Wilson Valdéz

Wilson Valdéz played in 439 major-league games from 2004 through 2012. He was an archetypical utilityman: He played five different positions in the field over parts of seven seasons with seven different major-league teams from 2004 through 2012: the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds. Until one game in 2011. When the Phillies ran out of relief pitchers in the 19th inning, he was called upon to pitch to the heart of the Reds’ order. He held the Reds scoreless and his teammates rewarded him with the victory by scoring in the bottom of the inning. Of all the players in major-league history who earned a victory in the only game they pitched, Valdéz is one of only  three players who got the victory in the only game he pitched without allowing a hit or a run.1

Born on May 20, 1978, in Nizao, a small city on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic, Wilson Antonio Valdéz was the youngest of Angel and Juana’s seven children. His father, Angel, worked as a farmer.2 He died of lung cancer in 1991.3 His mother worked as a housekeeper;  as of  2023, she no longer worked but still lived in the Dominican Republic near Valdéz.4

The population of Nizao City is a little more than 6,000 while the population of the entire Nizao Municipality including rural districts is about 30,000. Nizao is about 75 miles west of San Pedro de Macoris (pop. approx. 200,000), a major city that sports historian Rob Ruck called the breeding ground for the best Dominican-born ballplayers.5  Yet,  nine major leaguers, including Valdéz, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., one of three Dominicans in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as of 2021,6 and All-Star Ketel Marte, who is Valdéz’s nephew, were born in little Nizao.7  

Valdéz attended Aliro Paulino High School (now known as Lucila Mojica High School) in Nizao. Scouts Arturo DeFreitas and Fred Ferreira8 signed him at age 18 for the Montreal Expos on February 4, 1997, as an undrafted amateur free agent.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound infielder reported to the Dominican Summer League Expos, where he batted .303 (244 at-bats) in 1997 and .300 (247 at-bats) in 1998. In 1999 he advanced to the Gulf Coast League Expos in Jupiter, Florida, where he accumulated 24 hits and 10 stolen bases in just 82 at-bats (22 games) before he was promoted to the Class-A Vermont Expos in the New York-Penn League for the remainder of the summer and batted .246 in 36 games (130 at-bats).

Over the next two seasons, Valdéz steadily advanced from short-season Class A (the Vermont Expos in 2000), to regular Class A (the Cape Fear Crocs in the South Atlantic League in 2000 and the Clinton (Iowa) LumberKings in the Midwest League in 2001), to Advanced Class A – the Jupiter (Florida) Hammerheads in 2001.

In February 2002 Expos principal owner Jeffrey Loria bought the Florida Marlins and took with him most of the Expos’ top brass and staff, including general manager Larry Beinfest; senior vice president and director of international operations Fred Ferreira; field manager Jeff Torborg; and coach Ozzie Guillén. When the Expos released Valdéz in 2002, the new Marlins talent hunters quickly snatched him up. He was assigned to the Double-A Portland (Maine) Sea Dogs and had a good season as their regular shortstop: 98 hits, 19 doubles, 5 triples, and 18 stolen bases.

In 2003, his age 25 season, Valdéz turned a corner. He began with the Marlins’ Double-A affiliate, the Carolina (Raleigh, North Carolina) Mudcats, where his batting average swelled to .313, followed by a promotion to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes for the remainder of 2003 and the beginning of 2004. Over the two seasons with Albuquerque (682 plate appearances), Valdéz batted .302 with 23 doubles, 7 triples, 43 runs batted in, 81 runs scored, and 52 stolen bases. He was named Albuquerque’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2003.9

But Valdéz’s path to the Marlins infield was blocked by All-Stars Álex González at shortstop and Luis Castillo at second base, and by capable backups Damion Easley and Lenny Harris. Valdéz was expendable. The Marlins needed bullpen help and the Chicago White Sox would be losing their starting shortstop, José Valentín, to free agency at the end of the 2004 season, so on June 17, 2004, the Marlins traded Valdéz with cash to the White Sox for reliever Billy Koch. Who was the new manager of the White Sox that season? Ozzie Guillen. Valdéz was assigned to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, where he batted .302 and stole 13 bases, earning him a call-up when the major-league rosters expanded in September 2004.

