaspo Trade,” AngelsWin.com, 2013. https://angelswinblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/alberto-callaspo-trade.html. (fan site).

4 Jack Magruder, “Callaspo Has History of Abuse Reports,” East Valley Tribune (Tempe, Arizona), May 16, 2007, updated October 7, 2011. https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/sports/callaspo-has-history-of-abuse-reports/article_86ee6d77-40ff-50f8-b8dc-35de0dcf5b5b.html.

5 Jeffrey Flanagan, “Royals’ Trade for Callaspo May Pay Big Dividends,” Kansas City Star, December 20, 2007: D2.

6 Sam Mellinger, “A Primer for Royals Spring Training,” Kansas City Star, February 8, 2009: C10.