Valdéz made his major-league debut with the White Sox on September 7, 2004, with a start against the Texas Rangers. He played second base and grounded out three times in as many at-bats against Kenny Rogers. He notched his first big-league hit and RBI off Nate Robertson in a victory over the Detroit Tigers on September 17. Although he got an extended look that month with 46 plate appearances, he was released after the season. The following spring he was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners, who had lost shortstop Rich Aurilia to free agency and his replacement, Pokey Reese, to injury.10

Valdéz was the Mariners’ starting shortstop in April and May 2005. However, on June 9 he was traded once again, this time to the San Diego Padres for two minor-league relievers, Mike Bumstead and R.D. Spiehs. He reported to the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Portland (Oregon) Beavers. Valdéz was called up by the Padres on August 16 to fill in at shortstop for the injured Khalil Greene and was released on August 30 when Greene returned to the lineup.

Valdéz was signed as a free agent on October 11, 2005, by the Kansas City Royals and he was assigned to Triple-A Omaha; however, before the new season began the Los Angeles Dodgers traded minor-league pitcher Jarod Plummer to the Royals for Valdéz. With much foresight, the Dodgers established the first baseball academy in the Dominican Republic in 1987 and installed a coach (Manny Mota, 1980-2013) to be the “shoulder on which the Dodgers’ Latin American players could lean.”11 The Dodgers’ strategy during those years was to find and develop, or as they did in 2006 with Rafael Furcal, Wilson Betemit, Julio Lugo, and Valdéz, to sign or trade for versatile Dominican players to add to the organization’s depth behind Jeff Kent and Ramon Martinez.12

Valdéz did not make it out of the Dodgers farm system in 2006. The “baseball vagabond,” as he was labeled by local sportswriter Joe Hawk,13 had a fine season playing 137 games with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. He played second base, shortstop, third base, and the outfield. “It doesn’t matter where I play. I want to help the team win and I want to play,” said Valdéz.14 On offense, 51s manager Jerry Royster crowed, “He’s a smart baseball player. If I want him to hit and run, if I want him to bunt, if I need him to move a runner over, I can tell him to do it.”15

Valdéz batted .297 for the 51s in 2006 (.365 at home at Cashman Field16) with 6 home runs and 53 RBIs. He led the team in hits (157), stolen bases (26), runs scored (94), and walks (56). He was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and was chosen for the Pacific Coast League All-Star team.17

In the offseason, Valdéz tried something different. He returned to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball for his old friend, Arturo DeFreitas, the manager of the Gigantes del Cibao. Beginning with the 2006-2007 season, Valdéz played Dominican winter-league ball for 10 consecutive seasons, the first seven with the Gigantes, then three with their rival, the Tigres del Licey. In that first winter he led the team with 68 plate appearances, four doubles, and seven stolen bases. He batted .263. His second winter in the DWL was his best, when he tallied a .287 batting average, .368 on-base percentage, and a .317 slugging average.

Winter ball in the Dominican Republic had lost some of the player attraction it once enjoyed before free agency. Popular major leaguers no longer needed the money or fanfare, nor did they want to risk injury.18 Valdéz played in the league not for celebrity; he played to get better. “I think of how hard it was [to play in the major leagues],” he said. “I just wanted to show people that I could play.”19

Valdéz broke camp with the Dodgers in the spring of 2007 with fresh hope. While Furcal nursed an ankle he sprained during spring training and with Lugo lost to free agency, Valdéz filled the reserve role. He had three hits in his first start with the Dodgers and enjoyed a streak of 10 hits in 23 at-bats over seven games in April. However, he collected only three more hits after that and was sent down to Las Vegas on May 16, replaced by the hot-hitting minor leaguer Tony Abreu (another Dominican infielder in the Dodgers’ organization). Valdéz slashed .343/.413/.435 and belted four home runs for the 51s before getting recalled by the Dodgers in September.

The new year ushered in a new, albeit short-lived, experience for Valdéz: baseball in the Pacific rim. Valdéz found the adjustment to be difficult. His Dodgers contract had been purchased by the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization in January 2008. The Tigers were looking for American players to round out their roster and thought that Valdéz could supply improved defense at shortstop and some punch at the plate.20 He played in 47 games but batted only .218 in 176 plate appearances. One day he made a barehanded play from his shortstop position on a slow grounder. He got the out but manager Cho Beom-Hyun immediately pulled him from the game, telling Valdéz, “We don’t play that kind of baseball. You have to follow the rules.” A perplexed and unhappy Valdéz asked to be released and soon he was.21

On June 12 Valdéz was picked up by the Yakult Swallows of Tokyo in Japan’s Central League22 to fill in for Shinya Miyamoto, the team’s shortstop, who left to play for Japan’s national team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.23 But there, too, Valdéz became a bit flummoxed when he lost playing time: “I was enjoying it, but now it’s like, I don’t know. … I know I can play, but they don’t think I can play.”24 Valdéz came home to play in the Dominican Winter League once again, then signed a minor-league deal with the Cleveland Indians that included an invitation to spring training in 2009.25

Valdéz’s real value as a movable piece to fill a team’s immediate middle-infield need became apparent again in May 2009. With New York Mets shortstop José Reyes and backup Álex Cora both sidelined with injuries, the Mets acquired Valdéz from Cleveland for cash. Upon Cora’s return, Valdéz was shuffled off to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on June 25. He was recalled on August 19 because Cora got hurt again. After one season with the Mets, Valdéz filed for free agency.

Before the 2010 season began, with Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each entering his age-31 season, the Philadelphia Phillies signed three infielders as free agents: Plácido Polanco, Juan Castro, and Valdéz. After a short stint with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Triple A (where he had 10 hits in 22 at-bats), Valdéz the Vagabond found himself playing regularly for a first-place contender. He played in 210 games in 2010 and 2011 – the most he played for any major-league team – as Utley, Rollins, and Polanco missed large swaths of time with injuries.

Valdéz enjoyed several individual highlights and career-best performances during his two seasons with the Phillies. He hit home runs two nights in a row (June 19 and 20, 2010) against the Minnesota Twins at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia (he had a total of only six home runs in his career); he drove in 65 runs; scored 76 runs; slugged 30 doubles and 7 triples; and stole 10 bases.

On May 29, 2010, with one out in the third inning, Valdéz singled to center off Florida Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson. The next batter, Utley, sent a 2-and-2 pitch to straightaway center field that Cameron Maybin misjudged for a three-base error scoring Valdéz from first. It was the only run of the game, and all that pitcher Roy Halladay needed as he pitched a perfect game, the 20th perfect game in major-league history.26

Valdéz knocked in a career-best four runs on June 29, 2010, with a three-run homer and a fielder’s choice to help the Phillies defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-6.27 A month later, on July 29, he smacked a single in the bottom of the 11th inning – his third hit of the night – to lift the Phillies over the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2, walk-off style.

Despite the personal heroics, the brass ring for Valdéz was that, with the Phillies, he finally got the chance to play in a postseason game. “We won something like 18 straight to get there,” Valdéz remembered.28 He contributed greatly to the Phillies’ first-place finish in the NL’s East Division in 2010 as he batted .352 (19-for-54) over his final 18 games and .400 (14-for-35) with runners in scoring position in his last 27 games.29  

When a backache prevented Polanco from playing in the first game of the National League Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Valdéz drew the start at third base and was on the field for Halladay’s second gem. In the second inning, Valdéz collected an infield single and scored the third run in a 4-0 Phillies victory – another no-hitter by Halladay.30 It was Halladay’s first postseason game and one of only three no-hitters in postseason history; Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 was the first and the combined no-hitter by four Houston Astros pitchers in Game Four of the 2022 World Series was the third.

The Phillies swept the Reds in three games before losing to the San Francisco Giants in six games in the National League Championship Series. Valdéz’s only appearances in the NLCS were two pinch-running assignments.31

On Opening Day, April 1, 2011, against the Houston Astros (a game Halladay started), Valdéz collected two hits, including a single that tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning. The next batter was John Mayberry Jr., who singled home the winning run.

In the only four-hit game of his career, Valdéz went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs, and three runs scored against the New York Mets on April 7, 2011 (coincidentally, another Halladay game), capping off a 9-for-21 hitting streak to open the season.

Valdéz’s career was exemplified by his versatility, reliability, and ardor, so it came as no surprise that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel called on him to pitch one night in 2011. On May 25 the team was out of relief pitchers and the score was tied 4-4 going into the top of the 19th inning at Citizens Bank Park. What was a surprise, however, was the outcome. In his only pitching appearance in his professional career, Valdéz set down the heart of the Cincinnati Reds’ lineup with ease. He got Joey Votto to fly out on a 3-and-1 count. After he hit Scott Rolen with a slow curve, both Jay Bruce and relief pitcher Carlos Fisher popped out.  When the Phillies scored in the bottom of the 19th, Valdéz was the winning pitcher – the first player since Babe Ruth to get a win as a pitcher in a game he started in the field. (Ruth did it on October 1, 1921.)

After the 2011 season, the popular Valdéz avoided arbitration and signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia for $930,000. But with second-year man Michael Martínez, free agent Kevin Frandsen, and newly purchased Ty Wigginton available to serve as utility infielders, Valdéz was traded on January 25, 2012, to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Jeremy Horst.

The Reds needed Valdéz behind 31-year-old Brandon Phillips and 37-year-old Scott Rolen but mostly to back up rookies Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier. He even logged in some innings behind Drew Stubbs in center field. Valdéz batted only .206 in 208 plate appearances, his lowest batting average since his rookie year, but not without some highlights. On June 8, 2012, his pinch-hit squeeze bunt in the 10th inning with Miguel Cairo on third base lifted the Reds over the Detroit Tigers for a walk-off 6-5 victory. On October 3 against the St. Louis Cardinals, he singled in the sixth inning against September call-up Shelby Miller to break up Miller’s no-hitter. It was Miller’s first major-league start. This was Valdéz’s last hit and his last major-league regular-season game.

The Reds were National League Central champs that year but lost to the San Francisco Giants three games to two in the NLDS. In Game Two Valdéz flied out in his only at-bat in the series for his final major-league at-bat.

Valdéz was granted free agency on November 7, 2012, and was signed by the San Francisco Giants but he was released on March 22, 2013, as the team opened its season with reserve infielders Nick Noonan and Joaquín Árias instead. 

The day after he was released by San Francisco, the Miami Marlins signed Valdéz to a minor-league contract with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs. He was released by the Marlins, however, on May 19, 2013, the day before his 35th birthday.

Valdéz’s agent hooked him up with the Camden (New Jersey) Riversharks in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent but official MLB partner league. Valdéz led the team in three categories: .310 batting average, 37 stolen bases, and 6 triples in 90 games. (A full regular season in the Atlantic League is 140 games.)

When he returned to the Dominican Republic to play winter-league ball later in 2013, Valdéz switched from the Gigantes del Cibao to the Tigres del Licey, with whom he played three seasons. And when he came back to the Atlantic League the following summer, he signed with the York (Pennsylvania) Revolution for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He played all of his 233 games with York at shortstop and batted .292 in 2014 and .262 in 2015. The 88 bases he stole in his York career stand as the all-time mark for the club, as do his 55 SBs in a single season (2014). He was selected as the starting shortstop for the league’s 2014 all-star game.

On August 18, 2015, the crafty batsman helped the Revolution squeeze out a victory via the bunt. In the top of the 11th inning with the score tied 4-4, former major leaguer José Constanza was on third base following a double and a passed ball. Valdéz laid down a perfect bunt to plate the go-ahead and ultimate winning run32 – shades of his extra-inning walk-off squeeze bunt with the Cincinnati Reds in 2012.

Three nights later, on August 21, Valdéz went from bunt to long ball. He smacked a grand slam in a losing effort for his only home run in 2015 (he hit two in 2014) on a night when he went 4-for-5.33 His final year playing organized and professional baseball was 2015, after which he returned to the Dominican Republic to coach on a limited basis but he did not play ball. “I was tired,” he said.34

Wilson married his wife, Kamie, on May 1, 2004; they are divorced. He has three children: Viktor, who was born in 2012, Veronika, born in 2005, and Wilson Andres Valdéz, who was born in 1999 and was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2018 by the Philadelphia Phillies. The younger Wilson played on the Phillies’ DSL team for three seasons35  but he was released from the Phillies organization after the 2022 season.36

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.baseball-reference.com, https://stathead.com/baseball/, www.retrosheet.org, www.thebaseballcube.com, www.sabr.org, www.newspapers.com, www.facebook.com/yorkrevolution, and www.deanscards.com/wilson+Valdéz.

Photo credit: Wilson Valdéz, courtesy of Miles Kennedy/Philadelphia Phillies.

Notes

1 Two of the  three – John Baker (Chicago Cubs catcher pitched one inning in 2014) and Valdéz – were position players; the third, Tom Dougherty, was a pitcher (pitched two innings for the Chicago White Sox in 1904).

2 Wilson Valdéz, telephone interviews with Len Pasculli on February 17, 2021, and May 18, 2023 (edited for clarity), and several follow-up text messages (hereafter Pasculli-Valdéz interview).

3 “Better Know a Dodger … Wilson Valdez,” LAist.com, April 7, 2007. https://laist.com/news/better-know-a-dodger-wilson-Valdez-1. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

4 Pasculli-Valdéz interview.

5 Rob Ruck, “Winter Leagues: Dominican Real Fan and Talent Hotbed,” Baseball Research Journal (SABR), 1984, https://sabr.org/journal/article/winter-leagues-dominican-real-fan-and-talent-hotbed/.

Pedro Guerrero, Joaquín Andújar, George Bell, Rico Carty, Tony Fernández, Sammy Sosa, Robinson Canó, Alfonso Soriano, Luis Castillo, Johnny Cueto, and both Fernando Tatíses (Senior and Junior) are among the more than 100 major-league players born in San Pedro de Macoris.

6 The other two Dominican Hall of Famers are Juan Marichal (inducted in 1983), born in Laguna Verde and Pedro Martínez (inducted in 2015), born in Manoguayabo. Santo Domingo native Albert Pujols, who  retired after the 2022 season,  is considered a lock to be a Hall of Famer.  

7 In addition to the  nine major leaguers born in Nizao, two were from Don Gregorio, an unmerged municipal section of Nizao (including Vladimir Guerrero’s older brother Wilton Guerrero), and 32 were from nearby Bani, Peravia Province’s capital city (including Miguel Tejeda, Mario Soto, Timo Pérez, Rafael Landestoy, Deivi Cruz, and brothers Erick Aybar and Willy Aybar, and their nephew Wander Franco).

8 Fred Ferreira, who claimed to have signed 61 players who played in the major leagues including Vladimir Guerrero, Bernie Williams (Puerto Rico), and Orlando Cabrera (Colombia), was a longtime scout, first in Florida and Puerto Rico for the California Angels, then Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, and Florida Marlins. Ferreira finished his career as the executive director of international recruiting for the Baltimore Orioles. See Ferreira’s interview video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOMn36soGz0.

9 Philadelphia Phillies, “Wilson Valdez,” 2011 Philadelphia Phillies Media Guide, 165.

10 Valdéz was actually selected off waivers by the New York Mets from the White Sox on March 29, 2005, and three days later he was selected off waivers by the Seattle Mariners from the Mets after New York acquired infielder Benji Gil from the Seattle Mariners on March 28, 2005. “Transactions,” New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/sports/transactions.html. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

11 Bill Shaikin, “Dodgers’ Manny Mota Enters a New Mode,” Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2013. https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2013-apr-22-la-sp-0423-dodgers-manny-mota-20130423-story.html. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

12 Ned Colletti, “Colletti: Dodgers’ Latin American Legacy Still Strong,” Spectrum SportsNetLA, June 17, 2015. http://www.sportsnetla.com/articles/2015/06/18/colletti-dodgers-getting-back-to-rich-legacy-in-latin-america-june-18-2015.html. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

13 Joe Hawk, “Season Looks Bright as Valdez Lights Way,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 7, 2006: 1C.

14 Todd Dewey, “Valdez Keeps Hitting as 51s Keep Winning,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 19, 2007: 5C.

15 Joe Hawk, “Royster Sold Dodgers on Acquiring Valdez,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 7, 2006: 9C.

16 Andrew, “The Last Time I’ll Complain About Wilson Valdez … For a While,” truebluela.com, April 9, 2007. https://www.truebluela.com/2007/4/9/14024/37617. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

17 Todd Dewey, “Valdez Keeps Hitting as 51s Keep Winning.”

18 Rob Ruck, The Tropic of Baseball (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991), 186.

19 Pasculli-Valdéz interview.

20 Kim Tong-hyung, “Kia Tigers Close to Signing Lima,” Korea Times, January 3, 2008. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2020/12/600_16664.html. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

21 John E. Gibson, “Hard Drives: Transition Game Hard to Swallow,” japanesebaseball.com, July 30, 2008. https://www.japanesebaseball.com/writers/display.gsp?id=19660, retrieved August 12, 2021.

22 Rotowire.com, “Wilson Valdez News.” https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=7416.

23 David Watkins, “Say Hello to Valdez (a.k.a. Shiroishi Is Useless),” June 10, 2008. https://tokyoswallows.com/2008/06/say-hello-to-Valdez-a-k-a-shiroishi-is-useless/, retrieved August 12, 2021.

24 John E. Gibson, “Hard Drives.”

25 Rotowire.com, “Wilson Valdez News.” https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=7416.

26 Alan Cohen, “May 29, 2010: 27 Up and 27 Down for Phillies’ Roy Halladay.” https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-29-2010-27-up-and-27-down-for-phillies-roy-halladay/.

27 The Phillies TV color commentator’s call on the home run was: “When you hang ’em, somebody’s gonna bang ’em!” YouTube.com, February 17, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6y9QiezRpk.

28 Pasculli-Valdéz interview. It was actually 19 wins, 5 losses, with 11 straight wins.

29 Philadelphia Phillies, “Wilson Valdez,” 2011 Philadelphia Phillies Media Guide, 165.

30 See https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-6-2010-phillies-roy-halladay-throws-postseason-no-hitter/; the YouTube video of the game can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BgAIIoGX6s.

31 The Phillies made it back to the postseason in 2011 but were eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Five of the best-of-five NLDS; Valdéz did not make an appearance in that series.

32 “Revs Squeeze Out Nail-Biter in Extras,” OurSports Central, August 19, 2015. https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/revs-squeeze-out-nail-biter-in-extras/n-5034988

33 Tom Sixeas, “Wilson Valdez’ Grand Slam Can’t Save York Revolution in Loss to Somerset Patriots,” York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record, August 21, 2015. https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2015/08/21/wilson-Valdezs-grand-slam-cant-save-york-revolution/72260818/.

34 Pasculli-Valdéz interview.

35 George Stockburger, “Phillies News: What Happened to Wilson Valdez, Father of Phillies Prospect Wilson Valdez Jr?” thatballsouttahere.com, May 24, 2020. https://thatballsouttahere.com/2020/05/24/phillies-news-wilson-Valdez/ Retrieved August 12, 2021.

36 Pasculli-Valdéz interview.